BHI News Section

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Venture-capital firms are jumping into the stock market, buying up battered shares in publicly traded tech companies at a time when they are investing less in the startups that have long been their focus.

Some major venture firms including Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners have purchased more stocks of companies they first backed as startups this year, defying the industry norm of selling those shares soon after public listings.

Image: One of Amplitude’s largest shareholders when the data-analytics firm went public was Sequoia Capital.
PHOTO: ANDREW KELLY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oct 10 (Reuters) – California-based diagnostics company Bio-Rad Laboratories (BIO.N) is in talks to merge with Qiagen NV (QIA.DE), the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Talks between the two companies have been going on for a while but an agreement is unlikely for another few weeks, the report said.

U.S-listed shares of Qiagen rose 8% while Bio-Rad fell nearly 10% after the report.

Biotech and life sciences companies can benefit from partnering with the federal government in many ways, from funding to increased access to resources and manufacturing. But lesser-known than its counterparts at the National Institute of Health and National Cancer Institute is the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA.

Image: https://biobuzz.io/

What does the Zulu word “ubuntu” have to do with a successful science and tech fund at Maryland’s TEDCO? To start, it’s been a guiding force for that fund’s leader.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) has an important mission in Maryland: “enhance economic empowerment by fostering an inclusive and entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. Identify, invest in, and help grow technology companies in Maryland.”

Image: https://www.tedcomd.com/about-tedco/staff/arti-santhanam-phd

Oct 12, 2022

• Homologous boosting with the prototype Novavax COVID-19 vaccine induced robust antibody titers for Omicron BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5
• Study 307 (Lot Consistency) achieved its primary endpoint, showing that three vaccine lots induced a comparable immune response thereby demonstrating the consistency of the manufacturing process
• A durable immunogenicity response was observed following primary vaccination as well as boosting which matched the levels previously associated with protection

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today presented data from the Phase 3 PREVENT-19 trial and Study 307 (Lot Consistency) at the World Vaccine Congress Europe 2022. PREVENT-19 data in both adults aged 18 and older and adolescents aged 12 through 17 showed the prototype Novavax COVID-19 vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) achieved its pre-specified immunologic endpoint. Study 307 (Lot Consistency) met its primary endpoint, showing that three lots of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine tested as a heterologous booster induced consistent immune responses in previously vaccinated adults aged 18 to 49.

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) – the world’s largest science and public advocacy organization, representing 1,000 members — announced today that Rachel King, co-founder and former CEO of GlycoMimetics, Inc., has agreed to serve as interim President and CEO. King’s appointment follows Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath stepping down as President and CEO to serve as an Advisor to the Executive Committee of the BIO Board of Directors. The organization is searching for a full-time successor.

Doubling the University of Maryland BioPark’s lab space, the two-phase 4MLK development project will represent more than $320 million in total capital investment

BALTIMORE, Maryland, September 22, 2022 — University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, announced today that 4MLK, the newest development project in the University of Maryland BioPark, is slated to move forward, with groundbreaking this fall (2022) and delivering in summer 2024. The 8-story, 250,000-square-foot building, Phase I of a two-phase project representing a $320 million total capital investment, will provide critical wet laboratory space in downtown Baltimore for researchers and companies, flexible lab and office/support space for start-ups, and Class A office space, along with areas for convening and a conference center.

GAITHERSBURG, Md–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, Inc. (“APT”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing the world’s largest therapeutic phage initiative for treatment of bacterial infectious diseases, today announced that the Defense Health Agency (DHA) has awarded an additional $5 million to support clinical development of APT’s adaptive bacteriophage (“phage”) therapy in treatment of diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO). APT is evaluating safety and efficacy of its precision phage-based therapy in the ongoing Phase 1/2 DANCE™ (DFO Adaptive Novel Care Evaluation) clinical trial.

Image: https://www.businesswire.com