News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amazon Web Services committed $10 million to fund pediatric rare disease research, including cancer, on Wednesday at its annual summit in the nation’s capital.

The tranche of cash is first being allocated through three, $1 million grants to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.; Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio; and the Children’s Brain Tumor Network, located at the Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia. 

AWS says the unrestricted cash grant will allow the children’s cancer centers, which are already using AWS software, to continue innovation in accelerating pediatric research, improving well-being for children and empowering the professional pediatric workforce and caregivers of children. 

In Montgomery County, where incubator spaces are in high demand and existing facilities often have to turn away new entrepreneurs and startups, a new opportunity has emerged. Amador Bioscience’s recently announced incubator space in Germantown promises to help address this critical need, offering fledgling life sciences companies the space, resources and support they require to develop their projects beyond initial concepts.

Amador Bioscience is a translational and early clinical development partner for companies developing new drugs. Set within its existing but unused laboratory space in Germantown, Amador’s new incubator offers more than 10,500 square feet of lab and office space with state-of-the-art infrastructure designed to meet the diverse needs of life sciences startups.

COLUMBIA, Md., June 25, 2024 — Welldoc^®, a leading digital health company specializing in AI-driven cardiometabolic health, today announced a collaboration with Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, to transform healthcare delivery for health plans and members by bridging the gap between nutrition and health. Through enhanced access to quality care and nutritious food, Welldoc aims to improve health outcomes and reduce overall costs of care for individuals managing cardiometabolic conditions.

Join us for a compelling episode of BioTalk with Rich Bendis as we welcome Dr. Michelle E. Tarver, Deputy Center Director and Chief Transformation Officer at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With a distinguished background as a board-certified ophthalmologist and epidemiologist, Dr. Tarver is at the forefront of transforming the evaluation and inclusion of medical devices in underserved and underrepresented populations.

In this episode, Dr. Tarver introduces the FDA and the CDRH Division, explaining the definition of a medical device by FDA standards. She discusses the creation of the Chief Transformation Officer role within the FDA, highlighting its importance and the strategic vision behind it.

Listen now via your favorite podcast platforms.

Apple: https://apple.co/3VFF5UK
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3RC9sug
Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/4cdYqn8
TuneIn: https://bit.ly/4czGVO0

We explore the critical importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in evaluating medical devices, and how these efforts are essential for ensuring equitable healthcare for all. Dr. Tarver introduces the innovative “Home as a Health Care Hub” initiative by the FDA/CDRH, explaining its potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery.

ROCKVILLE, Md., June 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — REGENXBIO Inc. (Nasdaq: RGNX) today announced it initiated enrollment in a new cohort of patients ages 1-3 in its Phase I/II AFFINITY DUCHENNE^® trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of RGX-202 in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne).

RGX-202 is an investigational one-time AAV Therapeutic targeted to deliver a novel microdystrophin, representing the next wave of innovative design in Duchenne gene therapy. RGX-202 is the only gene therapy approved or in development for Duchenne that incorporates the C-Terminal domain, making the RGX-202 transgene the closest to the naturally occurring dystrophin gene.

ROCKVILLE, Md. and SUZHOU, China, June 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Ascentage Pharma (6855.HK), a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing novel therapies for cancer, chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and age-related diseases, announced today that the agreed equity investment by Takeda has been closed on June 20, 2024, with all proceeds already received. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Ascentage Pharma has allotted and issued an aggregate of 24,307,322 subscription shares to Takeda International at the share purchase price of HK$24.09850 (equivalent to approximately US$3.08549).

GAITHERSBURG, Md., June 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its drug product facility in Baltimore-Camden to an affiliate of Bora Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (“Bora”, TWSE: 6472), a leading international pharmaceutical services company, for a total value of approximately $30 million. The Camden site, which is part of Emergent’s Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), has clinical and commercial non-viral aseptic fill/finish services on four fill lines, including lyophilization, formulation development, and support services. Alongside the facility, approximately 350 current Emergent employees are expected to join Bora as part of the transaction.

Small businesses can receive about $2 million to create a prototype and commercialize technology. 

The U.S. National Science Foundation has released new funding opportunities for its Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs, increasing the maximum funding for SBIR/STTR Phase I awards to $305,000 and SBIR/STTR Phase II awards to $1,250,000 to further back development of the creative ideas coming from the nation’s startups and small businesses. 

The SBIR/STTR program, also known as America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, provide non-dilutive funding for startups to develop deep technologies into commercially viable products and services with positive societal impact. The program focuses on companies at the earliest stage of development; most are newly emerging from the private sector, federal labs and academia. These entrepreneurs are taking scientific and engineering breakthroughs and translating them into new generations of products and services that are commercialized into sustainable businesses.  

Ianne Salvosa June 18, 2024 – Efforts are afoot to make Richmond more of a player in the biohealth industry.

Downtown-based Activation Capital is launching the Frontier BioHealth program to provide training and mentorship for up to 10 startups from August to November to groom life sciences companies in the area for the long term.

Activation Capital Vice President of Entrepreneurship Jim Pannucci said the program is a nod to the group’s original mission to help the region and the VA Bio+Tech Park be a hub of biotechnology. Activation Capital operates the park, while supporting entrepreneurship and startups in the region through various programs.

The Bio+Tech Park was established about three decades ago to turn Richmond into a center of biotechnology and now about 70 companies and research facilities operate in the area, with interests ranging from smoke-free tobacco alternatives to organ donation.

College Park, Md.—The University of Maryland was spotlighted for its innovative curriculum and robust student engagement in entrepreneurship at the annual Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education held June 12-14 in College Park.

UMD was presented with the Entrepreneurial University Award, an annual honor given to an institution that exemplifies excellence in fostering an entrepreneurial culture across its campus.

“Students, faculty, staff and alums of the University of Maryland have a long and inspiring tradition of innovation that spans the arts, humanities and sciences – from Google and Beyond Meat to The Muppets and Under Armour,” said University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines. “This award from the Deshpande Symposium will undoubtedly help our university build upon a distinguished past and present in innovation and entrepreneurship.”