News

Biotechnology company consolidates operations in business community and expects to employ over 50 engineers, scientists, quality-control professionals, and related positions

FREDERICK, Md., March 20, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — BioFactura, Inc. has signed a lease with St. John Properties, Inc. for 12,000 square feet of space at Riverside Tech Park, a 70-acre business community located in Frederick, Maryland. The biotechnology firm has occupied 5,520 square feet of space at 8435 Progress Drive in Riverside Technology Park since 2015 and this new requirement expands the company’s presence to 17,520 square feet of space within the building. Danny Foit, Leasing Representative for St. John Properties represented the landlord.

BALTIMORE, MD, March 19, 2024 –, CoapTech, Inc., a medical device company delivering transformative solutions for minimally-invasive surgery, announced today the market launch and historic first bedside use case of its second generation magnetic balloon catheter. The magnetic balloon catheter is a key component of the PUMA-G System™ which enables ultrasound placement of gastrostomy tubes (i.e. permanent feeding tubes), necessary to nourish patients to recovery. The PUMA-G System is manufactured in Baltimore in collaboration with The LaunchPort™.

This first bedside use case was completed in the critical care unit (better known as ICU) at the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center (UM BWMC) and was performed by Darwin Ashbaker, MD, and Stephen Griffin, PA, on February 27, 2024.

Discover the Future of Healthcare with John Sackett, Executive Vice President & COO of Adventist Healthcare, on BioTalk with Rich Bendis.

In this episode, John Sackett shares his insights into the changing landscape of healthcare delivery. From his early days as an administrative assistant to his current role, John’s journey offers invaluable lessons on leadership and innovation in the healthcare industry.

Join us as we explore Adventist Healthcare’s role in the BioHealth Capital Region (BHCR) and explore the transformative changes in healthcare delivery. Gain valuable insights into the challenges and innovations reshaping healthcare post-COVID and learn how Adventist Healthcare is leading the way in patient-centered care.

Listen now via your favorite podcast platform:

Apple – https://apple.co/3PrPeCp
Google – https://bit.ly/3TGMaos
Spotify – https://spoti.fi/49YKgFf
Amazon Music – https://amzn.to/3Vt96sF
TuneIn – https://bit.ly/3Voub7o

In a candid and inspiring segment, John opens up about his personal journey of managing cystic fibrosis while excelling in his career. Discover the remarkable advancements in the treatment and life expectancy of CF patients, highlighting the power of innovation and resilience in overcoming adversity.

Don’t miss this enlightening episode as we navigate the evolving landscape of BioHealth Innovation and the BHCR Region with John Sackett, a visionary leader shaping the future of healthcare.

Navigating the uncertain road of entrepreneurship

This year marks the year of the dragon in Chinese culture. The dragon symbolises nobility, good fortune, and vitality and presents a year of auspicious opportunities. Against the backdrop of 2023, I’d say this is a fortune well worth getting behind.

The past year has been difficult for most companies, but for business leaders it has meant summoning inner strength and resilience. If you’re an entrepreneur, give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve taken an ambitious and courageous leap to launch and build a company during what has been a challenging economic climate for life sciences and biotech startups. The post-pandemic financial downturn saddled us with the impacts of inflation, volatile supply chains, and a stagnant venture funding environment. Research and developing innovation are a risky business even in the best financial conditions, so give yourself credit for tackling this important work during a time of uncertainty.

MCLEAN, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Zephyr AI, Inc. (“Zephyr AI”), a healthcare technology company committed to developing fast and explainable Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to democratize precision medicine, today announced it has successfully closed a $111 million Series A funding round with participation from Revolution Growth, Eli Lilly & Company, Jeff Skoll, and EPIQ Capital Group, among others. The company is developing improved data federation tools along with various machine learning algorithms in the areas of oncology and cardiometabolic disease.

Dozens of life sciences startups and early-stage company companies are honing their pitch decks and looking to head to New York, the center of the financial world, for a one-day investor and partnering event in hopes of securing financial partnerships.

In May, Johnson & Johnson – JLABS will hold its third annual Investor & Partnering Day in New York City at the New York Genome Center, a non-profit hub for collaborative genomic research and the home of JLABS @ NYC. The partnering day offers participating companies multiple meetings with investor organizations to highlight their science & technology, expand their investor network, and potentially securing funding to support ongoing and future operations.

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Expert Systems, a leader in AI-enabled drug discovery, proudly announces a significant milestone in partnership with Eilean Therapeutics LLC: the start of Phase 1 trial of balamenib (ZE63-0302), a highly selective inhibitor of the menin–KMT2A binding interaction, under the Clinical Trial Notification (CTN) scheme of the Australian Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA).

“Balamenib has a highly differentiated pre-clinical profile which indicates important advantages over molecules in the same class in safety, tolerability and feasibility of outpatient treatment,” commented Bill Farley, CBO at Expert Systems. “We are proud that our comprehensive hybrid AI-based platform has helped accelerate the development of a new promising & safe treatment for AML.”

By Sara Gilgore – Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal – Rockville’s RegenxBio Inc. (NASDAQ: RGNX) has raised $140 million in a public offering, four months after making significant cuts to extend its cash runway.

The clinical-stage biotech, which is developing gene therapies for retinal and neurodegenerative diseases, closed the previously announced offering Monday, a company spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Business Journal.

OSLO/LONDON, March 11, 2024 – An international consortium of researchers specialising in human challenge studies is embarking on a US$57 million project to develop advanced, virus-blocking coronavirus vaccines that could stop SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses from infecting people in the first place.

Led by Imperial College London and co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme and CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the consortium of more than a dozen scientific teams and organisations will begin by running trials to select particular viruses and identify the best conditions under which to safely induce infection in healthy volunteers. A human challenge study is a carefully managed medical research study, during which volunteers are intentionally given an infection in a safe way, with healthcare support.