Investors in the Malvern biopharmaceutical company include Silicon Valley Bank.

The Princeton Review looked at more than 2,000 colleges and universities to find the best ones that will set entrepreneurs up for success.

Halcyon, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting early-stage social entrepreneurs, today announces its eighth cohort for the Halcyon Incubator program. With an acceptance rate of less than 3%, Halcyon is bringing social enterprises that focus on big ideas tackling some of the most current and prevalent societal issues today.

Thursday, January 11, 2018 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM, VariQ 2600 Tower Oaks Blvd Suite 300 Rockville, MD 20852

The Maryland Tech Council’s 30th Annual Industry Awards Celebration (IAC) will recognize the companies and individuals who are making a difference in our community.  We invite you to join us for our complimentary Launch Party as we kick-off nominations for the Industry Awards Celebration at VariQ’s office located at 2600 Tower Oaks Blvd, Suite 300, Rockville, MD, 20852 on Thursday, January 11, 2018.

The Launch Party is a great opportunity for you to meet the IAC nominations committee, MTC staff and former finalist, VariQ, to learn about the nominations and awards process. Enjoy light hors d'oeuvres and drinks and come see why it's important for you to showcase your company's innovation and why you need to be part of our community. Space is limited, so register today! 

When: Wednesday, December 20, 2017 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Where: Bar Louie 150 Gibbs St Rockville, MD 20850

Join BioBuzz and annual sponsor Biohealth Innovation, Inc. to celebrate the holiday season and last BioBuzz event of the year. The celebration will be at Bar Louie in the Rockville Town Center on December 20th, 2017 from 5 - 7pm. Only a 5 minute walk from the Rockville Metro, please join us for this exciting event.

The Emmes Corporation today announced that it was named one of the top women-owned businesses in the Washington metropolitan area by the Washington Business Journal.  The company was ranked as the seventh largest women-owned business in the Washington region, up from number eight last year.

As secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Alex Azar would oversee a trillion-dollar budget, over 90,000 employees, and a healthcare system that is ground-zero for heated bipartisan politics.

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI), a privately held, Maryland-based biotechnology company is pleased to announce Immunomic's founder and CEO, William Hearl, Ph.D., has been appointed by Governor Larry Hogan to the Maryland Department of Commerce Life Sciences Advisory Board (LSAB).

U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co. and German diagnostics firm Qiagen are separately planning major investments in the U.K. The moves accompany a raft of British government measures intended to bolster the life sciences sector as the country prepares to leave the European Union.

In covering the D.C. innovation economy comes the inevitable: funding news. Trust us, there’s a lot of it floating around the D.C. metro area. Here’s a roundup of all of the major funding news from the region in November: 

PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for the treatment of orphan diseases, today announced that the Company has entered an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, for PB2452 (formerly MEDI2452), a Phase 1-ready reversal agent for ticagrelor.

Complex tissues. Surprisingly simple.

Enabling you to study complex 3D tissue biology in a simple device, that’s our goal. With perfused vessels, co-culture and optimized microenvironments. So easy to use that you forget you’re working with a highly advanced 3D culture platform. With the OrganoPlate®, we believe we’ve reached that goal. Say hello to the future of 3D tissue models.

What makes the body of a person or any other organism work can for the most part be summed up in a word: proteins.

These big molecules carry out almost all processes in living organisms, including moving other molecules from one place to another, replicating DNA, conveying genetic information from genes to cells, controlling immune response, driving metabolism and building muscle. Not all protein molecules are created equal, though, and some are better understood than others.

A medical device developer has created a $10-million venture capital fund to support early stage health care companies.

Holland-based Genesis Innovation Group said today it established the privately funded cultivate(MD) Capital Fund I, LLC, which will focus on medical device and orthopedic technologies.

Avantor, Inc., a global supplier of ultra-high-purity materials for the life sciences and advanced technology industries, today announced the successful completion of its acquisition of VWR Corporation (NASDAQ: VWR), the leading global independent provider of product, supply chain, and service solutions to laboratory and production customers. VWR will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Avantor. Michael Stubblefield, Chief Executive Officer of Avantor, will lead the combined company.

The American Angel, a new comprehensive national study released today, provides a detailed picture of angel investors, who they are, where they live, and how they make investment decisions. Key findings include:

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today the launch of the HyperCap Target Enrichment Portfolio, a streamlined and fully integrated NGS sample preparation.  HyperCap integrates KAPA DNA Library Prep with SeqCap EZ target enrichment portfolio, and is a further expansion of the HyperCap v1.0 workflow. 

Are you seeking lab space in Maryland?  Limited incubator and small (1,200-3,400) lab space is available directly and through subleases in various locations from Montgomery County to Hagerstown, Frederick to Baltimore.  For more information regarding this space, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Rita Colwell, a Distinguished University Professor in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), has been awarded the rank of Chevalier (Knight) in the Legion of Honor by decree of the President of the French Republic. Colwell was presented the Insignia of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by Gérard Araud, Ambassador of France to the United States, in a ceremony on November 20 at the ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C.

The National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program- also known as America's Seed Fund powered by NSF - provides small businesses with equity-free funding to conduct research and development (R&D) work. The funding is intended to allow recipients to bring innovative new products and services to market that drive the commercial success of the small business. The NSF SBIR program seeks innovative proposals that show promise of commercial and societal impact in almost all areas of science and technology.

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced that it has acquired US-based start-up company Analytical Informatics, Inc., complementing its own innovation initiatives to expand its current offerings and accelerate the roadmap for Philips Radiology Solutions. Analytical Informatics’ products and capabilities, which include vendor-agnostic, advanced workflow tools and applications, strengthen Philips’ PerformanceBridge portfolio of operational performance solutions to optimize assets, uptime, utilization, practice, compliance and staff at the imaging department and enterprise levels. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The stakes for research grant applications are high in today’s competitive funding environment. Yet applications are often submitted to external funding agencies before they pass any kind of internal review process. A new study from Columbia University’s School of Nursing suggests that institutions benefit from helping researchers write better grants. Specifically, it found that pilot grant applications that underwent an internal review were twice as likely as nonreviewed applications to receive funding.

emocha is bringing its work on opioid addiction treatment into the clinic.

Dallas-based Pathway Healthcare recently signed on to use the mobile health startup’s platform. Pathway operates a network of clinics, becoming the first private partner to use the technology. It comes as officials have called for an all-hands-on-deck approach to address the opioid crisis. A treatment center in Jackson, Tennessee, was the first to begin using the platform, according to the startup.

When: Thursday, November 30 5:00 - 6:30 pm

Where: Life Sciences Conference Center 801 West Baltimore Street

Please join the BioPark's Monthly Networking Event. Mingle with our honored guest, Alex Triantis, Dean of Robert H. Smith School of Business, Smith School faculty, students and alumni, BioPark tenants, and UMB faculty & staff.

As someone who loves to travel, I have a pretty intense bucket list of places I want to go to, sights to see, and events to attend. Right now, I have about 10 different countries I want to visit, and I need to squeeze in a drawing class to better hone my artistic skills, too. I also want to challenge myself at work by pitching and writing for different publications, and there’s a handful of musicians I want to see perform live at least once in my lifetime. Oh, and did I mention that I someday want to try reading my poetry at an open mic night?

I regularly hear people complain that our region lacks venture capital. Last week I asked members of our entrepreneurial community about this perceived funding gap and what they thought we should do about it.

Northrop Grumman Corp. and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's cyber incubator are launching a new mentorship initiative to help growing cyber startups gain access to advanced technology resources.

A study of the 50 US states provides an index to indicate which states are leading in the ‘new economy’, and which are falling behind. It also reveals clear patterns, proposing ‘winning’ policy formula for economic development.

The top five states in the index are Massachusetts, California, Washington, Virginia, and Delaware. The five lowest-scoring states, from 46th to 50th, are Louisiana, Wyoming, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

DATE AND TIME: Wed, December 13, 2017 7:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST

LOCATION: Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park 3111 Fairview Park Drive Falls Church, VA 22042

Our CONNECTpreneur Baltimore Forum on November 16 was another sell-out. We had 380 business leaders, 8 awesome presenting companies, and epic speakers! Guests enjoyed a morning of insight, conversation and connections! 

When: December 20th, 2017 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Where: Bar Louie 150 Gibbs St. Rockville MD 20850

Join BioBuzz and annual sponsor Biohealth Innovation, Inc. to celebrate the holiday season and last BioBuzz event of the year. The celebration will be at Bar Louie in the Rockville Town Center on December 20th, 2017 from 5 - 7pm. Only a 5 minute walk from the Rockville Metro, please join us for this exciting event.

The Society of Physician Entrepreneurs and the MBA Collaborative Alumni Angel Group, in conjunction with NIH, cordially invite you to join us for our next meeting:

December 13, 5:00 – 8:30 PM, at: Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research, 9600 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD,

This program will be focused on start-up and emerging biotech, pharmaceutical, and healthcare companies. Referrals are coming from NIH officials and consultants as well as SoPE/CAAG members and affiliates as well as direct applications to SoPE or CAAG.

Six years ago, at age 49, Julie Gregory paid an online service to sequence her genes, hoping to turn up clues about her poor circulation, blood-sugar swings and general ill health. Instead she learned she had a time bomb hidden in her DNA: two copies of a gene variant, ApoE4, that is strongly linked to Alzheimer’s. Most Americans with this genotype go on to develop late-onset dementia.

The Inova Health System will formally open its doors to new ideas by launching its personalized health accelerator on Nov. 30.

The event begins at 6:15 p.m. and will be held at the Inova Center for Personalized Health at 3225 Gallows Rd. in Fairfax. It includes a ribbon cutting, networking, keynote speeches and a tour of the facility.

A team of five Johns Hopkins University students won first place and $5,000 at the fifth annual Pfizer Case Competition at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School earlier this month.

Fifteen Johns Hopkins scientists are among 3,000 individuals included on the annual Highly Cited Researchers list compiled by Clarivate Analytics, which was previously part of Thomson Reuters.