More than a dozen biotech companies or researchers from the Maryland biotech cluster, which some have also dubbed ‘Vaccine Alley’, were among the most recognized finalists at this year’s Vaccine Industry Excellence (ViE) Awards in Washington, DC at the World Vaccine Conference. In fact, 15 out of the 54 finalists, or 27%. were from right here in Maryland. This year’s conference was held in Washington, DC so could this have been a case of home court advantage? Probably not. More than likely it’s because this region holds 20% of the top influencers worldwide in vaccine development.