The Incubator Company of the Year Awards is an opportunity to highlight Maryland's impressive incubator system and recognize the breadth and depth of technology talent that we have throughout Maryland. In determining the winners, judges considered factors such as technology and product development, increase in employee numbers, growth in revenue, and the attraction of outside investors. The Incubator Company of the Year Awards represent some of the best companies in Maryland that have recently been started and have gone through incubator programs. With BioHealth Innovation's assistance, Avhana Health has been able to create a category-defining product, triple it's workforce and gain funding from outside investors.

Investment to accelerate momentum behind cloud-based electronic health record software for behavioral health market

June 2nd, 2015 | Rockville, MD - Credible Behavioral Health, Inc. ("Credible"), a leading provider of electronic health record ("EHR") and practice management Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") solutions to the behavioral health market, today announced that it has secured a $30 million minority investment from Goldman Sachs. The investment will allow Credible to further pursue its mission of helping behavioral health agencies improve their quality of care by scaling its presence across the clinic, community, residential, and inpatient behavioral health market. Credible plans to accelerate product development, build out its sales and marketing team, and opportunistically pursue acquisitions.

Gaithersburg-based Novavax Inc. — known for its work developing vaccine candidates for the flu, a pediatric respiratory illness and Ebola — expanded into a new 54,000-square-foot research and development space where it plans to house its vaccine work.

"It's a very important signal of our continued growth," said Buck Phillips, chief financial officer of Novavax (Nasdaq: NVAX) of the new space at 21 Firstfield Road, across the street from its headquarters.

For decades, a postdoctoral appointment in a university laboratory has been the “default” next step for new Ph.D. researchers in biomedical sciences and, increasingly, in other sciences as well. In those positions, scientists encounter such well-known issues as low pay, long hours, and little or no preparation for career opportunities outside academe.

The Human Genome Project was one of mankind’s greatest triumphs. But the official gene map that resulted in 2003, known as the “reference genome,” is no longer up to the job.

So say scientists laying plans for a new universal map they say will combine the genomes of hundreds, and eventually thousands, of people to create a true reference that reflects all of humanity.

Come to this information breakfast to learn about Relevant Health, the new accelerator located in the Rockville Innovation Center, now accepting applications from health tech startups for its Fall 2015 class. Relevant Health’s five-month program involves an intensive product-focused curriculum that gives founders of health tech startups the skills to define, develop, position and launch a viable health tech product. Companies admitted to the accelerator will have access to the cowork facility along with other support that includes up to $50,000 in funding, mentorship, development support from a pool of software engineers, and access to the local health tech ecosystem. Interested applicants should visit http://www.relevanthealth.md to complete the online application. The final deadline for application submissions is July 31, 2015. Free, breakfast will be served. Park in designated GIC parking spots only.

The TechConnect World Innovation Conference is an annual event uniquely designed to accelerate the commercialization of innovations out of the lab and into industry. The Technical Program spotlights applications focused innovations, materials and devices emerging from industrial, government and academic laboratories worldwide. The Innovation Partnering Program gathers market-ready, commercially-viable, innovations into the largest global technology accelerator program.

Early-stage companies are reviewed and selected by our board of corporate and investment partners. Technical submissions are reviewed and selected by our symposium chairs and program review committee. The 2015 TechConnect World Innovation event encompasses the 2015 SBIR/STTR National Conference, the 2015 National Innovation Summit and Showcase, and Nanotech2015 – the world’s largest nanotechnology event.

One of the two boards that oversee the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park has adopted bylaw changes and added members as part of a plan to support innovation in the entire Richmond region economy.

The Virginia Biotechnology Park Corporation Board, which is the nonprofit leadership entity for the 34-acre park in downtown Richmond, has changed its named to the Innovation Council — a “placeholder” name, for now, that is expected to change as the council works on a rebranding program.

Lawmakers on the Legislature’s powerful budget committee trimmed Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million two-year funding cut to the University of Wisconsin System to $250 million, which if it stands would be tied for the largest cut in System history and would mark the fifth time in the last six budget cycles that the universities took a significant funding cut.

Governor Larry Hogan joined Maryland companies RTKL and Marriott International, as well as officials from the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, for a ceremony during which agreements were signed with Chinese companies and educational institutions. Among the partnerships, Marriott International has agreed to work with R&F Real Estate Development in China to operate the 350-room Ritz-Carlton in Harbin; and global design firm RTKL signed an agreement with Beijing Thaihot Jiaying Real Estate Development Co. to provide design consulting services for the Shijingshan Galaxy Business Area. In addition, two emerging Chinese companies – Shanghai Tongji Biological Product Co. and Ankang Shimao Biotechnology Co. – announced plans to set up U.S. operations in Maryland’s International Incubator at the University of Maryland, College Park, which is already home to a number of Chinese firms.

For at least three days this month, Philadelphia will be the Silicon Valley of biotech.

Nearly 40 startups and small businesses funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with innovative biomedical technologies based on fundamental research will be in Philadelphia June 15-18 at the 2015 BIO International Convention, the world's largest gathering of the biotechnology industry.

The big data movement is redefining the way we approach biotech – opening up new opportunities for engineers and mathematicians. It also is helping entrepreneurs launch an entirely new kind of biotech startup – one at the nexus of tech and biotech.

So there’s a lot of talk about how best to entice the tech-savvy into the life sciences – because the silos remain very real. How do we bridge the gap between tech and biotech?

Entrepreneurs and other private-sector innovators will soon, for the first time, have access to voluminous federal healthcare data stores, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Tuesday. This reverses a longstanding rule that researchers could not use CMS data for commercial purposes.

Acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt presented the new policy Tuesday at Health Datapalooza, an event focused on open healthcare data.

June 18th at 1:30pm

This webinar is intended to help enhance the productivity of scientific research--most of which is conducted in teams-- by creating awareness of the National Research Council’s recently published report, “Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Sciences.”.

Funding and Research Opportunities

The following funding opportunity announcements from the NHLBI or other components of the National Institutes of Health, might be of interest:
Notices:

• Clarifying Publication Reporting Instructions for Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) and Renewal Applications
• (NOT-OD-15-091) National Institutes of Health
• Reminder of Timeline for Administrative Changes to NIH Domestic Awards to Transition to Payment Management System Subaccounts
• (NOT-OD-15-105) National Institutes of Health
• Request for Information: NIH Precision Medicine Cohort - Strategies to Address Community Engagement and Health Disparities
• (NOT-OD-15-107) National Institutes of Health
• Delays in Grant Application Submission due to Severe Summer Weather and other Natural Disasters/Emergencies
• (NOT-OD-15-108) National Institutes of Health

Please note that most links to RFAs, PAs, and Guide Notices will take you to the NIH Web site. RFPs will take you to FedBizOpps. Links to RFPs will not work past their proposal receipt date. Archived versions of RFPs posted on FedBizOpps can be found on the FedBizOpps site using the FedBizOpps search function. Under “Document to Search,” select Archived Documents.

Bioresearch just got a shot in the arm. On March 23, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that three proof-of-concept hubs would join three already existing Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hubs (REACH).

Those new REACH awardees are:

• The Long Island Bioscience Hub: Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory
• The University of Louisville
• The University of Minnesota

OpGen, Inc. (Nasdaq:OPGN), an early commercial-stage molecular testing and bioinformatics company, today launched its expanded, comprehensive molecular testing and bioinformatics program for detecting and managing Gram negative multi-drug resistant organisms, or MDROs. These products and services are designed to enable healthcare providers to rapidly identify and help manage hospital patients who are colonized or infected with life-threatening, drug resistant organisms.

OpGen also announced that it has been selected to participate in the White House Forum on Antibiotic Stewardship, being held today in Washington, D.C. The event brings together key federal and private-sector constituencies involved in the development, promotion and implementation of antibiotic stewardship activities to ensure the responsible use of antibiotics nationwide. A live stream of the opening session will be available beginning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time via www.whitehouse.gov/live.

Strand Life Sciences is hoping for a bigger seat at the table in the U.S. next-generation sequencing (NGS) market with the launch of an expanded version of its Stranddvantage pan-cancer genomic profiling test.

Revolution LLC plans to raise $450 million for its next fund, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The raise comes right as the previous fund — which backs growth-stage companies and was also valued at $450 million — is reaching its limit for initial investments. D.C.-based Revolution has invested in 11 companies from that fund since its 2011 inception, with one or two more new investments expected.

BioMarker Strategies, LLC, today announced the appointment of Samuel Broder, M.D., as Chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board and his election as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.

“We are privileged to bring a leader of Dr. Broder’s distinction and scientific experience back to our Company. His record of accomplishment in internal medicine and oncology are well known, and we look forward to benefiting from his scientific and strategic insight in the years ahead,” said Jerry Parrott, President and CEO, BioMarker Strategies. “I am particularly pleased that Dr. Broder has agreed to take on the important role of Chairman of our Scientific Advisory Board. We expect to announce the members of our newly constituted SAB in the near future.”

Awards recognize best practices in university-based economic development

The University Economic Development Association (UEDA) is currently seeking applications for its annual Awards of Excellence program, which recognizes cutting edge university-based economic development initiatives from across the country. The Awards of Excellence Program spotlights higher education institutions and their partners who are transforming their campuses and communities into engines of economic prosperity through creative initiatives in five categories:

The Emerging Leaders (EL)  Program provides rising leaders with the skills and connections essential to professional success and effective community leadership.  Through eight monthly interactive sessions, participants will gain unique exposure to the issues, resources and key players impacting Montgomery County, while strengthening their professional skill sets.  

If you experience any difficulty creating an account or filling out the application, please contact Carol Ippolito This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 301-881-3333

Technology Digest Inc., an information technology consulting and product development firm, has made its new home at Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus.

The firm is the brainchild of Sarah Iranpour, a first-generation immigrant to the United States from Iran. Iranpour spent years working for others in the IT field. When her son went to college, she decided to “go after my dream developing something substantial for health and medical.”

In the 21st century, health care innovation is happening at lightning speed. From the mapping of the human genome to the rise of personalized medicines that are linked to advances in molecular medicine, we have seen constant breakthroughs that are changing the face of disease treatment, management, and cures. Health research is moving quickly, but the federal drug and device approval apparatus is in many ways the relic of another era. We have dedicated scientists and bold leaders at agencies like the NIH and the FDA, but when our laws don’t keep pace with innovation, we all lose.  

If we want to save more lives and keep this country the leader in medical innovation, we have to make sure there’s not a major gap between the science of cures and the way we regulate these therapies.

Boston-based venture capital firm SV Life Sciences is working on its sixth fund, with a fundraising target of $400 million, according to a Form D filing on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s website. The firm invests in biotech, medical devices, health IT and healthcare services.

New Enterprise Associates is planing on making a $5 million investment in Speedinvest’s newly launched second fund. NEA is anticipating that it will provide $50 million in follow-on funding for Speedinvest’s portfolio companies. Speedinvest’s second fund will focus on backing European startups.

Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory has been the hidden mastermind behind some of the nation’s most influential technologies for 73 years.

Now the Howard County institution is going deeper into the medical world, while maintaining its foothold in national security and space exploration projects.

At Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) we are looking for innovative ways to improve the lives of our nation’s service members, veterans and their families by advancing excellence in psychological health and traumatic brain injury prevention and care. Join our Mental Health and TBI Care Challenge starting May 4 to share your idea on how to fill gaps in care and improve the well-being of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Forest City-New East Baltimore Partnership, a joint venture between Forest City Enterprises, Inc. and Presidential Partners LLC, is building a new innovation hub for life sciences in East Baltimore, just north of the Johns Hopkins medical campus. The project is called 1812 Ashland Avenue and is expected to cost $65.6 million.

Ground was broken on Friday, May 15. The new laboratory and office building will have seven levels and about 168,000 square feet of space. It will be the newest addition to the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins and part of the 88-acre East Baltimore Development Inc. renewal area, which is also developed by Forest City-New East Baltimore Partnership.

ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (PLI)(otcqx:PFSCF) ("ProMetic" or the "Corporation") announced today that it has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of Emergent BioSolutions' ("Emergent") plasma collection center located in Winnipeg, Canada. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Emergent's plasma collection center is an FDA and Health Canada licensed plasma collection facility. The plasma collection center is conveniently located in close proximity to the existing Emergent Winnipeg based cGMP manufacturing facility, which was recently announced as providing ProMetic with up to 250,000 liters of annual plasma processing capacity. The plasma collection center will start operating under ProMetic's ownership upon granting of the regulatory licenses, in ProMetic's name, by the requisite regulatory authorities. All existing center employees will then transition to be employed by ProMetic.

Partnering with other pharma companies and academic institutions has been a cornerstone strategy for Eli Lilly and Company for close to a hundred years. One of the first major collaborations in the industry occurred in the 1920s when Lilly partnered with Frederick Banting and Charles Best from the University of Toronto. Banting and Best discovered insulin, and Lilly used its resources to develop and commercialize it. Today millions of people continue to benefit from the result of that successful collaboration.   

MedImmune and the University of Cambridge today said they have launched a new five-year, multiproject collaboration with the school’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB) focused on research in biopharmaceutical development including cell engineering. The value of the collaboration was not disclosed.

QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced the commercial launch of its QIAGEN Clinical Insight® (QCI™) bioinformatics content and software platform for clinical testing labs to interpret and report on genomic variants identified in next-generation sequencing (NGS). The first two supported applications for the bioinformatics platform are in oncology, for somatic and hereditary cancer testing. QIAGEN will demonstrate the QCI software at the upcoming ClinGen/DECIPHER Meeting (May 27-28, Washington D.C.), ASCO Annual Meeting (May 29-June 2, Chicago), and European Society of Human Genetics Conference (June 6-9, Glasgow).

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is proud to announce the 2015 Tibbetts Awards to 23 small businesses, six individuals, and - for the first time - three supporting organizations for their exemplary roles in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. 

The 2015 Tibbetts Award recipients will be formally honored in Washington, DC, on June 15 during a White House ceremony featuring keynote speaker Cady Coleman, accomplished scientist and NASA Astronaut noted for her six-month expedition to the International Space Station. Tibbetts Awardees will also be honored at the June 16 kickoff of the National SBIR/STTR Conference where thousands of the best and brightest in the innovation ecosystem convene annually.

Emergent BioSolutions recently cut the ribbon on a new headquarters in Gaithersburg which will add 130,000 square feet and 133 additional employees by 2018. President & CEO of Emergent, Dan Abdun-Nabi stated that this expansion ties back into the bigger picture of the company's vision to enhance 50 million lives by 2025.