News Archive

There are lots of myths about venture capital and biotech in particular, as noted previously on this blog.  Many of these myths are deeply held beliefs about returns, what works and what doesn’t, and the state of the industry.  Told often enough, these beliefs are presumed to be true by many observers, including practitioners in the field, Limited Partners, and pundits.

Surprisingly, data exists to address lots of these points, and I’ve attempted here to summarize (and link to) a number of prior posts aimed at debunking these myths and sharing a few observations on them.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK), the U.K.’s largest drugmaker, will work with the U.S. government to develop antibiotics for resistant infections and bioterrorist threats in an agreement valued at as much as $200 million.

The company will collaborate with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will provide $40 million for the initial 18-month agreement, London-based Glaxo said in a statement today. If the accord is renewed over five years, the department will provide as much as $200 million, the drugmaker said.

GlaxoSmithKline has created a contest for academic researchers that it hopes will accelerate the speed by which academic research can be turned into novel therapies.

The London pharmaceutical company, which has large operations in the Philadelphia region, on Tuesday launched a competition program it is calling Discovery Fast Track.

The Public Health Service Act indicates that the purpose of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is to advance translational sciences by coordinating and developing resources that leverage basic research in support of translational science; and by developing partnerships and working cooperatively to foster synergy in ways that do not create duplication, redundancy and competition with industry activities.

The Affordable Care Act, aka health care reform, aka Obamacare, is spurring a massive creation of new business opportunities.

So says Bryan Sivak, the chief technical officer and entrepreneur-in-residence at the Department of Health and Human Services, the cabinet-level agency that regulates the $2.8 trillion U.S. health care market. Sivak joined VentureBeat’s HealthBeat conference today via a video conference (see photo above).

Just one of the areas that’s becoming fertile ground for entrepreneurial innovation: the health insurance exchanges mandated by the law.

Doug Doerfler, CEO of Gaithersburg-based MaxCyte Inc., was this month named the Tech Council of Maryland’s new chairman. He steps into the position with a wealth of TCM experience under his belt, having spent three years as chairman of the trade group’s biotech division. I caught up with Doerfler on his plans for TCM, the interplay between its IT and bio contingents and the search for a new full-time CEO.

More than half of all eligible providers nationwide have received federal incentive payments for demonstrating meaningful use of electronic health records, rates that have more than doubled since last year alone, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday.

Sebelius says HHS has met and exceeded its goal for 50 percent of doctor offices and 80 percent of eligible hospitals to have adopted EHRs by 2013’s end.

The StartRight! Women’s Business Plan Competition was founded in 2003 by Rockville Economic Development Inc. (REDI) to encourage and support women’s entrepreneurship. Currently in its tenth year, StartRight! awards prizes for winning business plans annually. The women who join our competition receive more than the opportunity to win a top prize of $5,000 – they also receive valuable coaching and feedback on their business plan!

There are 3 Prize Categories – Total of $15,000 in prizes with a top prize of $5,000! You select the category in which you wish you plan to be entered.

1. Technology 
2. General Business 
3. Life Science

If you have additional questions or need assistance, contact alicia@marylandwbc.org or call us at 301-315-8096.

Zina Moukheiber said the New York Digital Health Accelerator Is a Model to Emulate at the beginning of the program. With the proliferation of accelerators, I thought I’d share an insider’s perspective on what it was like to be in the program now that it is complete. I’ll also share some ideas on how can take it to the next level building off of their already-strong foundation.

Zina described the program as follows:

One of the toughest hurdles for health IT start-ups is getting in front of customers. Doctors are reluctant to pay, and sales cycles at hospitals can take months. Entrepreneurs often inspired by a negative personal experience, and moved to fix the problem, find later that their product doesn’t fit the hospital’s “workflow,” or offers no incentive for doctors to adopt it.

Biotech has never quite taken flight in Northern Virginia. Whether that’s due to the lack of a big corporate anchor or blue-chip research university, the dearth of wet labs, the attraction of a stronger scene in Montgomery County or pure dumb happenstance is anyone’s guess.

But on this side of the D.C. suburbs, the life sciences are not thriving. The story of Virginia biotech right now has much more to do with Charlottesville than it does with Fairfax.