BHI Weekly News Archives

Cancer Research: 5 Reasons You Should Apply

Immunomic Therapeutics is committed to providing a workplace that bolsters scientific ideas. The Cancer Discovery Incubator will enable and accelerate beginning ventures with the capacity for measurable change in oncology health. The goal is to empower the beneficiary to conduct proof-of-concept experiments and ultimately, attract funding, partnerships, and fuel growth.

Medigene AG (http://www.medigene.de) (FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard, TecDAX) announced today that it has granted an exclusive, worldwide license for the development and commercialization of its preclinical stage adeno-associated virus like particles (AAVLPs) technology to the Swedish biotech company 2A Pharma AB, located in Malmö, Sweden. Under the terms of the agreement, Medigene is eligible to receive clinical, regulatory and commercial milestone payments in addition to royalties on net sales of future AAVLP products by 2A Pharma AB. Further financial details were not disclosed.

MaxCyte, Inc. announced today a strategic collaboration with leading academic research institution, Washington University in St. Louis (“Washington University”) to advance next-generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-based cell therapies for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

MaxCyte and Washington University will develop unique immunotherapy drug candidates, based on MaxCyte’s proprietary cell engineering platform technology, CARMA.

This collaboration builds on MaxCyte’s efforts with The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center around pre-clinical development of CAR therapy for solid cancers.

The University of Maryland will be a key partner in a new institute to advance U.S. leadership in pharmaceutical manufacturing that was announced by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on Friday, December 16, 2016. The National Institute for Innovation of Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) will be the 11th Manufacturing USA Institute, and includes the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. A team of more than 150 companies, educational institutions, nonprofits and state governments will operate NIIMBL under a newly formed nonprofit.

Astellas Pharma Inc. (President and CEO: Yoshihiko Hatanaka, “Astellas”) and Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (Founder & CEO: William Hearl, Ph.D., “Immunomic Therapeutics”) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for the drug candidate ASP0892 for the mitigation of severe hypersensitivity reactions due to peanut allergy. ASP0892 is a new DNA vaccine program based on the investigational LAMP-Vax platform. A Phase I clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immune response of ASP0892 in adults allergic to peanuts has been initiated.

Sometimes lab research leads to a discovery that’s commercially viable enough to start a company. But for scientists with little business experience, making the jump to the private sector can be intimidating without support. In an effort to address this issue, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has partnered with the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) (link is external) to award a new round of N-STEP grants, which support early-stage entrepreneurs in ways that other grants do not.

MdBio Foundation is hiring a team of enthusiastic individuals to operate the Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab, a custom designed 45-foot bus that will travel to middle schools in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. In addition to providing instruction to middle school students aboard the bus, the team will also assist in the development of associated curriculum, coordinating school visits, and moving and placement of the vehicle.

The explorer lab is currently being built in Burbank, California and will travel across the United States for a “road show.” The road show will include a series of school visits and PR events between March and August 2017. In August 2017, the explorer lab will arrive in Washington, DC and will serve the DC Public School system for the 2017/2018 school year.

Formed in 1997, the Greater Rockville Partnership, now Rockville Economic Development, Inc. has evolved and grown to be an organization that has helped thousands of businesses and entrepreneurs in the City of Rockville. And we are so excited to hit 20 years of support and growth that we are going celebrate ALL YEAR LONG!

We have events and promotions planned throughout the year including our Business Appreciation Week, the REDI Commercial Broker Breakfast , the REDI Resource Meet up (R2M), as well as special 20th Anniversary events —you won’t want to miss any of them.

We are also offering 20th Anniversary sponsorship opportunities for companies looking for exposure by supporting our events throughout the year. If interested, you can contact Michael Steifvater via email or 301.315.8096.

The NHLBI’s Strategic Vision rests on four mission-driven goals that will benefit from sustained Institute focus. Eight objectives organize the 132 Research Priorities.

Facebook’s shadowy Building 8 research team needs help from academia to invent futuristic hardware. But today’s pace of innovation doesn’t allow for the standard 9-12 month turnaround time it takes universities to strike one-off research partnerships with private companies.

“Population Health, Privacy, Security. The Ultimate Balancing Act!”

January 19, 2017 4pm – 8pm

Governor Calvert House, 58 State Circle Annapolis, Maryland

Maryland Health Information Management Systems Society (MDHIMSS) is pleased to announce our 10th Annual Advocacy event being held in Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday, January 19, 2016 at Governor Calvert House from 4-8pm. This event focuses on balancing the need for information exchange for Population Health and responsibility to protect and secure that information. In addition to legislative updates a panel discussion and technology showcase will be on display.

Boston Scientific has made a name for itself with devices that are implanted into the body to prevent heart attacks. But through its Connected Patient Challenge, launched last month, the company is looking to get more involved in the kind of preventative medicine that’s based on the data generated by doctors, patients and the growth of wearable devices.

The healthcare industry’s transition toward value-based care is forcing providers to adopt new and emerging business models in lieu of traditional fee-for-service payment. At their core, these business models have the principle of value-based reimbursement, in which providers must meet certain quality care standards while controlling costs in order to get paid.

Cascadia Capital’s healthcare team contemplates the outlook for 2017, we believe the future of the industry will be affected by the agenda of the new administration. Where we believe this will have significant impact is on expense containment and prioritization of the wellness agenda.

Headquartered in Hayward, California, Intarcia Therapeutics is a force to be reckoned with in the biotech world. It has raised over $1 billion in total equity funding and recently acquired Phoundry Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed amount.

It hasn’t gone public.

The year 2016 presented the world with a number of big surprises. Some positive, some negative, depending on whom one asks. Here at Medgadget, 2016 will be remembered for many amazing and pleasantly unexpected medical technology developments, many of which are foreshadowing cures for spinal cord injuries, effective treatment of diabetes, new ways to fight heart disease, and many other long sought-after medical solutions. Virtual and augmented reality systems, new imaging techniques, and innovative delivery approaches are changing the way doctors learn and take care of patients.

Superflex, a “powered” clothing startup that was spun out of SRI International, the well-known robotics nonprofit, announced earlier this week that it has raised $9.6 million in a Series A round of funding.

The Menlo Park, California-based company is developing a lightweight, connected apparel that can be worn underneath regular clothing. It’s called “powered” because integrated electric circuits throughout the apparel act as muscles providing strength and mobility to the body’s actual muscles and joints.

New research suggests it is possible to slow or even reverse aging, at least in mice, by undoing changes in gene activity—the same kinds of changes that are caused by decades of life in humans. By tweaking genes that turn adult cells back into embryoniclike ones, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies reversed the aging of mouse and human cells in vitro, extended the life of a mouse with an accelerated-aging condition and successfully promoted recovery from an injury in a middle-aged mouse, according to a study published Thursday in Cell.

Michael Lewis’s 2003 book, Moneyball — later made into a movie starring Brad Pitt — tells the story of how predictive analytics transformed the Oakland Athletics baseball team and, eventually, baseball itself. Data-based modeling has since transcended sport. It’s used in hiring investment bankers, for example. But is academe really ready for its own “moneyball moment” in terms of personnel decisions?

Students attending classes in the Paul Peck Academic and Innovation Building may not realize it, but just upstairs, researchers are changing—and saving—lives. Home to the Germantown Innovation Center (GIC), approximately 24 life science companies and more than 100 employees are hard at work on the second floor. One company—Zalgen Labs—played a key role in the development of a test to rapidly diagnose Ebola. Another firm created a pediatric anthrax vaccine.

The NIH has awarded MIMETAS and the University of Pittsburgh a prestigious SBIR grant to develop a Liver-on-a-Chip platform for high throughput discovery and development. Accurate prediction of hepatotoxicity is a major problem in the development of new drugs leading to high development costs. Animal hepatotoxicity testing is expensive, unsuited to high throughput and overall has unreliable concordance with human hepatotoxicity. MIMETAS scientists have teamed up with the University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute led by D. Lansing Taylor, Ph.D. to develop a liver-on-a-chip platform of unprecedented throughput, predictivity and usability. “We’re extremely happy to be working with Lans and his team on this project”, says Dr. Anthony Saleh of MIMETAS. “Prof. Taylor is a frontrunner in developing in vitro liver cultures and has vast experience with microfluidic techniques.” “We were extremely impressed when we learned about the MIMETAS OrganoPlate platform”, commented Prof. Taylor. “It enables High Throughput, 3D co-culture with a vascular and hepatic compartments, as well as ease of handling. There is really no equivalent in the Organ-on-a-Chip space”.

Since its inception, biotechnology has been preoccupied with virus filtration, the clearance of invasive and adventitious viruses from biopharmaceutical products. And now, far from waning, virus filtration is set to become even more important. Virus filtration, reports Markets and Markets, constitutes a global market that is growing 12% each year. At present, this market is valued at $1.8 billion. By 2020, it will reach $3.3 billion.

GSK will inaugurate its newest global vaccines research and development (R&D) center in Rockville, Maryland, further strengthening and expanding its vaccines presence in the USA. Up to 200 new jobs will be created at the Rockville facility, with GSK investing over $50 million in the next two years to continue to develop the site with latest state-of-the-art scientific research technology and equipment.

The Inova Health System today announced the official launch of Inova Strategic Investments (ISI), and the Inova Personalized Health Accelerator (IPHA). Hooks Johnston and Pete Jobse have been named managing directors. The fund is designed to raise the standard for affordable, high quality health care at Inova and in our region in an industry undergoing dramatic transformation.

Major industries from retail to aeronautics are leveraging big data. But despite the abundance of data in healthcare, and the clear promise of big-data analytics, the sector has been slow to put it to work. Among the obstacles to adoption are laws aimed at protecting patient information, and a shortage of technical talent; hospitals and clinics compete for big data engineers whose technical skills can be agnostically applied across industries. Nonetheless, in 2015 Geisinger Health System implemented an IT system called a Unified Data Architecture (UDA) which allowed us to integrate big data into our existing data analytics and management systems.

Few people realize that the world’s biggest early stage investment fund in the NIH. Unlike most investors, every penny you get, if you should be so lucky, is non-dilutive. That is not to say there are no strings attached and that the funding is not tranched, but scores of products we see day in and day out, from blockbuster drugs, vaccines, medical devices to health IT benefitted from your US tax dollars at work.

Cancer Research: 5 Reasons You Should Apply

Immunomic Therapeutics is committed to providing a workplace that bolsters scientific ideas. The Cancer Discovery Incubator will enable and accelerate beginning ventures with the capacity for measurable change in oncology health. The goal is to empower the beneficiary to conduct proof-of-concept experiments and ultimately, attract funding, partnerships, and fuel growth.

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI), a privately-held, Maryland-based biotechnology company, announces that C. Eric Winzer, M.B.A., currently serving Immunomic as Chief Financial Officer, will join the Board of Directors.

“Mr. Winzer’s keen financial expertise and broad industry experience will be a valuable addition to the Immunomic Board of Directors,” announced Immunomic CEO, Dr. William Hearl. “The Board has appreciated his prior contribution to our meetings and we are pleased to formally add him to this important advisory team.”

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) announced today that 19 companies have received over $1.9 million in funding from the organization’s Seed Investment Fund in the last six months. The funding will be used to advance the companies’ technology and product commercialization efforts. “TEDCO’s Seed Investment Fund exists to support seed/early-stage, technology-based businesses in Maryland,” said John Wasilisin, president and chief operating officer of TEDCO. “We make investments in these companies to help them reach a critical milestone that will increase the company’s valuation and better position it for follow-on investment, sustainability, growth, and job creation.”

Root3 Labs, Inc. recently moved operations to their new prototyping and manufacturing facility in Randallstown, MD. This marks an exciting opportunity to increase engineering and manufacturing capabilities in the area.“With over 3,700 sq ft of combined offices and industrial space, we’ll have more room to support our customers growing engineering and product development projects,” said Chad Schneider, President and Founder of Root3 Labs. “The new facility provides office space for our growing staff, a comfortable meeting place for customers and suppliers, a high-tech fabrication and assembly workshop, and storage for prototype and low-volume production units. This expansion will help us better support the broad range of R&D activities needed by our customers.”

ConverGene has entered into an exclusive license agreement with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Under this agreement, ConverGene has the rights to commercialize jointly developed small molecule BET bromodomain inhibitors that have a unique core structure as compared to other cancer therapeutics currently in clinical trials.

A group of 17 high-powered CEOs led by Russ Ramsey, Ted Leonsis and Peter Scher are forming a new organization aimed at spurring economic growth in the often disconnected region spanning from Baltimore to D.C. to Richmond.

The Greater Washington Partnership will focus on improving infrastructure, transit and workforce development and better branding what has become known as a “megaregion” or “super region” as a hub for business and innovation.

In their bid to host the 2024 Olympics, Washington business leaders plotted a transformation of the region into a more accessible, economically powerful and inclusive place, one that would glisten on the world athletic stage.

Seeking Emerging International Business Leaders to Join the EDGE Program

We are now accepting applications for the next class of the Emerging and Developing Global Executives (EDGE) Program. The inaugural program was a great success (hear from the Bowe Fellows in their own words), and this year’s group is off to a great start.

Bowe Fellows are a diverse group of globally minded leaders from the Baltimore area who have had significant career trajectories, generally with 10+ years of business experience. They are currently in or transitioning to roles in international operations and possess future growth potential within their companies.

The University of Maryland (UMD) today announced the appointment of Julie Lenzer as Associate Vice President for Economic Development, effective December 12, 2016. Lenzer will also serve as Director of UM Ventures – College Park in the UMD Division of Research.

Lenzer is an award-winning software entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, investor, and educator with a foundation in innovation-based economic development.

Great news in the happiest season of the year. We’ve published our 3D neuronal models for drug screening in Nature Scientific Reports and we received a grant with Pittsburg University for liver-on-a-chip. Of course we’re looking forward to meet you at the SLAS2017 in Washington and at the ISSCR in Basel. And Christmas would not be Christmas without our warm wishes for the holiday season and the year 2017. We’re definitely looking forward to it!

Cambridge Innovation Center has signed onto 127,000 square feet at UCity Square in Philadelphia.

Known as CIC, the Boston-based company will occupy space at 3675 Market St. in University City. It operates in a similar fashion as a co-working space and incubator, providing flexible space to entrepreneurial startups and other companies. Since its founding in 1999, companies that have been housed in CIC space have raised more than $2.5 billion and added an estimated 40,000 jobs to the economy, according to the company’s website.

Russ Ramsey, Peter Scher and Ted Leonsis have joined with 14 other CEOs to create the Greater Washington Partnership to boost the regional economy and tackle transportation issues. It joins several other business groups with similar goals, though its focus will be on the broader region from Baltimore to Richmond.

While technology is no silver bullet able to solve all that ails the healthcare industry, it has always been part and parcel of any revolution.

Think of the printing revolution and its influence of the Protestant Reformation that forever created a breach in the Catholic church.

Nearly half of the U.S. states and the District of Columbia saw a 10 percent or greater increase in higher education R&D expenditures from FY 2010 to FY 2015 with five of those states (Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Utah) seeing at least a 20 percent change, according to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey for 2015. Between FY10-15 overall U.S. research and development (R&D) spending at U.S. universities grew 12.1 percent, from about $61.2 billion to $68.7 billion.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a new initiative this week to grow the life science research cluster throughout the state, pledging $550 million through a variety of programs including tax incentives, state capital grants, and investment capital with an expected match of $100 million from private sector partnerships for operating support.

Looking for the world’s best university startups! $1,500,000 in PRIZES 42 Startup Teams will be invited to compete in front of hundreds of investors, mentors, and partners to help launch their startups!

Competition Dates: April 6-8, 2017 – Rice University, Houston, Texas

Apply Now: Deadline: Friday, February 10, 2017

After a national search, Mike Psarouthakis has been selected as the new director of the U-M Tech Transfer Venture Center. The Venture Center is responsible for helping to identify, develop and launch new startups based on U-M technologies, and works alongside licensing, legal and marketing specialists within U-M Tech Transfer.

Nineteen. That’s the number of new drugs approved by the FDA thus far in 2016. With just over two weeks to go, there is little hope for a stellar year like 2015, which yielded 45 approvals.

What gives?

State boundaries matter for all sorts of reasons. The state you live in determined how much your vote counted in the 2016 election. It shapes what kind of benefits your employer might offer you, what taxes you pay, what kind of schools you can attend, and much more.

An update on the Cancer Moonshot Initiative and more at the 11th PMWC 2017 Silicon Valley with 250+ speakers and 50+ sessions

While its creation was only announced earlier this year, with Vice President Joe Biden at the helm instilling hope and calling for action, the Cancer Moonshot may shockingly be nearing its end, as we know it. Uncertainties overshadow the future of this initiative as the White House Cancer Task Force is expected to exist in its current configuration only until the end of the Obama Administration, January 20, 2017.

A startup dream has been realized, while an old pharma company tries to turn a new leaf.

On Monday, 60-year-old Purdue Pharma announced a strategic partnership with Exicure, a 2009 startup that could pull as much as $790 million and royalties if its drug candidates succeed.

The term “company DNA” is sometimes used as a shorthand for an organization’s culture and strategy — a metaphor for what makes it unique. But there may be more to the metaphor. Understanding your company’s DNA can help you know what you can and can’t do, and how to achieve agility and authenticity in a changing world.

The starting point for achieving value in any health care system is to measure outcomes. Although this can present leadership challenges related to shifting strategy, culture and operations, it certainly isn’t rocket science. There are hundreds of provider organizations the world over that have already implemented outcomes measurement, and this number increases every week. Regardless, many providers still believe that measuring outcomes is too difficult to do.

With CoapTech, Steven Tropello and Howard Carolan are working on new technology for replacing patients’ feeding tubes.

The approach, called Percutaneous Ultrasound Gastrostomy, or PUG, utilizes a device with magnets that doctors can use to guide a feeding tube into place. It also features an ultrasound that allows doctors to see what is happening inside the body as the tube as it goes to the stomach, and identify the safest site for the tube to be placed.

It was a huge year for Marriott International Inc., as it closed on its acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

And that meant it was also a huge year for Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson.

AbbVie (ABBV), a global biopharmaceutical company, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine today announced that they signed a five-year collaboration agreement with the goal of advancing medical oncology research and discovery at both organizations.

Designed to build strong collaboration between AbbVie and Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, the agreement will focus on several areas of oncology research, which could include lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and hematological cancer.

Funding and Research OpportunitiesThe following funding opportunity announcements from the NHLBI or other components of the National Institutes of Health, might be of interest:

Notices:

• Notice of Extension of the Response Date for NOT-OD-17-015 “Strategies for
• NIH Data Management, Sharing, and Citation”
• (NOT-OD-17-025) National Institutes of Health
• Revision: Participation of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial
• Research (NIDCR) in PAR-15-282 “Multidisciplinary Studies of HIV/AIDS and
• Aging (R21)”
• (NOT-DE-17-005)
• National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
• Request for Information (RFI): Biological Mechanisms/Pathways of the Combined
• Effects of Chemical and Non-chemical Stressors Associated with Atherosclerosis
• (NOT-ES-17-003)
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Catalyzing
• Innovation in Late Phase Clinical Trial Design and Statistical Analysis Plans
• (U34)
• (NOT-HL-16-473)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Catalyzing
• Innovation in Late Phase Clinical Trial Design and Statistical Analysis Plans
• (X01)
• (NOT-HL-16-474)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for NHLBI Early
• Phase Clinical Trials for Therapeutics and/or Diagnostics (R61/R33)
• (NOT-HL-16-475)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Sex
• Hormone Induced Thromboembolism in Pre-Menopausal Women (R61/R33)
• (NOT-HL-16-477)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Soon to be Issued Funding Opportunity for All of Us Research Program
• Community Engagement (OT2)
• (NOT-PM-17-001)
• National Institutes of Health
• Notice of Change to Background for RFA-RM-16-024 “Knowledge Management
• Center for Illuminating the Druggable Genome (U24)”
• (NOT-RM-17-002)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives
• Notice of Change to Background for RFA-RM-16-025 “Resource Dissemination and Outreach Center for Illuminating the Druggable Genome (U24)”
• (NOT-RM-17-003)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives
• Notice of Change to Background for RFA-RM-16-026 “Data and Resource
• Generation Centers for Illuminating the Druggable Genome (U24)”
• (NOT-RM-17-004)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives

Honoring those who see past the present to define the future

The future is not granted. It is born from the imagination of entrepreneurs. If you are a successful entrepreneur or have been inspired by an enterprising trailblazer, we’d like you to submit a nomination to the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2017 program.

About the Entrepreneur Of The Year Program

Since 1986, EY has celebrated the accomplishments of thousands of entrepreneurs who have shaped the way we live, work and play. We recognize and honor these inspiring individuals through the Entrepreneur Of The Year.

Over three decades, the program has grown to span more than 145 cities, in more than 60 countries, and now boasts a roster of nearly 10,000 visionary trailblazers here in the US.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Dear Friends and Colleagues, This next DC SoPE event is a must for every healthcare/life science entrepreneur, innovator, and potential investor! Our panel will answer questions about terms sheets from the audience…from the most basic to the most erudite. Please join us and pass the information along to your constituents and stakeholders. Thanks for your support in nurturing the Healthcare/Life science ecosystem in the DC region.

Inova announced today that Milton L. Brown, MD, PhD, has joined Inova where he will serve as director of the new Inova Center for Drug Discovery and Development and as deputy director for Drug Discovery for the Inova Schar Cancer Institute (ISCI). Dr. Brown is a physician scientist who has expertise in the design, synthesis, and evaluation of new drugs and is one of only a handful of physician scientists in the United States who hold a PhD in synthetic chemistry and an MD. He comes to Inova from Georgetown University Medical Center where he was founding director of the Drug Discovery Program (DDP).

Wednesday, December 14, 7 – 11 amFalls Church Marriott Fairview Park

Super Early Bird expires November 3rd for our CONNECTpreneur Winter Forum, headlined by Revolution Chairman & CEO, STEVE CASE, former AOL Time Warner Chair and New York Times bestselling author of The Third Wave.

The Big Idea CONNECTpreneur FORUM has been called “The Best Networking Event in DC.” DCInno calls CONNECTpreneur a “NETWORKING JACKPOT” of the DC Region’s TOP Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders, CXOs, Angels, and VCs.

BioBuzz Workforce Foundation, Inc., a social community organization whose mission is to build a more connected bioscience industry in the region, today announced a partnership with The City of Frederick Department of Economic Development and the Frederick County Chapter of BioBeers Meetup group. This new collaboration will give Frederick companies access to BioBuzz’s BioHive Platform and showcase them as important components within the ecosystem.

The Trump administration will have an opportunity to reevaluate policies that affect innovation and technological development. How can federal policies promote broadband buildout, spur investment in intelligent infrastructure, encourage research and development, and advance a host of other actions that have the potential to improve productivity and the U.S. economy? Join ITIF and the Technology Policy Institute to discuss how the Trump administration can accelerate the pace of innovation in the U.S. economy.

It’s hard to get excited about a biotech shared-space in 2016.

Four years ago, it was an exciting and rapidly diversifying field. Now incubators are par for the course, with most Big Pharma and many institutions operating their own version.

Mass Innovation Labs was late to the game, opening in May 2015. But it is clearly doing something different.

A defining moment in modern biology occurred on July 24, 1978, when biotechnology pioneer Robert Swanson, who had recently co-founded Genentech, brought two young scientists to dinner with Thomas Perkins, the legendary venture capitalist. As they stood outside Perkins’s magnificent mansion in Marin County, with its swimming pool and garden and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Swanson turned to his two young colleagues and said, “This is what we’re all working for.”

Lingering for more than two years, the revamped 21st Century Cures bill, unveiled in late November, has now been approved by the House and Senate and President Barack Obama has said he will sign it.

The 996-page bill includes major tweaks to the way in which the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates drugs, devices and biologics, while providing the agency with $500 million over 10 years to implement provisions that seek to move such products to patients more quickly, while maintaining the same standard for safety and effectiveness that the agency has adhered to in the past.

Entrepreneurs can’t sit still for long.

Four months after announcing his departure from Google Ventures (now GV), which he cofounded and led, Bill Maris is reportedly raising a fresh $230 million VC fund that will focus on healthcare investments.

President-elect Trump didn’t talk a lot about the Food and Drug Administration while he was on the campaign trail, but judging from what he did say, he will want the FDA to approve new drugs and products much faster.

The one thing venture capitalists and the medtech industry don’t want you to know is that innovation can sometimes be used as a manipulation to evade the law.

The industry can sometimes, even knowingly, be deceptive in three very specific ways. These are: lie to government agencies, underreport adverse events, blame the employees and consumer (victims). My goal as a federal whistleblower is to explain how these at times carefully crafted lies impacts each of you.

The rise of diabetes is causing avoidable deaths and imposing substantial costs on ailing healthcare systems. Alarmed, lawmakers are attempting to improve prevention and get the emerging pandemic under control.

Diabetes is a growing healthcare challenge and one of the four priority noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, targeted for urgent action by world leaders.

Walking around San Francisco’s Union Square during biotech conference season in January—during this time of industry prosperity—you might expect it to be crawling with brainy young people. You might expect hot startups to come from students and postdocs, like in the tech industry, with VCs scrambling to get in on the ground floor.

Despite a recent tapering of year-on-year growth, the global market for prescription drugs is forecast to reach $1.5 trillion per year by 2021, a 33 percent increase from 2016.

That’s according to a new report by the QuintilesIMS Institute, the research arm of the healthcare informatics company QuintilesIMS.

Ascension Ventures (AV) has finalized its latest strategic venture capital fund at $255 million. This fourth fund for AV, CHV IV, L.P., brings the firm’s total assets under management to more than $800 million. The new fund is backed by 13 health system partners, which enable AV to continue to add value to its portfolio companies while simultaneously delivering financial and strategic returns to the partners.

University of Maryland (UM) Ventures and CoapTech, LLC, announced today that the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has granted CoapTech exclusive licensing rights for the commercial development of a platform technology called Coaptive Ultrasound. CoapTech will use the technology, initially, to bring to market a medical device allowing non-surgical providers to safely perform feeding tube placement at the bedside through a novel procedure termed PUG (Percutaneous Ultrasound Gastrostomy). PUG is a minimally invasive and more cost-effective method for the placement of permanent gastrostomy (feeding) tubes into stomachs of patients who need long-term nutritional supplementation.

WorkSource Montgomery, Inc., the workforce development resource for Montgomery County businesses and career seekers, is collaborating with Montgomery College, which will serve as the lead on a $5.6 million America’s Promise grant. The grant will provide IT and cybersecurity training for students to ensure Montgomery County is better equipped to meet local business needs.

MedImmune and Abpro said today they will partner to develop a preclinical, novel, bispecific antibody targeting angiopoietin-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (Ang2-VEGF).

Through the collaboration—whose value was not disclosed—several potential therapeutic areas will be explored where inhibition of the Ang2 and VEGF pathways with the bispecific antibody may provide clinical benefit, MedImmune and Abpro said.

Investigators at the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS) at Tufts Medical Center (Tufts MC) and Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) – a shared resource between Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), together with the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine’s Brain Injury Outcomes (BIOS) Division and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), won a seven-year, $25 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) to form one of only three new national Trial Innovation Centers (TICs) that will provide high-quality design and operational support to investigators conducting multi-center clinical trials.

Marriott Hotels in Europe has launched an accelerator program for tech companies to enhance the travel and hospitality experience. Each startup will be given expert guidance and the opportunity to pilot their product. Following a successful test period, Marriott Hotels could potentially offer them an ongoing partnership.

AstraZeneca will partner with Bicycle Therapeutics to develop respiratory, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease treatments based on Bicycle’s proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle®) product platform through a collaboration that the Cambridge, U.K., startup said today could generate for it more than $1 billion.

Under the collaboration, Bicycle has agreed to identify Bicycle bicyclic peptides for an undisclosed number of targets specified by AstraZeneca. The pharma giant has agreed to oversee further development and product commercialization.

Alexandria Real Estate CEO Joel Marcus on the company’s deal to develop Merck’s new research facility in California.

Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE:BDX) presented their roadmap for the future on their recent analyst day briefing. The presentation laid out ambitious plans that management has set out for the company through to 2019, including targeting top line expansion and double-digit bottom line expansion to be driven by margin improvements. The management has also set out to increase dividends through to 2019, through roughly $11 billion in operating cash flow (OCF) generation.

BioBuzz Workforce Foundation, Inc., a social community organization whose mission is to build a more connected bioscience industry in the region, today announced a partnership with The City of Frederick Department of Economic Development and the Frederick County Chapter of BioBeers Meetup group. This new collaboration will give Frederick companies access to BioBuzz’s BioHive Platform and showcase them as important components within the ecosystem.

QIAGEN and CosmosID, a leading genomic big data company, today announced the launch of a metagenomics analysis plugin for the QIAGEN Microbial Genomics Pro Suite and CLC Genomics Workbench. The launch of the Cosmos ID plugin expands QIAGEN’s industry leading platform for NGS bioinformatics and strengthens its role as a provider of Sample to Insight metagenomics solutions.

Seeking to deliver the “final nail in the coffin for HIV,” NIH scientists have kicked off a large clinical trial of a vaccine regimen this week in South Africa.

Under a collaboration that includes GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases started a phase 2b/3 trial of a new vaccine regimen in 5,400 sexually active men and women aged 18 to 35 who don’t have the infection. They’ll receive five injections over a year.

A five-year extension of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs took a big step forward at the end of November.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, announced that language she wrote seeking the extension was included in a compromise National Defense Authorization Act, with votes expected soon.

This request for information (RFI) seeks comments regarding early translational research activities supported by NHLBI.

Background

NHLBI seeks to facilitate and accelerate the development of new clinical interventions by bridging the gaps between mechanistic, discovery, and early translational research. This includes providing appropriate mechanisms to support investigator-initiated research, addressing resource and knowledge gaps, and creating initiatives to support career development of translational scientists and biomedical entrepreneurs.

The emergence of big data, as well as advancements in data science approaches and technology, is providing pharmaceutical companies with an opportunity to gain novel insights that can enhance and accelerate drug development. It will increasingly help government health agencies, payers, and providers to make decisions about such issues as drug discovery, patient access, and marketing. From our unique vantage points at Genentech, a leading biotechnology company with a major data science practice, and The Data Incubator, a data-science education company that places and trains data scientists, we have seen how the pharmaceuticals industry has leveraged big data for some potentially revolutionary advances and the challenges it has faced along the way.

In its third year of mentoring and investing in cybersecurity start-ups in Northern Virginia, state-funded start-up accelerator Mach37 is starting to show it can churn out self-sustaining businesses.

Quasi-public venture capital firm MassVentures reports that its SBIR Targeted Technologies (START) program has invested $12 million into 50 companies that need more time to commercialize high-risk, high-reward technologies — and those companies have leveraged that state investment to raise an additional $278 million in outside capital.

Scientific efforts to find cures for cancer will be severely hampered if the scientific community does not change the ways in which patient data is collected, shared, and analyzed. The development of targeted therapies and immunotherapies — the two biggest hopes for cancer cures — depend on the existence of large data sets comprising patients’ genetic and clinical information. Today, that data is fragmented and guarded in silos. Indeed, the well-kept secret in the cancer space is that progress in finding cures is being impeded as much by the lack of sharing by the players in the precision medicine ecosystem as it is by the stubbornness of the underlying science.

Sean Parker decided to take on cancer by throwing so many deep-rooted basics of research tradition out the window that he very nearly drove away the academics he wanted to attract.

As part of its longstanding commitment to Africa, Johnson & Johnson today announced the launch of the Africa Innovation Challenge, an initiative to support Africa’s vibrant and growing innovation ecosystem and to help develop important and locally sustainable consumer health solutions. The challenge is the latest initiative in the company’s comprehensive approach to advancing health and innovation worldwide. The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies’ presence in Africa dates back more than 80 years and includes business operations, public health programs and corporate citizenship.

Joint replacements. Cardiac care. Chemotherapy.

What do those things have to do with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act?

Economists and policymakers think the U.S. may be overpaying for such services, which helps drive up healthcare expenses for everyone. And the health law has a program that includes testing new ways to pay for care — including in those three areas — that might result in better quality and lower costs.

Thermo Fisher has bolstered its stem cell technology and reagent business through the acquisition of MTI-GlobalStem.

Buyout firms have taken an increasingly large role in healthcare, investing in the full range of companies: insurers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical-technology firms, and many kinds of service provider. Historically, success has come from making “smart bets” on companies well positioned to capitalize on an industry trend or shift. TPG’s buyout of Par Pharmaceutical and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice’s acquisition of Envision Healthcare are examples of investments that benefited from secular industry tailwinds. Those same factors have propelled the healthcare sector to a leading performance in public markets over the past five years (Exhibit 1).

America’s entrepreneurial economy is the envy of the world. Young companies account for almost 30 percent of new jobs, and as we have fought back from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, startups have helped the U.S. private sector create 15.5 million jobs since early 2010—the longest streak of private-sector job creation on record.

Today, in celebration of National Entrepreneurship Month, the Administration is releasing a Top 10 list of President Obama’s most significant specific actions to promote American entrepreneurship, as well as announcing new efforts to build on these successes. The President’s unprecedented focus on the role of startups in the United States’ innovation economy is exemplified by his launch of Startup America in 2011, a White House initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the Nation.

Venture capital has been on a good run over the past few years across a range of sectors; even with recent slowdown relative to 2014-2015, venture-backed investments remain above historic averages. In fact, the first three quarters of 2016 alone are already higher than the annual rate of venture investing in all but two years since 2002.

Fri, December 9, 2016 – 8:30 AM – 1:00 PM EST

Montgomery Community Media in partnership with the Maryland/DC District Export Council, the US Commercial Service, the Maryland Department of Commerce, and the Small Business Administration present a three-hour program on the challenges and opportunities facing companies going global. The program will feature 3 panels covering key aspects of international trade, including trade finance and local resources that facilitate trade. Speakers include government executives as well as CEOs who have successfully taken their companies international.

Wednesday, December 14, 7 – 11 amFalls Church Marriott Fairview Park

Super Early Bird expires November 3rd for our CONNECTpreneur Winter Forum, headlined by Revolution Chairman & CEO, STEVE CASE, former AOL Time Warner Chair and New York Times bestselling author of The Third Wave.

The Big Idea CONNECTpreneur FORUM has been called “The Best Networking Event in DC.” DCInno calls CONNECTpreneur a “NETWORKING JACKPOT” of the DC Region’s TOP Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders, CXOs, Angels, and VCs.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Dear Friends and Colleagues, This next DC SoPE event is a must for every healthcare/life science entrepreneur, innovator, and potential investor! Our panel will answer questions about terms sheets from the audience…from the most basic to the most erudite. Please join us and pass the information along to your constituents and stakeholders. Thanks for your support in nurturing the Healthcare/Life science ecosystem in the DC region.

Quantified Care is making moves this fall.

The health IT startup received an investment from KiwiVenture Partners II earlier this month. The terms of the infusion from the New York-based venture firm were not disclosed.

A $65 million building was dedicated Monday afternoon at the East Baltimore Development Inc. project that will include a business incubator, research space and a Starbucks job training site.

The Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine will receive $138 million in federal funds that will support the work of the newly created Center for International Health, Education and Biosecurity to build programs in Africa to combat HIV/AIDS.

Venture capital has been on a good run over the past few years across a range of sectors; even with recent slowdown relative to 2014-2015, venture-backed investments remain above historic averages. In fact, the first three quarters of 2016 alone are already higher than the annual rate of venture investing in all but two years since 2002.

House and Senate health committee leaders have released the final “21st Century Cures” bill and announced that the House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on a $6.3 Billion landmark medical innovation package that will accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of new cures and treatments and provide new funding for the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration. The leaders said the House would also vote Wednesday to include in the Cures bill legislation that updates major mental health programs for the first time in a decade. The new funding includes $1 billion in state grants to fight opioid abuse.

The University of Virginia Health System has named its first-ever Chief Innovation Officer, a position that’s expected to bridge the gap between research and treatment.

UVA is home to revolutionizing research and technology but newly-hired CIO Jeff Keller will facilitate in putting the research to use.

House and Senate leaders announced late Friday night that they had finally hammered out a deal on landmark legislation designed to speed federal approval of new drugs and devices and boost funding of medical research.

But what Republican lawmakers call the “final” version of the 21st Century Cures Act is actually still in negotiation with Senate Democrats, a senior Democratic aide told STAT on Sunday.

The 2017 FLC Awards is now open for nominations. One of the most coveted honors in the technology transfer field, the FLC Awards have been presented to over 200 federal laboratories since their inception in 1984. Many of our winning technology transfer efforts have gone on to become products and devices that are indispensable in our daily lives, including:

The i6 Challenge award sets aim on enhancing Long Island Bioscience Ecosystem

The Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University has announced that is has received a three-year, $500,000 U.S. Department of Commerce i6 Challenge Investment. The award will support the Center for Biotechnology’s (CFB) efforts to bolster the regional bioscience ecosystem by supporting a formal mentorship program, as well as a critical NIH-focused SBIR/STTR training and application development program which will assist in capital formation and launching new companies.

Tuesday, November 29th | 10:00am – 12:00 pm Rockville Innovation Center, 155 Gibbs Street, Rockville, MD 20850

Hosted by BioHealth Innovation

You’ve probably heard about the Cloud, Big Data and Machine Learning, but where does the hype end and the true value of these technologies begin? Can, or should, your business leverage these technologies? Mark Weston and Matt Puglisi from Netrias LLC (www.netrias.com) will describe the current state of the art for Cloud computing, Big Data and Machine Learning to help you better leverage these technologies for your business.

Mark Weston, Chief Software Architect, is a software engineer with extensive experience in applying distributed database technologies to problems at scale. Matt Puglisi, Chief Executive Officer is a seasoned leader with successful experience as a technology company executive, a leader of research and development efforts, government service, and military service

Please RSVP by November 22nd to Joyce Debrowski (jdebrowski@scheerpartners.com | (301) 279-2222). The event is open to the first 30 registrants only.

International Trade – The Basics for Bio & Technology Companies

Attend this lunch-and-learn event to hear global industry experts discuss how Maryland companies can leverage resources to fund and market their international ambitions. Hear from one local company who has successfully taken advantage of these tools.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Existing companies and startups in the life sciences and health technology industries

PANELISTS: 

Jessica Reynolds, Regional Manager for Europe and Africa at Maryland Department of Commerce’s Office of International Investment and Trade

Barry Bogage, Executive Director of Maryland Israel Development Center

Carla Menendez McManus, Commercial Officer at U.S. Export Assistance Center

Dr. Hyacinth Ntchobo, Founder and CEO of MagBio Genomics

Lunch provided.

Thursday, December 1, 2016 | 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Hosted by the Maryland/Israel Development Center 

Samuel E. Feigin, Partner, Crowell & Moring LLP 

Event Chair

The Showcase is a fantastic networking event and expo. It will feature booths for Israeli companies in Maryland, as well as Maryland companies who have business relationships with Israeli companies. In addition, the program will feature insight from the heart of the U.S.-Israel business world from one of its foremost leaders, Zur Feldman. This is your chance to meet leaders from Israeli hi-tech, life sciences, cyber and homeland security companies and others operating in Maryland. This is a great opportunity for local companies, investors and organizations who want to explore or expand their involvement in the robust U.S.-Israel business ecosystem and for all to learn about that ecosystem.

A life sciences incubator formerly run by Montgomery County is now being managed by a public-private partnership that focuses on helping central Maryland scientists and bio-health startups bring their ideas to market. Rockville-based BioHealth Innovation Inc. at the start of October began managing the Germantown Innovation Center, which is part of the Pinkey Innovation Complex for Science and Technology at Montgomery

Calling all innovators, startups, and entrepreneurs: join us in participating in the first-ever #FosterlyCensus — a region-wide, community project gathering information and statistics about our rapidly expanding ecosystem. Be a part of the most comprehensive, resourceful survey our city has ever seen by filling out the info at http://fosterly.com.

As the IoT reels from and struggles with ongoing security issues stemming from DDoS and botnet and SSH and DNS and innumerable other interrelated problems, the industry needs outside input and leadership to give it strategic guidance.

According to a recent announcement, one such source of guidance will be in the form of the Rockville Innovation Center (RIC) in Montgomery County, Maryland, where BioHealth Innovation (BHI) has partnered with The MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit corporation that operates federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), including the National Cybersecurity FFRDC, to look for innovative solutions to next-generation security threats.

In an effort to accelerate growth in the cybersecurity and health technology industries in Montgomery County, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) has partnered with The MITRE Corporation of McLean, Virginia—a not-for-profit corporation that operates federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), including the National Cybersecurity FFRDC.

BHI will serve as the primary manager for the Rockville Innovation Center (RIC), which is home of BHI’s health tech startup accelerator, Relevant Health. MITRE will provide the resident RIC start-up companies technical mentorship and insight into the most pressing cybersecurity challenges facing business and government today. This collaboration is an extension of a strategic initiative recently launched by MITRE to act as an innovation bridge between the private and public sectors.

The RIC will support start-ups and attract early-stage technology companies within these key technology sectors to graduate companies into commercial spaces in Montgomery County in a few short years.

As Maryland emerges as a hotbed for research and commercial opportunities in the biohealth industry, many small businesses in this sector see the state as a good place to grow. When William Hearl started building Rockville-based Immunomic Therapeutics Inc. a decade ago, much of the initial learning curve was finding that sweet spot between creating their

Roche said today it will launch a CHF 100 million ($100.1 million) global network of 21 academic centers focused on cancer immunotherapy R&D.

The new Centers of Research Excellence (imCORE™) Network aims to advance promising new immuno-oncology treatments by quickly carrying out preclinical and clinical research, as well as aggregating and sharing data.

Gaitherburg-based OpGen Inc. has entered a new partnership with pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. in a collaboration officials say will help more quickly combat so-called superbugs with rapid diagnostic tests.

OpGen, which has focused on creating rapid DNA diagnostic tools to improve antibiotic decision-making, has been building a bank of bacterial pathogens to offer more accurate infection diagnostic testing.

Integrated BioTherapeutics (IBT) announced today that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) whereby Emergent will gain exclusive rights to use IBT’s proprietary vaccine antigens and know-how in a joint research, development, and manufacturing collaboration focused on an equine-based hyperimmunoglobulin for the treatment of hemorrhagic fever caused by Filoviruses. Financial terms of the agreement are not disclosed.

AstraZeneca today announced the completion of the licensing agreement between MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, and Allergan plc, for the global rights to MEDI2070.

MEDI2070 is an IL-23 monoclonal antibody currently in a Phase IIb clinical trial for moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease and ready for Phase II for ulcerative colitis, diseases that sit outside AstraZeneca’s three main therapy areas.

HTG Molecular Diagnostics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HTGM) and QIAGEN Manchester Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of QIAGEN N.V. (Nasdaq: QGEN). This Agreement creates a framework for both companies to combine their technological and commercial strengths with the goal to offer pharmaceutical companies a complete NGS-based solution for the development and commercialization of companion diagnostics, with a focus in oncology. Together with the parties’ entry into the Agreement, QIAGEN North American Holdings, Inc., another QIAGEN subsidiary, made a minority investment in HTG’s common stock.

Baltimore-based Glyscend Inc. was awarded one of three $500,000 research grants from Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC and its research arm Janssen as part of the health care giant’s World Without Disease QuickFire Challenge.

Glyscend was spun out of Johns Hopkins University and continues operations as part of the Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures program. The company is currently in the process of raising a Series A funding round, with a goal of between $5 million and $10 million. The Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) grant money will help the company reach its goal, said Ashish Nimgaonkar, co-founder and CEO.

Faculty from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Johns Hopkins University and local entrepreneurs were recently recognized for their groundbreaking research with $200,000 in prizes.

The awards were made by the two universities, the Abell Foundation and the Maryland Department of Commerce as part of a day-long 2016 Innovation Showcase. The event was cohosted by the Johns Hopkins Alliance for Science and Technology Development and the University of Maryland, Baltimore Commercial Advisory Board.

GSK has recently been ranked first in the Access to Medicine Index for the fifth consecutive time, taking a leadership position in research and development, pricing, manufacturing and distribution, and product donations.

The Index, which recognises GSK for its clear access to medicines strategy and company-wide ownership, is an independent measure of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to improve access to healthcare in developing countries.

When a scientist discovers a new drug to cure a disease, it’s cheers all around. But what happens next? How is the drug produced for commercialization so that it can actually be administered to a patient?

That’s where Michael Betenbaugh, a Whiting School of Engineering professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, comes in. He and his laboratory team are working with researchers at MedImmune to develop a more efficient media in which to grow the microbes used to produce genetically engineered human antibodies for testing, development and commercialization.

EY has named J.W. “Bill” Marriott, Jr., Marriott (MAR) International Executive Chairman, its 2016 US EY Entrepreneur of the Year. The honor was announced at the EY Strategic Growth Forum in Palm Springs, California.

The legendary hotelier credits hard work and high expectations for his associates as two key reasons for his success. Under his more than 50 years of leadership, Marriott has grown from a family restaurant business into the world’s largest hotel chain.

During the STRT1UP Roadshow, lots of companies around the state pitched on the Startup Maryland bus.

They were looking to get exposure from the video evidence it provided, but also looking to move on to the next round.

TEDCO’s Entrepreneur Expo came to Baltimore this year, hosting an all-day session at the Hilton on Monday.

The annual event attracts founders, investors and other community members from around the state. For the past several years, it was held in Columbia.

Startup Maryland yesterday unveiled the finalist for the Pitch Across Maryland Competition. Startup Maryland is proud to showcase the finalists along with all the ventures who participated in the 2016 STRT1UP Roadshow celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship. This year’s Finalist for each category are listed below with a link to their 2016 pitch video:

Deloitte today released the 2016 Technology Fast 500, an annual ranking of the fastest growing North American companies in the technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech sectors. Loot Crate claimed the top spot with a growth rate of 66,661 percent from 2012 to 2015.

Based in Los Angeles, Loot Crate delivers monthly curated mystery boxes of entertainment and pop culture themed collectibles to fans. Founded in 2012, Loot Crate has more than 650,000 subscribers worldwide in 35 countries. Loot Crate’s position at the top of this year’s list showcases how innovation isn’t always about new technology and invention, but also about ingenuity, the recombining of existing assets and know-how in new ways to maximize value.

California, the nation’s birthplace of biotechnology, continues to add jobs in that sector and the life sciences in general, a trade association reported Wednesday.

While growth is slow, the life sciences remain a potent economic force, especially in San Diego County and the San Francisco Bay area. There are also signs of expansion in Los Angeles County, which has long been overshadowed by its neighbors to the north and south.

International Trade – The Basics for Bio & Technology Companies

Attend this lunch-and-learn event to hear global industry experts discuss how Maryland companies can leverage resources to fund and market their international ambitions. Hear from one local company who has successfully taken advantage of these tools. WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Existing companies and startups in the life sciences and health technology industries

OCTOBER 27, 2015 @ 8:00 AM – OCTOBER 29, 2015 @ 5:00 PM

Join us for the 17th Annual National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research & Small Business Technology Transfer Conference. This year’s conference From Washington to Washington: Supporting Small Business Innovation for Health, will provide attendees an opportunity to learn more about the $780 million in annual NIH funding available exclusively for small businesses to perform innovative research and build new businesses based on their technologies.

A Chinese group has become the first to inject a person with cells that contain genes edited using the revolutionary CRISPR–Cas9 technique.

On 28 October, a team led by oncologist Lu You at Sichuan University in Chengdu delivered the modified cells into a patient with aggressive lung cancer as part of a clinical trial at the West China Hospital, also in Chengdu.

A $25,000 contribution from AT&T will help the MdBio Foundation boost science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in Maryland. The contribution supports MdBio programs for underserved high school and rising middle school students, including the MdBioLab, a mobile laboratory that travels across the state giving students hands-on STEM experiences.

Brian Gaines, CEO of the MdBio Foundation, made the announcement during today’s Advancing Tomorrow’s Leaders in STEM (ATLAS) event at the University of Maryland BioPark in Baltimore. ATLAS is a college and career readiness symposium that offers students underrepresented in STEM an opportunity to connect with business leaders, colleges, government agencies and potential employers.

The Tech Council of Maryland is pleased to announce their new chairman and recently named board members representing a diverse coalition of Maryland technology, life sciences, legal and academic professionals.

Incoming Chairman Rene B. LaVigne has over 25 years of sales, marketing, operations, finance and accounting experience in the information technology and financial industries. He also serves as President and Chief Executive of Iron Bow Technologies.

When historians look back at the presidential election of 2016 they will certainly have many questions, but perhaps the biggest one isn’t getting enough attention today. “What the (insert the popular profanity of the future)?” they will likely ask. “Why was there hardly any mention of climate change?” Or will the future inhabitants of Earth be so distracted by survival that they won’t even care what happened in 2016 when the greatest country on the planet at that time denied this problem existed?

Relevant Health alumni, Agewell Biometrics is in the running to win the Medstartr Open Crowd Challenge. You can suppoprt them and help end the epidemic of avoidable falls in the elderly. Make a tax deductable donation or show your support by ‘Liking’ the campaign and help Agewell over the finish line.

Agewell’s Equilibrium™ platform is the first automated, fall prevention system. Using a smartphone, and soon a wearable sensor, Equilibrium™ measures strength, balance and physical function in order to identify fall risk, giving an early window of opportunity to take the right preventative steps before a fall happens.

One in three people aged 65 years and older fall every year – the leading cause of injury-related deaths amongst older adults, in addition to causing loss of independence, social isolation and depression. As many as 50% of these falls could be prevented with simple exercises, but only once a problem is identified. Equilibrium™ gives you the early warning for fall risk and soon you’ll be able to download it on your iOS or Android phone as a simple-to-use app.

A diagnostic test developer, miDIAGNOSTICS, has inked a deal with a Baltimore-based healthcare startup emocha to provide a way to conduct diagnostic tests through silicon chips and transmit those lab test results through the cloud, according to a press release.

Montgomery County’s Business Innovation Network is pleased to announce that Rockville’s own ReveraGen BioPharma, Inc., a Rockville Innovation Center tenant, granted an option to in-license vamorolone to Swiss company Actelion Ltd. This agreement marks the first tech transfer out of Children’s National Medical Center. Prior to moving to the Rockville Innovation Center, ReveraGen made their home at the Shady Grove Innovation Center.

Actelion Ltd and ReveraGen BioPharma, Inc., announced via press release that they entered into an agreement on November 3, 2016. By this agreement, Actelion has obtained an exclusive option to in-license ReveraGen’s lead compound vamorolone for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at two different stages in its development.

The cofounders of startup that is looking to develop a vaccine for HPV are heading to a Buffalo accelerator.

PathoVax is among the new class of startups at 43North. A panel of judges and experts selected them as finalists after a big, fancy pitch competition held in late October meant to showcase Buffalo’s emerging tech chops.

Qiagen N.V., a leading global provider of sample to insight solutions, announced the validation of new and improved sequencing chemistry for its GeneReader NGS System, the world’s first complete Sample to Insight solution making the benefits of next-generation sequencing (NGS) accessible to any laboratory.

Qiagen published new, excellent performance data of the Qiagen GeneReader NGS System using the new sequencing chemistry and Qiagen’s GeneRead QIAact Actionable Insights Tumor Panel. Data generated from the GeneReader NGS System with the new chemistry showed 100% concordance with results of Qiagen’s FDA approved therascreen KRAS RGQ PCR assay, the company’s CE-labelled therascreen RAS Extension Pyro Assay as well as with an alternative next-generation sequencing (NGS) sequencer from another vendor. In this study, 42 metastatic colorectal cancer FFPE samples were tested with previously confirmed RAS mutational status.

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI), a privately-held, Maryland-based biotechnology company, today announced they are now accepting applications for their Cancer Discovery Incubator Award.

After experiencing partnering success and a $315 million deal with Japan-based Astellas Pharma Inc. for their LAMP-Vax platform technology in allergy, Immunomic Therapeutics, in concert with BioHealth Innovation, is giving back to the region’s growing scientific community with the Cancer Discovery Incubator Award. The incubator will enable and accelerate beginning ventures aimed at offering measurable change in oncological healt

Tuesday, November 29th | 10:00am – 12:00 pm Rockville Innovation Center, 155 Gibbs Street, Rockville, MD 20850

Hosted by BioHealth Innovation

You’ve probably heard about the Cloud, Big Data and Machine Learning, but where does the hype end and the true value of these technologies begin? Can, or should, your business leverage these technologies? Mark Weston and Matt Puglisi from Netrias LLC (www.netrias.com) will describe the current state of the art for Cloud computing, Big Data and Machine Learning to help you better leverage these technologies for your business.

Mark Weston, Chief Software Architect, is a software engineer with extensive experience in applying distributed database technologies to problems at scale. Matt Puglisi, Chief Executive Officer is a seasoned leader with successful experience as a technology company executive, a leader of research and development efforts, government service, and military service

Please RSVP by November 22nd to Joyce Debrowski (jdebrowski@scheerpartners.com | (301) 279-2222). The event is open to the first 30 registrants only.

Building Specifications:

• Up to 31,764 SF Available
• Rare large block of existing Class-A laboratory/office
• Heavily improved with casework, sinks, fume hoods, autoclaves, cold rooms
• Certified BSL-3 Suite
• Building is fully backed-up by emergency generator
• Complimentary membership to Alexandria FitLab fitness center
• Close proximity to Metro, FDA, NIH, lodging, restaurants and retail amenities

The mosquito-borne Zika virus — described in recent, grim federal warnings as “not controllable by current technologies”— could become an important source of hope for a regrouped Novavax Inc.

Gaithersburg-based Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX), still recovering from stunning negative results from its phase 3 trials of its lead respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for older adults, said this week that it had “exciting preclinical data” from its new Zika program.

A new five-year collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb aims to determine why some patients being treated for cancer respond to immunotherapy drugs called checkpoint blockers and some do not, and to develop more effective combination immunotherapies.

Projects included in the collaboration will span laboratory research on patients’ tumor samples and several early-stage clinical trials led by Johns Hopkins scientists at the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Thu, November 17, 20164:30 PM – 8:30 PM EST

Join more than 400 of the region’s business and government leaders for the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore’s Annual Meeting, November 17, 2016 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. While Maryland is known for its history and culture, food and beautiful landscape, this year’s annual meeting will celebrate one of the region’s greatest assets – the people – as they tell their stories. The program will recognize the region’s growing companies and those who make our community a world-class market in which to live, work, learn and invest.

NOVEMBER 16, 2016 5:00pm to 6:30pm

Host: UM BioPark & Wexford Science + Technology

Location: UM BioPark Invent & Advance Conference Rooms 801 W. Baltimore Street Baltimore Maryland 21201

Please join the BioPark’s Monthly Networking Event. Mingle with UM Venture program managers, BioPark tenants, and UMB faculty and staff.

Nominations are open for the 2017 Industry Awards Celebration. This will be our 29th year of recognizing the companies and individuals in the region who make a difference.

The Tech Council ignites the power of three by bringing together a trio of industries that are accelerating our local ecosystem—technology, life sciences, and health IT. It’s our mission to make this region a top three innovation economy, so we’re redefining what’s possible and helping to shape the future through ideation, collaboration, and innovation.

Join BioBuzz as we partner with BioIT Solutions to celebrate their 10th Anniversary at Growlers in Gaithersburg on November 16, 2016. BioIT Solutions offers a range of services from enterprise systems built on their 1Platform4 Suite for advanced computational, workflow, and data management systems to IT strategy, architecture and management consulting. The 1Platform Suite consists of a software foundation on which various highly configurable modules are assembled and tailored to each client’s specifications and needs.

The company was founded by IT experts who have worked in the biotechnology sector for over 20 years in a variety of information-technology capacities, including senior positions as CIO, and directors of Bioinformatics, Quality Systems and Clinical Systems at companies including Human Genome Sciences (now part of GlaxoSmithKline). The breadth of our experience makes us an ideal partner for early-stage companies, as well as those with legacy systems in need of modernization.

Thursday, December 1, 2016 | 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.

The more than 25 Showcase companies are some of the best from the robust U.S.-Israel Business ecosystem in fields including cyber security, homeland security, bio/pharma, environmental, healthcare, medical device and software. For more information on the companies, go to MarylandIsrael.org/showcase2016.

miDIAGNOSTICS, global developer of integrated diagnostic solutions for the point-of-need, announces that it has established a collaboration with emocha Mobile Health Inc. from Baltimore, MD, USA. A Johns Hopkins startup company, emocha has developed a platform of digital mobile applications that streamline the continuum of care. The goal of the collaboration is to enable mobile health solutions based on the miniaturized products for point-of-need under development by miDIAGNOSTICS.

Concerns over the role of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation could lead to legislation intended to hinder the agency and slow its attempts to further the goal of paying providers for value rather than volume.

While no specific legislative language has surfaced, multiple sources confirmed that Republicans upset with what they say is overreach by the CMS Innovation Center, also known as CMMI, are considering a legislative response. A few Republicans have previously said they would support repealing the agency entirely or zeroing out its budget. More modest efforts could include banning mandatory participation in payment models.

Get in the habit of producing good financial reports every single month. But you need more than just standard financial reports. You need a Management Dashboard that monitors critical metrics that may not pop out of your accounting reports. These monthly reports are a learning opportunity: What did we think would happen? What actually happened? Why was there a difference? Are we on track to hit our key milestones?

The day following the election of Donald J. Trump as President, a survey of leaders in biotechnology in the United States, conducted by GENETIC ENGINEERING & BIOTECHNOLOGY NEWS (GEN), showed that Trump’s presidency will negatively impact NIH research funding as well as STEM education; a plurality said it will also spark a “brain drain” as foreign-born researchers educated in American universities will be more likely to leave.

An end to Obamacare and a less aggressive approach to drug pricing expected

Pharmaceutical stocks surged in Europe on Wednesday as Republican Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election win led investors to conclude the threat of tough action on drug pricing had receded.

Five Top Intellectual Property Legal Experts and a Room Filled with Life Science and Healthcare Entrepreneurs…what could possibly happen?

Strategies for Start-ups (and Non-Start-ups) to Maintain, Protect and Unlock their Intellectual Property.

The workshop is intended for non-lawyers to understand IP issues and answer questions on just about every aspect of IP including; Copyrights, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, Patents, licensing, IP Due Diligence, IP Strategy, etc.

BioFactura is seeking highly motivated applicants with an entrepreneurial spirit for an open position in our biosimilar development programs. We are looking for qualified candidates with an associates, bachelor or masters degree in the life sciences with highly relevant skills and bench experience. The selected candidate will participate in the development and validation of various biosimilar product assays. In this position, the candidate will be responsible for planning, conducting, execution and analysis of experiments using various techniques in protein analysis. Relevant skills include HPLC/U-HPLC (HILIC, RP, SEC, CEX, AEX, affinity), capillary electrophoresis (CE), mass spec, SDS-PAGE, IEF, ELISA, qPCR. Knowledge of protein purification methods and process development/scale-up is a plus. Knowledge of Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) including analytical method qualification/validation and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) are desired. Experience in the preparation and delivery of oral and written presentations as well as participation in the preparation and submission of grants and/or manuscripts for publication are a plus. Excellent communication skills and the ability to analyze and interpret data, design appropriately controlled experiments independently, and maintain up-to-date laboratory notebooks are a must. This is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience with an innovative, small, young Biotech company and build a career in the biopharmaceutical industry. Candidates should feel comfortable working in a high risk/potential high reward environment and able to work overtime and weekends as project needs are determined.

Eric Hoffman, PhD, writes a lot of grants, proposals and papers. A lot. As Professor and Associate Dean of Research at Binghamton University following stints at George Washington University, Harvard Medical School, and University of Pittsburgh, Dr Hoffman is used to writing a lot.

He also writes grants and proposals for his other job as CEO of Reveragen BioPharma – a small biotech company that has slowly developed a drug to treat boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The cofounders of healthcare cybersecurity startup Protenus are providing insight to a think tank that focuses on protecting critical infrastructure from attacks.

Robert Lord and Nick Culbertson, who launched the company through Dreamit Health Baltimore after meeting in medical school at Johns Hopkins, were named fellows with the D.C.-based Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology.

Come to the “Before Party” of the Biopark’s monthly Science in the City Happy Hour! Join us for a tour then you are welcome to join us at SitC Happy Hour. Alternatively, if you are visiting us from outside of Baltimore, come during low traffic hours in the middle of the day and have lunch on us.

This Open House is designed for biotech professionals that are considering backup storage where a power outage or equipment failure could prove devastating to your initiatives. We are a boutique biorepository that work with some of the biggest names in Biotech to protect their biomaterials from equipment failure hazards.

New study finds that modification of the gut microbiome with a high concentration probiotic may reduce neurological inflammation found in many HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral treatment (ART)

MasterPeace Solutions Ltd., a cybersecurity contractor in Columbia, opened a new accelerator Thursday to support and grow startups founded internally by company employees.

The most interesting aspect of Foundation Medicine (NASDAQ:FMI) is that, last year, cancer giant Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) paid $50 per share to buy a 56% stake in the company. Bill Gates and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Ventures are also owners in this genomic testing company. However, right now, the stock is trading at $22.50, about half that Roche number.

Were all these smart people wrong? Did the M&A decision makers at Roche and the analysts working for Bill Gates and Google Ventures not do their homework? Or are we missing something here?

CSSi LifeSciences™, a trusted partner from discovery to commercialization for drugs and medical devices, is excited to announce the establishment and launch of its fully integrated Medical Device CRO. CSSi LifeSciences™ Medical Device CRO aims to positively impact the timeline of regulatory clearance and increase profitability for medical device companies, in order to successfully launch its innovative research discoveries and product concepts into the market.

Inova Health System and the University of Virginia plan to announce a $112 million partnership Wednesday that will bring a regional campus of UVa’s School of Medicine to Northern Virginia.

Back in February, Inova Health System announced it would create a $100 million venture fund. It offered few details at the time.

But as Inova officials celebrated another milestone Wednesday with an new University of Virginia partnership on multiple medical, research and business fronts, CEO Knox Singleton finally offered some details on Inova’s investment plans.

TEDCO is happy to announce its new Seed Investment Fund. After careful consideration of feedback received from our recent market stakeholder survey, we’ve decided to transform our Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF), Cyber Security Investment Fund (CIF) and Life Science Invest,ment Fund (LSIF) into a single Seed Investment Fund.

The new program will make it easier than ever for startup technology companies to seek Seed Funding from TEDCO.

GE Healthcare and Johns Hopkins Hospital partnered to construct a NASA-style command center to better manage patient safety, experience and volume. The Judy Reitz Capacity Command Center leverages systems engineering principles that are commonly used in the aerospace, aviation and power industries.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Roche’s PD-L1 assay as a diagnostic to identify PD-L1 expression levels in patients considering treatment with Tecentriq (atezolizumab) for previously treated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The Maryland Department of Commerce has an opportunity for you to soft land in the Hague Security Delta (HSD) — the largest security cluster of Europe — providing you with access to the full EU market.

Fri, December 9, 2016 – 8:30 AM – 1:00 PM EST

Montgomery Community Media in partnership with the Maryland/DC District Export Council, the US Commercial Service, the Maryland Department of Commerce, and the Small Business Administration present a three-hour program on the challenges and opportunities facing companies going global. The program will feature 3 panels covering key aspects of international trade, including trade finance and local resources that facilitate trade. Speakers include government executives as well as CEOs who have successfully taken their companies international.

Will big data cure cancer?

While there’s a lot of breathless talk about the potential of big data to do just that, Greg Simon, the Executive Director of the White House’s Cancer Moonshot Taskforce, is a skeptic–at least for now.

Israeli equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has launched a new fund specifically focused on the digital health field, called OurCrowd Qure. They will work with Johns Hopkins University to provide validation of value, market access, and on-going feedback on the startups.

“I think that crowdfunding for digital health makes a huge amount of sense,” John Medved, CEO of OurCrowd, told MobiHealthNews. “We’re not just raising money in a different way. We’re helping to build the company in a different way. A crowdfunding platform is uniquely positioned to help digital health leaders.”

Wednesday, December 14, 7 – 11 amFalls Church Marriott Fairview Park

Super Early Bird expires November 3rd for our CONNECTpreneur Winter Forum, headlined by Revolution Chairman & CEO, STEVE CASE, former AOL Time Warner Chair and New York Times bestselling author of The Third Wave.

The Big Idea CONNECTpreneur FORUM has been called “The Best Networking Event in DC.” DCInno calls CONNECTpreneur a “NETWORKING JACKPOT” of the DC Region’s TOP Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders, CXOs, Angels, and VCs.

Join us for an evening of food, drink, and revelry as we celebrate moving into our new prototyping and manufacturing facility! Tour the new offices and check out the workshop. See what all the buzz is about.

We’ll also have some entertainment for your inner geek. Get an introduction to some of the tools or test your robot driving skills with the “House Bots” from the Baltimore Robotics Center.

Bringing entrepreneurs from all around together at one place! This is the premier event in Maryland showcasing all the resources to help entrepreneurs to learn, connect and be inspired.

NIH is committed to improving the participation of all people in our small business research SBIR & STTR programs. One of the goals of the SBIR and STTR programs is to encourage participation in innovation and entrepreneurship by socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses (SDB) and women-owned small businesses (WOSB), groups who historically have been underrepresented in both the SBIR/STTR applicant and awardee pools, and have slightly lower success rates than applicants across the board.

A new algorithm developed by a Johns Hopkins computer scientist could revolutionize the way scientists look at genes.

A team of 17 scientists led by Michael Schatz told the JHU Hub that the open-source software creates a clearer picture of an organism’s DNA. The results were published in the journal Nature Methods.

Last week at the Cleveland Clinic’s annual Medical Innovations Summit, Daniel Kraft, chair of medicine and neuroscience at Singularity University, and an oncologist, painted a dazzling picture of a healthcare future where digital tools empower everyone and can solve several of healthcare’s bigger problems.

But he also posed a question whose answer will be borne out over the next few years: The tech and data tsunami is coming, but do we have the right platforms in place to catch the wave?

There are a lot of scientific papers out there. One estimate puts the count at 1.8 million articles published each year, in about 28,000 journals. Who actually reads those papers? According to one 2007 study, not many people: half of academic papers are read only by their authors and journal editors, the study’s authors write.

But not all academics accept that they have an audience of three. There’s a heated dispute around academic readership and citation—enough that there have been studies about reading studies going back for more than two decades.

Stephen Quake’s laboratory at Stanford University looks like biology’s version of Thomas Edison’s famous New Jersey workshop. Roll-down curtains cast shadows across odd devices buzzing and clicking in the aisles. You half expect to find Quake, author of 135 patents and rarely seen wearing anything other than a faded polo shirt, sleeping on one of the benches, just as the Wizard of Menlo Park was known to.