The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland have collaborated to build a new center that will preform studies on how to store, process and transmit data using quantum architecture.

The Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science is designed to complement basic quantum research being done at an institute run by NIST, UMD and the National Security Agency, NIST said Oct. 31.

Inspired by a series of new strategic initiatives, BioNJ announced a rebranding today -- BioNJ, The Gateway to Health – that reflects an expanded vision and mission directed to fostering a vibrant life sciences ecosystem in New Jersey where science is supported, companies are created, drugs are developed and patients are paramount.

The rebranding is supported by the launch of a revitalized website at www.BioNJ.org that is contemporary in its look and represents the determination of BioNJ to help move the life sciences industry forward.

The National Institutes of Health is challenging science innovators to compete for prizes totaling up to $500,000, by developing new ways to track the health status of a single cell in complex tissue over time. The NIH Follow that Cell Challenge seeks tools that would, for example, monitor a cell in the process of becoming cancerous, detect changes due to a disease-causing virus, or track how a cell responds to treatment.

The challenge aims to generate creative ideas and methods for following and predicting a single cell’s behavior and function over time in a complex multicellular environment – preferably using multiple integrated measures to detect its changing state.

Cartagenia announced today that it and Qiagen's bioinformatics business are part of a consortium that has received €1.4 million ($1.7 million) in funding from a European funding initiative to support the development of software tools for personalized genetic analysis of cancer variants.

The Lungcadia program will combine the technologies and expertise of Cartagenia, Qiagen, and the Institute of Pathology at Hannover Medical School and will focus on lung cancer as a disease model, but the partners aim to make the results applicable to other types of cancer. The project has received the funding from the EuroTransBio initiative, which supports biotech collaborations in Europe.

Osiris has a history of developing treatments — like Prochymal, the first government-approved stem cell drug — and then selling them to other companies. Its product portfolio is thus diverse, and that is wise when it comes to Grafix, which competes with a number of other advanced wound care products.

Ryan Sysko needed someone to push WellDoc's diabetes management app, BlueStar, into the market. It was time to turn to an outsider to make sure BlueStar successfully sold in Maryland and, eventually, nationwide. The FDA-approved smartphone app helps diabetes patients track blood glucose levels, medications, diet and exercise on a cellphone. It requires a prescription from a doctor.

To take on the task, Sysko, the Baltimore health care technology company's CEO, called on Kevin P. McRaith. Former vice president of ...

Chevy Chase-based Wedding Wire, the largest and most trusted online marketplace connecting merchants with engaged couples and party planners, ranked highest of any other Maryland company this year, coming in at number seven with 2013 revenue of nearly $34 million. Also making the Top 10 is Rockville-based CoesterVMS, a leader in the mortgage banking and appraisal industry, coming in at number nine with $14.47 million in revenue in 2013.

Brain science is taking a hit, according to a recent series of papers published in a special issue of the Cell Press journal Neuron.

“While the disease burden and economic impacts are on the rise, progress in the development of new therapeutics and treatment approaches has appeared to have stalled,” reads an editorial introducing the issue. “Approval for new therapeutics (whether drugs, devices, or other treatment approaches) for nervous system disorders have been declining and most of the treatments we currently have are not disease modifying.”

Monday, November 10, 2014 8:30AM-12:00PM

Embassy of Italy 3000 Whitehaven St NW Washington DC

There is growing interest for enabling Transatlantic Collaborations via STEM-Driven Research & Innovation. This half-day summit’s purpose is to enable technology development and deployment between the U.S. and Europe for research and small businesses that have benefited from the government’s innovation and funding pipeline. Through dynamic conversations with thought leaders, policy makers and doers from the private and public sectors, attendees will leave with a better understanding of how entrepreneurs can take their ideas from the lab and expand to a borderless market.

This event is organized on occasion of the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Italy will be hosting the next Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Milan in March 2015 .

Wednesday, November 19, 20146:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Get out of the office and enjoy yourself! Join Maryland’s business community for an evening of networking and fun at the Tech Council of Maryland's Fall Cocktail Reception. This reception will be held at the prestigious Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. If you haven't attended our FEF Fall Reception, come and find out what you've been missing.

The reception features an open bar, great food and two hours with no agenda other than networking, seeing old friends and meeting new people. This is the perfect atmosphere for executives and decision makers from the region’s leading companies to come together and share ideas. Everyone is welcome and you don’t need to be a financial executive to attend this event, so register today.

The NBIA (National Business Incubation Association) seeks a dynamic new President and Chief Executive Officer. Our ideal candidate will be an exceptional leader with business expertise and a passion for entrepreneurship, as well as the drive, intellect, and professional presence to support and promote business incubation and acceleration.

The incoming President and CEO will report directly to the Board of Directors, and it is critical that this individual be well-versed in the broader national and international entrepreneur support ecosystem (including but not limited to business incubation, acceleration, coworking/emerging startup models, and economic environments – i.e. programs serving rural, urban, and developing economies).

DAASN is proud to be an Enthusiast sponsor for Tedco's 4th Annual Entrepreneur Expo and a Major sponser of Startup Maryland.

Startup Maryland Announces Great Eight Finalists and Fan Favorites for 2014 Pitch Across Maryland Tour

Diversity of Industries and Opportunities Defines the Third Annual State-Wide Tour and Celebration of Maryland Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

As CMS goes, so goes private insurance. That’s perhaps a simplification of how reimbursement rates are developed for healthcare payers, but big payers definitely watch what CMS is doing.

So it’s no small deal that CMS late last week issued new rules that include “significant additional coverage for telemedicine services,” the American Telemedicine Association said in a release.

When we think of Google, we think of the company that powers the widely used search engine, and we think of computer programming, engineering, and electrical design. However, recently Google has expanded and moved towards research in medical technology. Just a few months ago, the tech giant partnered with Novartis to license a glucose measuring smart contact lens. The company had also recently bought portions of Calico, an anti-aging research company, and 23andme, a company that provides personal genetic tests. Now, Google aims to develop a wearable diagnostic device to detect cancer and heart attacks through the use of nanoparticles.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell today named a new member to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee (HITPC) and renewed appointments for three members of the Health IT Standards Committee (HITSC). The committees are charged with recommending policies and technologies needed to implement a nationwide health information technology infrastructure and strategic plan. 

The two federal advisory committees were created through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The committees provide the opportunity for stakeholders and the public to provide direct input to HHS. 

A year ago Robert Lord and Nick Culbertson were medical students with an idea for a company.

Now their startup Protenus Inc. is doing business with Johns Hopkins Hospital, figuring out how to use $770,000 in seed financing and hiring staff members to get their cyber security system in more hospitals.

Vheda Health, a digital health company that seeks to help people with chronic conditions, is one of a handful of healthcare startups that have received backing from a commercialization fund from Maryland’s Technology Development Corp. They were part of a list of 15 companies that received $1.5 million. It follows a funding allocation from earlier this year.

The Maryland program allocates funding to companies developing technology products with universities and/or federal labs in the state. To qualify, companies have to be in a collaboration with a federal lab or university, they have to be located in an affiliate incubator company in the state, they have to be involved in one of two Maryland programs — ACTiVATE, an entrepreneurship training program aimed at women, or INNoVATE — or participate in TEDCO’s Rural Business Initiative. The focus is on small businesses so companies must have under 16 employees, or be a university spin-off under five years old or have venture investments under $500,000. More than half of the companies’ employees must work in the state.

Tuesday said its global biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, has agreed to buy privately-held Definiens, which would strengthen MedImmune's focus on the discovery of novel predictive biomarkers in immuno-oncology.

Definiens is into imaging and data analysis technology, known as Tissue Phenomics, which dramatically improves the identification of biomarkers in tumour tissue.

Business accelerator DreamIt Health Baltimore plans to lay roots in the Inner Harbor.

DreamIt Health Baltimore is negotiating a lease as it prepares to welcome its second class of entrepreneurs in 2015. The accelerator, which is run by Philadelphia-area DreamIt Ventures, operated out of spare office space at a Johns Hopkins building in Fells Point this year. Managing Director Jason Hardebeck hopes to finalize a deal for between 5,000 square feet and 6,000 square feet of space in the coming weeks.

Nominations are being accepted for the 2015 FLC Laboratory Director of the Year Awards. Sponsored by the FLC National Advisory Council, this award honors Laboratory Directors who have made maximum contributions to the overall enhancement of technology transfer for economic development. Accomplishments related to the transfer of technology from the federal laboratory to industry—including support of FLC activities, internal accomplishments, industry involvement, and community service—are the primary criteria for the award.

The San Francisco-based digital health accelerator Rock Health has raised a large third round of funding and says it will boost its investments in new portfolio companies to (up to) $250,000 each.

The new funding round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Kaiser Permanente Ventures, with participation from KPCB, Mayo Clinic, Montreux Equity Partners, and Great Oaks Ventures.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014 | 6:00-8:30 p.m.

Silver Spring Civic Center-One Veterans Plaza
GPS Address: 8525 Fenton Street, Silver Spring

Meet Israeli entrepreneurs working in Maryland and Maryland companies trading with Israel at the MIDC’s fourth annual Showcase of Maryland/Israel Business.
Featuring keynote speaker, Jeremy Bash,Founder and Managing Director, Beacon Global Strategies and former Chief of Staff, Department of Defense and CIA

Every once and a while you get a reminder that lives are literally at stake in some R&D partnerships. Last Wednesday was one of those days. I was privileged to moderate a panel for the Congressional Technology Transfer Caucus on innovative partnerships fostered by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) the newest center/institute at the National Institutes of Health. It was anything but a run of the mill tech transfer session.

We often hear that $2 billion to $5 billion are required to commercialize a new drug, with 14 years or more required for development and a 95% chance of failure. Less well known is that for thousands of serious diseases plaguing humanity only about 500 have FDA approved treatments available. Stark as that seems it’s downright cheery compared to rare or neglected diseases. Of more than 6,500 such ailments only 250 have treatments. While these may be “rare” diseases for many of us, to millions of our friends, families and neighbors each morning brings another day of suffering desperately hoping that someone, somewhere is working on a cure.

American Tap Room - 36 Maryland Ave Rockville, MD 20850

Join BioBuzz and our sponsor CRB for another great BioBuzz networking event on November 19th from 5:00 - 7:30 p.m. @ American Tap Room in Rockville, MD. This location is a short walk from the Metro located in the Rockville Town Center.      

CRB is a global consulting, design and construction services firm that relentlessly pursues and delivers success for their clients in advanced science and technology industries. 2014 marks CRB's 30th year in which they have grown from a single three-person office, to a team of 600+ in 12 offices serving clients throughout the world with Rockville, MD being their latest expansion.

Johns Hopkins engineers have invented a lab device to give cancer researchers an unprecedented microscopic look at metastasis, the complex way that tumor cells spread through the body, causing more than 90 percent of cancer-related deaths. By shedding light on precisely how tumor cells travel, the device could uncover new ways to keep cancer in check.

The inventors, from the university's Whiting School of Engineering and its Institute for NanoBioTechnology, published details and images from their new system recently in the journal Cancer Research. Their article reported on successful tests that captured video of human breast cancer cells as they burrowed through reconstituted body tissue material and made their way into an artificial blood vessel.

Startup Maryland (www.startupmd.org) today announced the Great Eight (8) Finalists and three (3) Fan Favorites from the 2014 Pitch Across Maryland celebration.  

After assembling more than 150 video pitches from Maryland entrepreneurs that were captured during the three-week Pitch Across Maryland tour | celebration, Startup Maryland is proud to announce the eight finalists as well as the three startups with the most view-votes. Companies from both categories are listed below (with tour stop) and link to their pitch video:

Baltimore pharmaceutical firm Profectus BioSciences Inc. has received a $9.5 million grant from the Department of Defense for a phase 1 clinical trial of its Ebola vaccine. T

he award is Profectus' fourth this year — all for work developing and manufacturing Ebola vaccines. The new grant brings the company's total funding up to at least $49.8 million.

UBI Index recognizes top performing business incubators from all over the world. This time we take a deeper look in 5 regional areas starting with Europe and then moving on to North America, South America, Asia+Oceania and ending with Africa. It is our pleasure to present to you:

The Regional Top Performing University Business Incubators of 2014

The rankings of each region will be announced every Tuesday at http://ubiindex.com/rankings with start on November 4th and four weeks forward. Stay tuned!

The chancellor is stepping down. After 50 years in education, and 12 years as Chancellor of the University System of Maryland, William English “Brit” Kirwan is retiring. He will leave office after his replacement is selected by the Board of Regents.

The search is underway.

During his tenure, Kirwan was hailed for his strategic spending; his “Effectiveness and Efficiency Initiative,” started in 2003-04, has saved the system upwards of $462 million to date. He was also partly responsible for the tuition freezes after the recession. Under him, enrollment in Maryland’s 11 institutions of higher learning increased by 24 percent.

Inspiring the scientists of the future is something that MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, takes very seriously. Therefore the Society of Biology’s ‘Big Biology Day’ – a one day, free-to-attend event aimed at engaging the public in scientific issues and research activities – has become a permanent fixture in MedImmune’s calendar. This year’s event, which took place on Saturday 18th October at Hills Road Sixth Form College, was attended by over 1,000 people of all ages and was the third Big Biology Day to be held in Cambridge. As usual, it formed part of National Biology Week, the Society of Biology’s annual celebration of the biosciences and was held in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Science Festival.

For five years, John Eldridge and his team at Profectus Bioscience have developed and tested their Ebola vaccine. First it was on guinea pigs, then monkeys. 

At that point, Eldridge realized monkeys weren't getting sick.

I’m so used to hearing bullish projections on digital health, it’s refreshing when someone contradicts that assessment. Maybe contradict is the wrong word. But Thomas Rodgers, who joined McKesson Ventures last month after a couple of years with Cambia Health Solutions, thinks it will take a lot longer for the technology to enjoy mainstream adoption.

“I think it will be 15-20 years until it is intertwined with medical care. It will take a shift away from fee-for-service and it will also take generational change. Millennials who grew up with technology will need to start getting sick.”

In the decade after the founding of the BioCrossroads initiative, money spent on life sciences research and companies more than doubled, to more than $25 billion, according to a new report released Thursday by the Indianapolis-based life sciences business development group.

That infusion of money—much of which came from out of state—has helped Indiana companies and universities increase the number of life sciences patents, technology licenses, startups and venture capital deals faster than the rest of the nation, according to the report.

The Hong Kong scientist who invented a simple blood test to show pregnant women if their babies have Down syndrome is now testing a similar technology for cancer.

Yuk Ming “Dennis” Lo says screening for signs of cancer from a simple blood draw could cost as little as $1,000. The test works by studying DNA released into a person’s bloodstream by dying tumor cells.

Novavax Inc.'s singular drug development approach to a possible Ebola vaccine may not only help stop the spread of a future pandemic but also reap major bottom-line rewards.

That's what CFO Barclay "Buck" Phillips told me this week after the Gaithersburg-based company announced it planned to begin Phase 1 clinical trials by December. Novavax announced this week at the 8th Vaccine and ISV Conference in Philadelphia that it's the only company targeting the newest strain of the virus which emerged in Guinea this year and has killed thousands in West Africa.