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Wondering what the future of health IT in Marylands holds? Judging by the startups that presented their successes during Maryland’s first health IT accelerator demo day we are only now beginning to scratch the surface of the exciting new technologies that will be making their appearance over the next few years. BHI is proud to have been a founding sponsor of this initiative. With the added support of major players from Maryland’s biohealth community, DreamIt Health Baltimore has proven to be a success – one that shows that for Maryland to truly become the next big biohealth hub, all key players need to work together in making that a reality.

DreamIt Ventures, the Johns Hopkins University and John Hopkins Medicine, Northrop Grumman Corporation, BioHealth Innovation and Kaiser Permanente, are hosting Demo Day for the cohort of healthtech startups that spent the last 16 weeks in the DreamIt Health Baltimore accelerator program. The event will be held tomorrow, April 30, 2014 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sheikh Zayed Auditorium (2119A) at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1800 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD.  The presenting companies will have the opportunity to briefly share their progress and future plans before an audience of several hundred investors, industry leaders, potential customers, members of the press and other colleagues. A webcast of the event will be broadcast through the Johns Hopkins UStream channel here.

“Demo Day is our capstone event, literally giving our portfolio companies a platform from which to share their stories, accomplishments to date and their roadmap for the future before a select audience of potential investors, partners and customers,” said Elliot Menschik, Managing Partner of DreamIt Health.

The purpose of the NHLBI SBIR Phase IIB Bridge Award is to facilitate and accelerate the capital-intensive steps that are required to transition SBIR Phase II projects to the commercialization stage by promoting partnerships between SBIR Phase II awardees and third-party investors and/or strategic partners. The Bridge Award encourages business relationships between applicant small business concerns and third-party investors/strategic partners who can provide substantial financing to help accelerate the commercialization of promising new products and technologies that were initiated with SBIR funding. In particular, applicants are expected to leverage their previous SBIR support, as well as the opportunity to compete for additional funding through the NHLBI Bridge Award program, to attract and negotiate third-party financing needed to advance a product or technology toward commercialization. The applicant’s ability to secure independent third-party investor funds that equal or exceed the total amount of the NHLBI funds being requested over the entire Bridge Award project period will help to validate the commercial potential that is essential for the SBIR projects solicited under the Bridge Award program. It is anticipated that many of the partnerships between small businesses and third-party investors will involve a considerable level of project due diligence by the private sector, thereby increasing the likelihood of commercial success for the funded projects. In light of these goals, the NHLBI strongly encourages applicants to establish business relationships with investors, strategic partners or both that have appropriate prior experience in commercializing emerging biomedical technologies.

BHI Appoints Shady Grove Adventist Hospital President John A. Sackett to Board of Directors

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, April 21, 2014 – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today the appointment of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital President John A. Sackett to its Board of Directors. Mr. Sackett is filling a vacancy on the BHI board left by William G. “Bill” Robertson, who recently announced that he was leaving his post as President and Chief Executive Officer of Adventist HealthCare for a position in Washington state. 

“The addition of John to the BHI Board of Directors affords us with another strong healthcare leader who provides a perspective from the health system side of the business,” said Rich Bendis, President & CEO, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. “His decades of experience as a healthcare administrator will be an asset to BHI as we work with startups who are seeking to commercialize biohealth products and gain acceptance within the healthcare system.“

In April of 2013, Mr. Sackett became President of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. He began his career at Boulder Memorial Hospital in 1982. He served as Vice President for General Services from March 1984 until being named President of Avista Adventist Hospital, formerly Boulder Memorial Hospital, in June of 1989.  In 1996, when Avista Adventist Hospital became a member of Centura Health, he was named Senior Vice President for Mission and Ministry, in addition to his responsibilities as Administrator for Avista.  He most recently served Centura as the Chief Executive Officer for Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, Colorado. 

U.S. companies pulled in $9.5 billion in venture funding in the first three months of 2014, the highest quarterly total since the second quarter of 2001.

But the wealth was not spread evenly. The nation’s three top venture markets, New York, New England and Silicon Valley, accounted for more than two-thirds of that figure. The D.C. region, meanwhile, saw a  worrisome dip in venture funding compared with the same period last year.