Rani Therapeutics, headquartered in San Jose, Calif., announced it had closed on its latest funding round, now totaling more than $70 million. Existing investors included Novartis (NVS), Google Ventures, Buttonwood, GF Ventures, KPC Pharmaceuticals, inCube Ventures and VentureHealth. New investors include AstraZeneca (AZN), Virtus Inspire Ventures, and Ping An Ventures. Rani focuses on a development platform to allow biologic drugs that are typically injected to be taken orally. Drugs that fall into this category include TNF-alpha inhibitors, interleukin antibodies, basal insulin and GLP-1.

The grand vision of Walt Disney -- one of the most innovative entrepreneurs of all time -- was simply to make people happy.

Walt further believed that if you can dream it, you can do it. While the priorities and technologies have changed, it was Walt's original vision that led to Disney's greatest innovations. Think about them: from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animation feature (1937), to Tiki Room opening and introducing the first electro-mechanical robots (1963), to modern Disney stores adopting Apple Pay.

In March and April, entrepreneurs can take a tour of Baltimore-area incubators, and pick up some knowledge on running a startup in the meantime.

Camp Inc. is a six-stop event that’s set to move through Baltimore, Towson, Baltimore County and Columbia.

Physicians and biomedical engineers from Johns Hopkins report what they believe is the first successful effort to wiggle fingers individually and independently of each other using a mind-controlled artificial “arm” to control the movement.

The proof-of-concept feat, described online this week in the Journal of Neural Engineering, represents a potential advance in technologies to restore refined hand function to those who have lost arms to injury or disease, the researchers say. The young man on whom the experiment was performed was not missing an arm or hand, but he was outfitted with a device that essentially took advantage of a brain-mapping procedure to bypass control of his own arm and hand.

Inova Health System will launch a $100 million venture fund dedicated to precision medicine. The Falls Church-based health system plans to announce the initiative Thursday as part of an Obama administration event unveiling federal funding and highlighting private-sector commitments in the nascent science.

A cancer immunotherapy drug under development at Gaithersburg-based MedImmune Inc. received "breakthrough" status from the Food and Drug Administration for its use in patients with metastatic bladder cancer. MedImmune, the research and development arm for AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), has multiple clinical trials in its pipeline for the drug candidate durvalumab, or MEDI4736, to treat non-small cell lung cancer, as well as head and neck, bladder, gastric, pancreatic, liver and blood cancers. The drug candidate inhibits what's known as a programmed death-ligand, or PD-L1 protein, which cancer uses to suppress the immune system.

A renewed push by state lawmakers to combine the flagship University of Maryland, College Park with the health- and law-focused University of Maryland, Baltimore could give the state a dual-campus powerhouse that would leverage the strengths of both institutions to launch new programs, discoveries, and businesses, supporters say.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Bill Ferguson and Del. Curt Anderson and backed by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller would move the 80-employee headquarters of the state university system from Adelphi to Baltimore and establish a ventures office to help faculty and students market their inventions commercially.

Recent research suggests that the site of vaccine administration significantly influences the tissue specificity and durability of the resulting immune response. Conventional vaccines delivered by intramuscular injection may therefore be unsuitable for the prevention of diseases with tissue tropisms distinct from the site of administration. Notably, for mucosally-transmitted pathogens such as herpes simplex virus (HSV), the current inability to generate a sustain immune response at the primary site of infection, the genital mucosa, has hindered the development effective preventative vaccines.

WorkSource Montgomery, Inc., the workforce development resource for Montgomery County businesses and jobseekers, is proud to announce Dr. Ellie Giles as its new Chief Executive Officer. She will begin her new role March 21.

Giles will lead the non-profit WorkSource Montgomery, Inc. in collaboration with its board and work with the recently seated Workforce Development Board to promote job training and placement for the County’s workforce and meet the needs of County employers. Together, the two boards will direct a robust system of talent development aligned to the future and current economic development priorities for the County.

The Abell Foundation made its second investment in a year in Vasoptic Medical.

Just like last summer, the nonprofit invested $250,000 in the medical device startup.

“Expanding our investment in Vasoptic Medical Inc. is a win-win for Baltimore,” said a joint statement released by the Abell Foundation board. “Vasoptic is growing Baltimore’s innovative tech industry and is poised to improve access to affordable healthcare for low-income populations.”

Biotech company in Princeton plans clinical tests of birth-control patch thanks to state-administered incentive program

If Princeton-based biotechnology firm Agile Therapeutics can eventually get federal approval to bring its promising new female contraceptive patch to market, credit will go to more than just the company’s employees and investors

After raising a seed round, building a team of 14 people in its Canton office and conducting a pair of pilots, Protenus is ready to build a real sales team in 2016.

“Ultimately, we know that selling is hugely time-consuming, it’s hugely specialized, and it’s something that we really wanted to invest in, along with our marketing side,” said cofounder Robert Lord, who’s been handling sales with his fellow cofounders.

Biohealth is all over the map in Maryland. There’s the biotech corridor in Montgomery County, where companies like MedImmune LLC and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. call home. The students and academic researchers at Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland are up in Baltimore. Then there are the government agencies and their many, many contractors spread throughout the Baltimore-Washington region.

The TCM Industry Awards Celebration will take place on May 11, 2016 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. This is our 28th year recognizing the high achievers in the regional technology, life science and government contracting industries.

On May 11, the Tech Council will come together with the technology, life science and government contracting communities to celebrate the achievements of the companies and individuals that propelled innovation and made 2015 such a memorable year for our region. Your attendance supports the finalists and the mission of the Tech Council.

Applications for the Maryland Technology Development Corporation's (TEDCO) Life Science Investment Fund are being accepted now through April 15.

The Life Science Investment Fund (LSIF) was previously managed by the former Department of Business and Economic Development under the name Biotechnology Commercialization Award. It was one of the programs that was transferred to TEDCO on October 1, 2015 along with Maryland Venture Fund, following the enactment of legislation passed during the 2015 General Assembly. This legislation was initiated by the Augustine Commission in an attempt to consolidate the State's efforts to provide seed/early-stage business investment.

A “Wired for Health” study recently reported by The Scripps Translational Science Institute in San Diego poses a significant challenge for those working to realize the potential of digital health technologies.

The Scripps team has been investigating the relationship between wireless health-monitoring technologies, healthcare costs, and outcomes in patients with chronic disease. After equipping one cohort of patients with an iPhone and a connected tracking device, researchers analyzed claims and medical data to track care utilization and outcomes, ultimately finding no significant economic or clinical benefit for the patients being monitored versus a control group.

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) acquired the HIV portfolio from Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). Both sides announced the preliminary deal in December. GSK pays $350 million up front and could pay an additional $1 billion depending on developmental and sales milestones.

Venture capital organization NextGen Venture Partners is launching a Baltimore office with the goal of bringing more investors to Baltimore and doing more deals in the city.

NextGen Venture Partners is a national network of early-stage investors that taps into cities’ entrepreneurship communities to draw out new investors. The organization has hubs in five cities and is launching in three more, including Baltimore.

University System of Maryland (USM) Chancellor Robert Caret’s schedule Monday showed a full day of meeting, greeting, and listening on the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) campus. In the morning, UMB’s deans and vice presidents shared accomplishments and talked about their goals for each of the university’s seven schools. For lunch it was a special edition of UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD’s regular brown bag affair, with attendees unaware of their star guest until he walked through the door! Later, student leaders had a chance to question Caret and express their interests and concerns.

I have provided capital for many start-up businesses, and raised money for a few of my own. I am often asked for advice on how or whether an entrepreneur should seek venture capital. My initial advice is simple: Don’t.

Entrepreneurs usually start businesses because they need autonomy and independence; they cannot work for someone else. As my granddad used to tell me, “no one gives you money for nothing.” That is certainly true for investors. They give entrepreneurs cash because they want to make more cash. They expect to be listened to, or at least have their financial interests regarded as the entrepreneur uses their capital to grow his or her business. Boom. Just like that — by taking outside capital — the entrepreneur sacrifices autonomy.

At 7 A.M. on a midsummer day in Piracicaba, a city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, Cecilia Kosmann sat in the back of a van surrounded by plastic take-out containers filled with genetically modified male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Every two minutes or so, she shook a container through a plastic funnel, releasing them into the cool outside air.

By the time the van finished its daily route through two neighborhoods here, she’d released about 250,000 of them.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award has become the mark of world-class individuals leading world-class companies. We invite you to be part of this exciting program. At a time when innovators are leading the way to a better world, we are seeking your help to identify those individuals whose diligence and relentless pursuit of their dreams set them apart from the rest.

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year honors entrepreneurs whose ingenuity, hard work and perseverance have created and sustained successful, growing business ventures. The program is celebrating its 30th year and has expanded to more than 145 cities and 60 countries around the world. EY forms a group of individuals from the business community to participate as the independent panel of judges for the program. This panel is made up of past award winners and C-suite leadership of high-growth entrepreneurial organizations. It also includes influential business leaders from the venture capital and private equity communities.

This position is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation that will have responsibility for overall administrative and management direction for the organization. The primary mission of MCEDC is to market Montgomery County worldwide as the region of choice for business investment and expansion. This leader will position MEDC as the County’s lead economic development and marketing organization for promoting, recruiting, and expanding businesses in Montgomery County. The ability to retain and grow existing businesses is of paramount importance. The CEO will lead an organization that enhances the impact of all companies invested in Montgomery County including small business and culturally diverse entities. The CEO will also advocate for strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem helping to develop a community that cultivates and encourages entrepreneurs while making maximum use of the local diverse, skilled population.

The United States has long had the world’s most effective and competitive system for discovering and developing new drugs—and for more than a half century, there has been a bipartisan consensus that there are two reasons for that success: First, the federal government provides robust funding for scientific research, mostly through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Second, the U.S. system encourages vigorous innovation in the private sector by providing strong intellectual property protections and a drug reimbursement system that together allow companies to earn sufficient revenues to reinvest in highly risky research and development.1 But today that consensus is fraying as populists on the left and libertarians on the right question both the policy means and the end result. If the center cannot hold and the longstanding bipartisan policy framework falls apart, then the future of U.S. biomedical innovation will be in peril.

Virginia’s House and Senate finance committees released two-year budget proposals Sunday that boost funding for economic development in a state bludgeoned by federal spending cuts, The Washington Post reports.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, has made growing and diversifying Virginia’s economy one of his top priorities.

Here’s the most important thing you need to know about being an entrepreneur, according to Under Armour Inc. CEO Kevin Plank:

“Everything matters. The way you carry yourself, the way your business card looks, the way you dress during the day.”

The 2016 Maryland Incubator Company of the Year Awards publicly recognizes achievements by current clients and graduates of Maryland incubators and provides a forum for the nominees to increase their visibility in the business, technology and investment communities.

Business incubators support new and early-stage businesses in Maryland. In 1986, the first public incubator was established at the University of Maryland in College Park. Recognizing the economic challenges facing new companies, business incubators are facilities that provide reasonable market rents, shared services and technical assistance to start-ups and early-stage companies, including manufacturing, biotech, service and technology firms.

Biotech and the overall equity markets have been under siege the past few months from macro forces, like oil and the economy, as well as sector-specific concerns like drug pricing.

After watching the carnage in 2016 wreck havoc with small and large cap stocks alike, I figured it was time to revisit the post-market performance of the recent biotech IPO cohort.  It’s grim, as you might expect.  A rising tide lifts all the boats, and a falling one leaves a lot of small ones exposed on the shoreline.  Here are a few metrics on the VC-backed IPO cohort since 2013, as of February 11, 2016:

Despite long-term declines in business creation and slow growth, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future of entrepreneurship in the United States. This message, delivered by Kauffman President and CEO Wendy Guillies in the State of Entrepreneurship Address, summarizes key findings in a publication released yesterday called The New Entrepreneurial Growth Agenda.

A study just completed by the Sage Policy Group on behalf of the Maryland Business Incubation Association (MBIA) has concluded that Maryland’s 30 small business incubators are having a significant and far-reaching impact on the state’s economy.

It’s hard for most people to find time to work out to stay fit, but when fitness has been part of your life since high school and you’ve served in the military, it’s a problem that can be especially vexing. That is what happened to Gregory Coleman, Chief Operating Officer of Nexercise, a Business Innovation Network member. A three-season high school athlete who graduated from the Air Force Academy, served as an Air Force and Air National Guard pilot, was enrolled in the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, plus was married and had a family, Greg felt like he was too busy to make it to the gym. Fellow Wharton student Ben Young, Chief Executive Officer of Nexercise, felt similar pain, and thought they could solve that problem in 2010 by taking advantage of the technology of Apple’s new iPhone.

Three years after Michael Davidson and his colleagues sold the omega-3 drug Epanova to AstraZeneca ($AZN) in the $443 million Omthera buyout, the biotech exec has rounded up some fresh support from a seasoned ally in the venture world to begin building a new biotech focused on cardiovascular disease.

CC Biotech LLC, Rockville MD, developing advanced separations technologies for large molecules, is awarded an SBIR phase I grant from the National Science Foundation for the project ‘Spiral Countercurrent Chromatography for the Separation of Carbon Nanotubes’. The new technique has been applied for the first time to successfully purify single wall carbon nanotube species which are semi-conductors. The application will enable the processing of potent semi-conductors to be added to sensor circuits. The implications of this R&D have wide application to not only bio-sensor devices, but also in the preparation of nanotech molecules as therapeutic nanoparticles and conjugates for drug delivery.

PapGene, Inc., a privately-held company commercializing advanced molecular tests, announced that it was recently awarded a highly competitive Fast-Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health to commercialize a test to detect ovarian and endometrial cancers.

The funds for this Fast-Track grant will be released in two phases, which together have the potential to provide a total of nearly $2.3 million in resources to PapGene’s test commercialization efforts. Phase I will provide $297,000 to the company to demonstrate the accuracy of the test and its clinical validity. Upon successful completion of Phase I, Phase II will provide approximately $2 million to demonstrate the clinical utility of the test and to launch its regulatory approval process.

Roche ($RHHBY) and AstraZeneca ($AZN) picked up FDA breakthrough therapy designations for their top pipeline assets, moving forward in multiple sclerosis and cancer with treatments tabbed as potential blockbusters.