On the evening of April 15 as part of the InvestMaryland Challenge Award ceremony held at MICA in Baltimore, BHI presented three awards to local companies. Boss Medical LLC of Baltimore, ConverGene LLC of Gaithersburg, and Vasoptic Medical LLC of Columbia were selected for the awards based upon their high quality products under development, which have good possibility for securing federal funding with support and assistance. Each award – valued at $2,500 – consists of consulting services from BHI on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or federal funding proposals. The SBIR program is designed to support small businesses in commercializing their technological research efforts.

For more information contact Ethan Byler.

Date: Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 9:30am-5:00pm

Location: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Conference Center, 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004-2541

National Brain Tumor Society is bringing together brain tumor researchers and industry executives to discuss how to move research from bench to bedside.

• Biophrama executives and VC investors will share their criteria for investment and licensing of academic research.
• Panelists include:
  
  • Lauren Abrey
    Global Development Team Lead, Genetech/Roche
  • Neil Exter
    Partner, Third Rock
  • Brian Gallagher
    Partner, SROne
  • Michael Glutch
    Managing Director, Medimmune Ventures
  • Perry Nisen
    Senior VP of Science Transactions, Pfizer
• Nation Brain Tumor Society-funded researchers will present brain tumor drug candidates ready for early stage investment and/or licensing.

On April 2, BHI invited a team of NIH Office of Technology Transfer interns working with BHI EIR Todd Chappell for a Social Meeting. Also in attendance were two guest speakers. Bart Kus, Senior Manager of Portfolio Management MedImmune, spoke about his career track from the lab into business development. Errol Levy, EU Diplomat (Research and Innovation Counsellor) for the European Commission talked about opportunities in Europe and the upcoming Destination Europe Conference on April 11 in DC. It was a great event for all who attended.

Growlers was “abuzz” on March 20 with a large and diverse gathering of biotech professionals attending the monthly BioBuzz networking event. BHI CEO Rich Bendis welcomed the crowd and talked about the latest happenings at BHI. According to Andrew Eckert, “We received a lot of positive feedback on the location and found a number of folks were interested in speaking to somebody from BHI. I’m pretty confident this was one of the largest, if not THE largest turnout ever for a BioBuzz event.”

BioBuzz is working to build a stronger community by bringing the biotech workforce out of the labs to culture relationships, instead of just cells.

Biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced today it plans to create a research and development center in Gaithersburg, adding 300 jobs at MedImmune’s current location.

MedImmune’s director of corporate public relations, Tracy Rossin, said no new buildings are planned at this point. Biotech company MedImmune, which is owned by AstraZeneca, currently houses AstraZeneca’s biologics programs, geared toward the creation of vaccines and medications.

Aronson’s Technology Industry Services Group is partnering with Rich Bendis and BioHealth Innovation (BHI) to help transform Central Maryland into a leading biohealth entrepreneurial and commercialization region.

“The central Maryland region is home to research organizations, government agencies, universities and companies with extensive biohealth experience and capabilities,” remarked Alan Langelli, Senior Manager in Aronson’s Technology Industry Services Group.  He continued, “Aronson is very excited about the opportunity to partner with BHI and support its goal of helping Central Maryland become a leading biohealth entrepreneurial and commercialization region.”

The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore (EAGB) and BioHealth Innovation (BHI) in collaboration with the Baltimore Business Journal are proud to announce the publication of the Central Maryland BioHealth Entrepreneur’s Resource and Financing Guide.

This Guide will be a compendium of resources to BioHealth innovators and entrepreneurs working to start and grow new companies in the region. A wealth of resources exists in Maryland to support emerging BioHealth companies, however, they are not always readily accessible or captured in one place. The Guide will compile information on financial resources, university facilities and programs, economic development programs, and existing federal laboratory facilities and programs and how to work with them.

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland, announced today the formation of its Commercial Relevance Advisory Board (CRAB). Members of the CRAB represent diverse business and academic organizations from throughout the region, such as venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates, Ernst & Young, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the University of Maryland (UMD), Johns Hopkins University, and leading biotechnology companies.

The CRAB will assist BHI in evaluating market-relevant research and product development opportunities as well as help determine the commercial applicability of emerging entrepreneurs, companies and their science or technology. BHI will utilize feedback from CRAB members as part of its due diligence process for establishing formal client relationships and potentially future investments.

The young Leiden-based biotech company Mimetas has closed an agreement with a regional development company from the state of Maryland, USA. Biohealth Innovation Inc., in which regional governments, universities and companies collaborate, will assist in setting up a US branch to find customers and business partners for Mimetas in the USA.