Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have revamped an anti-cancer drug to better target cancer cells and leave healthy tissues unharmed. Scientists have dubbed this type of targeted approach a “prodrug” — a medicine designed to release its payload in a particular area of the body and in no other areas. The Johns Hopkins-discovered prodrug, called DRP-104 (sirpiglenastat), is in early-stage clinical trials in people with advanced solid tumors. The newly published studies in mice show that the augmented drug preferentially eliminates cancer cells but does not harm healthy cells.

Biotechnology firm Haystack Oncology Inc. has signed a lease in the City Garage Science & Technology Center at the recently rebranded Baltimore Peninsula mixed-use development.

Haystack, which describes itself as developing personalized cancer diagnostics with the potential of leading to proactive clinical interventions, said it's moving into a 20K SF lab space in City Garage at 101 West Dickman St. by this coming summer.

Image: Google Maps - City Garage in south Baltimore is a former makers' hub turned life sciences laboratory space.

HILDEN, Germany & GERMANTOWN, Maryland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced the launch of the monkeypox (MPXV) test for its NeuMoDx automated PCR platform to strengthen surveillance and research into the current outbreak in non-endemic regions that has infected tens of thousands of people all over the world since first being identified in May 2022.

“NeuMoDx MPXV enables researchers the fast and reliable qualitative detection and differentiation of both monkeypox clades, a huge help for those trying to understand and contain this virus”

ROCKVILLE, MD, Nov. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

MacroGenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of the Biologics License Application (BLA) for teplizumab, an anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody that was previously developed by MacroGenics.  Teplizumab was acquired by Provention Bio, Inc. in May 2018 pursuant to an asset purchase agreement.

"We are very pleased to see the culmination of years of effort by Provention, MacroGenics, and tireless champions in academia and government, with the achievement of the approval of teplizumab," said Scott Koenig, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of MacroGenics. "We applaud this outcome, which represents an advancement for individuals and their families dealing with the risks and consequences of type 1 diabetes."

In Montgomery County, lab space has long been a prized get for biotechs, because there was so little of it. Shockingly little, actually, given the county is home to both the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.

That’s changing, and fast. There’s about 2 million square feet of the specialized space in the county’s pipeline, much of it taking the place of obsolete office buildings that are either being converted to labs, or demolished in favor of gleaming, state-of-the-art new construction.

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Princeton Review® and Entrepreneur® today announced the results of The Princeton Review's 17th annual ranking of undergraduate and graduate schools for entrepreneurship studies.

Based on a summer 2022 survey The Princeton Review conducted of nearly 300 schools with entrepreneurship offerings, the rankings reported today took into account more than 40 data points about the school programs, faculties, students, and alumni.

The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur published the project's ranking lists on their respective websites at https://www.princetonreview.com/entrepreneur and https://www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges.

Pixelligent, a nanotechnology firm that produces materials used in augmented reality displays and sensors, recently raised $38 million in IP-backed financing from a funding vehicle by MVolution Partners LLC. These funds brings the total raised this round of funding to $45 million, with the other $7 million coming from existing investors.

Image: Inside Pixelligent's manufacturing facility. (Courtesy photo)

According to a recent report from CBRE, Chicago ranks No. 6 for job growth out of the Top 25 life sciences markets in the U.S. To establish itself as a prominent hub on par with the coastal life sciences clusters in Boston and San Francisco, Chicago needs to enhance its offering in the areas of funding, talent, real estate and infrastructure. While the city has made many positive strides toward becoming a life sciences destination, there are four key steps city and state leaders can take to accelerate this process.

Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/architectural-photography-of-tunnel-2088233/

Apply Now for Our 2023 Programs!

Applications for our three different Innovator programs – MedTech Innovator US, MedTech Innovator Asia Pacific, and BioTools Innovator – are now open. Read below to learn which program is right for you and apply today.

Companies do not have to relocate, and there is no equity required or fee for participation. The application deadline for all programs is January 31, 2023.

Image: https://thelaunchport.com

Emergent BioSolutions is looking to make progress with its chikungunya vaccine and has received a $10 million US government grant to help it along.

Emergent announced that it has been handed a research award from the Department of Defense Congressional Directed Medical Research Programs to evaluate the efficacy of its single-dose chikungunya virus vaccine candidate.

The coronavirus pandemic has underlined the value of clearly communicating scientific data, public health guidance and risk factors amidst uncertainty. On Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 9:00 a.m. ET, join Washington Post Live for a series of conversations with Francis S. Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, and Kurt Newman, president and CEO of Children’s National Hospital, about strengthening trust in science across society, countering misinformation and navigating heightened political divisions.

Image: https://www.washingtonpost.com/

October 6, 2022 – Now accepting Letters of Intent (LOI) for Grant Round 14 

Dec 7, 2022   5:00 PM EDT  Deadline to submit LOI for consideration in Grant Round 14

December 16, 2022   Invitation to submit a full application will be sent to Applicant Teams whose LOI meets funding criteria

February 2, 2023  5:00 PM Eastern  Deadline to submit full application for Grant Round 14

February 24, 2023  Invitation to present proposal in person to our Project Management and Oversight Panel (PMOP) will be sent to the top 8 applicant teams as determined by scoring and ranking of applications

Week of March 13, 2023  Proposal Presentations 

Week of March 20, 2023 Virginia Board of Directors final funding decision for Grant Round 14 March 2023  Grant Round 14 Awardees announced

Hello everybody, Wizbiosolutions team is MEDICA in Dusseldorf. We are in Hall 1, E18 now. Please come to visit our booth and discuss about new technology that we have. We are all welcomeing you.

Image: https://www.linkedin.com

The Johns Hopkins University researchers behind two of Baltimore's most successful biotech firms have founded a new company that has now raised $56 million to create a new diagnostic tool for cancer.

Haystack Oncology plans to use the funding from its series A round to kickstart a move into a large lab inside of City Garage in Port Covington, which was recently renamed Baltimore Peninsula. The company also plans to invest in more clinical trials to get additional data to support the effectiveness of Haystack's cancer detection blood test. The 50-person company, currently based at Hopkins' FastForwardU, plans to have a commercial launch in 2023.

From New York to Paris and London, life sciences companies are being drawn to parts of town often more synonymous with financial services. In London, the Canary Wharf Group and Kadans Science Partner are jointly developing Europe’s largest commercial laboratory building. Life science organization Genomics England will move in later this year, joined by a mix of startups, academics, clinicians and established pharmaceutical companies.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, invests more than € 290 million in its biosafety testing capacity at Rockville, Maryland, USA. This will significantly increase the company’s ability to conduct biosafety testing and analytical development services. Biosafety testing and analytical development are critical and fundamental requirements of the drug development and commercialization process to ensure the safety of medicines. Global demand for these services is growing at a double-digit rate.

A few of BioBuzz’s favorite stories from late summer/early fall Over the past several months, life sciences companies across the BioHealth Capital Region showcased their innovative capabilities and pipeline development program. BioBuzz takes a look back at five key events that took place in the third quarter.

BioFactura Moves Forward with Stelara Biosimilar

Frederick, Maryland-based BioFactura is beginning to see the fruits of its labors with the development of ustekinumab (BFI-751), its biosimilar for Janssen’s Stelara. In October, the company announced Phase 1 data that showed pharmacokinetic comparability to the comparison drug.

The company also reported there were no marked differences in the safety and tolerability profile for subjects receiving ustekinumab. BioFactura intends to conduct a confirmatory safety and efficacy study in patients to pave the way for global registration.

Image: https://biobuzz.io/

BALTIMORE, MD (November 16, 2022) — Governor Larry Hogan today announced that MilliporeSigma, an international biosciences company, is growing its presence in Montgomery County with a $286 million investment to expand its biosafety testing capacity.

The company, known locally as BioReliance Corporation, currently has five locations in Rockville and is planning to consolidate in a new 250,000-square-foot facility at 9820 Darnestown Road at the Alexandria Center® at Traville Gateway campus, which is being developed and operated by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. MilliporeSigma will maintain one additional facility at 9630 Medical Center Drive and will retain at least 600 full-time employees during the expansion, while creating more than 500 new jobs over the next four years.

BELTSVILLE, Md. and DAEJEON, South Korea, Nov. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NextCure, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXTC) and LegoChem Biosciences, Inc. (LCB, KOSDAQ: 141080) today announced a collaboration and co-development agreement focused on generating a B7-H4 antibody drug conjugate (ADC) and options for two additional targets. The B7-H4 ADC will utilize NextCure’s B7-H4 antibody and LCB’s ConjuAllTM ADC technology.

Under the terms of the agreement, both parties will equally share the costs to develop the molecules and profits on commercialized products. The parties will utilize their respective product development capabilities to generate the B7-H4 ADC and advance it to the clinic. In addition, there are options for the parties to nominate two additional targets for ADC development beyond B7-H4.

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BRAINBox Solutions today announced that the company has enrolled the 1,000th patient in the pivotal, HeadSMART II study of its concussion diagnostic and prognostic test, BRAINBox TBI. The multi-national, multi-site, trial is designed to support an application for regulatory clearance by the U.S. FDA.

"We are developing the BRAINBox TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) test as the first objective test to aid in the diagnosis of concussion and to provide an assessment of the risk of post-concussive symptoms," said Donna Edmonds, BRAINBox Solutions' CEO. "We are now in the home stretch of this very important study for the field. We believe the test has great potential to change clinical practice in the diagnosis and management of concussion and will define for the first time, objective diagnostic criteria for this condition, termed Acute Traumatic Encephalopathy (ATE). As such, the trial has been rigorously designed in collaboration with leading experts in traumatic brain injury and emergency medicine. The study evaluates patients in multiple settings and includes state of the art expert adjudication panels."

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) announced today a research award by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) to evaluate efficacy of the company’s single-dose chikungunya virus virus-like particle (CHIKV VLP) vaccine candidate. Emergent will begin the planning phase, the first of two phases, in collaboration with the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) and academic partners, to enable a post-approval field efficacy study in areas with active chikungunya virus (CHIKV) transmission.

The University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower) has announced that it is establishing an Institute for Health Computing that will focus on artificial intelligence and advanced computing to further develop the field of precision medicine and improve health care for patients across the state.

The University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower) today announced a transformative partnership to establish the University of Maryland 3 - Institute for Health Computing (UM-3-IHC), which is being led by the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), in collaboration with the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) and Montgomery County, Md. This new Institute will leverage recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and computing to create a premier learning health care system that evaluates both de-identified and secure digitized medical health data to diagnose, prevent and treat diseases in patients across the state of Maryland.

Image: Bruce Jarrell, MD, FACS

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich signed Thursday a multiagency agreement to launch a new higher education institute in North Bethesda dedicated to artificial intelligence in health care, with the goal of establishing a magnetic academic-industrial complex akin to what's envisioned for Northern Virginia's National Landing.

The budding collaboration — dubbed The University of Maryland 3 - Institute for Health Computing, or UM-3-IHC — involves Montgomery County, the University of Maryland campuses in Baltimore and College Park and the University of Maryland Medical System Corporation (UMMS), a hospital network. 

Image: https://www.bizjournals.com/

November 9, 2022 — Johnson & Johnson Innovation, together with Johnson & Johnson Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, announced that AmacaThera, Hawkeye Bio, Inc., Garwood Medical Devices, LLC, Immunophotonics, Limax Biosciences, and Nanochon have been selected as the awardees in the Innovations for Vets QuickFire Challenge: Lung Cancer & Physical Trauma.

The challenge invited innovators to submit potentially groundbreaking ideas that aim to directly address the unique healthcare needs of the military community.

When London-based artificial-intelligence (AI) company DeepMind unveiled predicted structures for some 220 million proteins earlier this year, the trove covered nearly every protein from known organisms in DNA databases. Now, another tech giant is filling in the ‘dark matter’ of the protein universe.

Researchers at Meta (formerly Facebook, headquartered in Menlo Park, California) have used AI to predict the structures of some 600 million proteins from bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that haven’t been characterized.

Image: The ESM Metagenomic Atlas contains structural predictions for 617 million proteins.Credit: ESM Metagenomic Atlas (CC BY 4.0)

November 08, 2022 08:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

ROCKVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI), a privately-held clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of LAMP-mediated nucleic acid-based immunotherapy, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track Designation (FTD) to the ITI-3000 program for the treatment of patients with Merkel cell carcinoma. The company is currently enrolling a phase 1 study evaluating ITI-3000, a plasmid DNA (pDNA) vaccine targeting patients with Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare but aggressive form of skin cancer that is typically caused by the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV).

“The FDA’s decision to grant FTD underscores the potential for the ITI-3000 program to address a serious unmet need and serve as a meaningful therapeutic option for patients with Merkel cell carcinoma,” stated Dr. William Hearl, Chief Executive Officer of ITI. “We are committed to unlocking the full potential of ITI-3000 in patients with this aggressive form of skin cancer. We expect to report top-line data from our ongoing phase 1 trial of ITI-3000 in MCC patients next year and look forward to working closely with the FDA on a potential next phase clinical study design, while simultaneously continuing dialogue with possible partners.”

Catalio Capital Management, an investment firm with offices in Baltimore and New York City, this week announced the close of a new fund that already counts a Johns Hopkins University-borne cancer detection company and patient-monitoring software system in its portfolio.

According to Catalio executives, the $85 million Catalio Credit Opportunities Fund I partners with what a statement called “39 world-renowned serial scientist-entrepreneurs at top-tier academic institutions in the US and Europe in order to vet opportunities to fund founders.” The fund, also described as a “special situations fund,” targets small and mid-sized private companies.

Image: (L to R) Catalio Capital Management cofounders R. Jacob Vogelstein and George Petrocheilos. (Courtesy photo)

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES, November 8, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Linshom Medical was awarded a $2.4 Million Fasttrack SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

“This award further validates our technology for critical bedside respiratory monitoring and adds to the list of Linshom Medical’s achievements,” said Richard Hughen, CEO. “This award funds a clinical study to prove Linshom’s early detection capability of patient respiratory decline. It also funds the further miniaturization of our technology to reach more patients in more settings such as a nasal cannula and a wearable sensor for home monitoring.”

Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., who is performing the duties of the National Institutes of Health director, has selected Joni L. Rutter, Ph.D., as director of NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Dr. Rutter has served as NCATS acting director since April 2021. She officially began her role as NCATS director on Nov. 6, 2022.

Image: NCATS Director Joni L. Rutter, Ph.D.

Researchers have identified shared genetic risk factors for systemic lupus erythematosus and coronary artery disease, according to data published in Cell Reports Medicine.

The findings may open the door for early testing for coronary artery disease risk in patients with lupus, the researchers wrote.

Under the SBIR and STTR Extension Act of 2022 (the Act), signed into law last month, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs were extended through fiscal year 2025. These programs provide grants or contracts to small businesses to fund early-stage research and development. Over a dozen agencies participate in the SBIR or STTR programs, including the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, and NASA. According to the Small Business Administration, more than 5,000 new awards, amounting to over $3 billion, are made each year under these programs. The complete list and link to each agency's website (including current opportunities) can be found here.

An Orange County-based startup, Innovation Lab, announced that it was awarded $30,000 in grant funding to help bring its “Move-D” mechanical elbow brace to market to help improve Activities of Daily Living (ADL) for pediatric ataxic cerebral palsy patients. The grant was awarded during the “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition held during the 10th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium hosted by Children’s National Hospital on October 23, 2022.

Join this collaborative webinar between MedTech Color and the National Institutes of Health on November 8th 2022 at 2:30 PM ET. Attendees will learn about the NIH programs and initiatives relevant to diverse founders and entrepreneurs in the Medtech space including SBIR/STTR funding and related NIH programs for entrepreneurs. Hear from specific institutes and departments, such as the NIH Small business Education and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and more, further describe their specific programs, have an open dialogue, and ask questions regarding best fit programs, resources and more!

MedTech Color aims to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) measures in the medical device industry for underrepresented ethnic minority groups. Their core objectives are: to increase the number of leaders of color who enter and stay in Medtech, add tangible value to the industry's ecosystem via thought-leadership and actionable initiatives, and build a strong, diverse network of mentors and sponsors who champion thought leadership and innovative clinical advancement.

To register for the event, visit https://bit.ly/3Fgrvk0.

HOUSTON – (Nov. 2, 2022) – The largest crowd in the history of the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) Conference gathered last week in Las Vegas to celebrate creativity and innovation in university-based entrepreneurship education.

The GCEC is made up of more than 250 leading university entrepreneurship programs working together not only to share best practices and develop programs and initiatives, but also to collaborate and help each other advance, strengthen and celebrate the role universities fulfill in educating the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business in Houston is the global headquarters for the GCEC.