Novartis scatters its VC seeds widely by leading rounds across a variety of therapy areas, although oncology still represents a big share of its funding activity.

The University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC) is now certified to offer a groundbreaking treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, in which a patient’s own immune cells are genetically engineered to recognize and attack the cancer.

Maryland has the most computer and data scientists in the U.S., and the second-highest concentrations of engineers and life scientists.

Microsoft outlined how emerging technologies can support diagnosis of rare diseases among children in a report released Feb. 20.

Rare diseases affect almost 350 million people globally, and they can take an average of five years to diagnose, according to the report.

Under a new licensing deal, Qiagen will gain access to a big genetics database from Vienna-based Ares Genetics, which could help tackle the global health crisis of antibiotic resistance.  

To spare you all a power point presentation, I thought I’d share some thoughts today about how and why our tech transfer system was created and the importance of practitioners continually developing best practices to maintain it.

Woody Allen said that half of life is showing up. Perhaps the other half is working with people who give you the opportunity to show what you can do.

Are you a start-up in Maryland, DC or Virginia seeking feedback on your biohealth business idea, pitch deck, or commercialization plan?  Sign up by noon 3/26 to schedule your feedback session with BHI Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, who have industry experience in therapeutics, Dx, medtech and more, next Wednesday, February 27th.  (Future sessions scheduled for 3/20 and 5/22.)  Pre-registration is required; sign up here ("EIR resource" at BHI).  For questions/more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Kelly M. Schulz, the newly appointed state secretary of commerce, could be called the secretary of opportunity. Her vision for the state of Maryland is for economic development, job growth, full employment and economic prosperity for all families around the state.

The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) announced today that Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., of the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) has been selected to receive the 2019 Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research. The Prize selection committee awarded Dr. Rosenberg for not only revolutionizing—if not originating—the field now known as cancer immunotherapy but also remaining at its forefront. Chief of the NCI Center for Cancer Research’s surgery branch in Bethesda since 1974, his basic, translational and applied research efforts have contributed immeasurably to groundbreaking advances in therapy and the later development of drugs such as Chiron’s (later Novartis and Prometheus Labs’) Proleukin, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Yervoy and Gilead’s Yescarta.

QIAGEN N.V. today announced a broad agreement with Ares Genetics, a subsidiary of Curetis N.V. CURE, -0.10% to develop innovative bioinformatics and assay solutions to accelerate research targeting the growing global health challenges posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

American Gene Technologies (AGT) recently signed a Research Collaboration Agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, for research studies on AGT’s cell and gene therapy for HIV/AIDS. AGT uses its proprietary, genetically modified, autologous cell product (AGT103-T) to reconstitute the immune response against HIV with the goal of reducing persistent viral reservoirs and achieving sustained virologic remission in infected individuals in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. Under this collaboration agreement, NIAID researchers will study the mechanism of action for AGT103-T to define its potential impacts on HIV disease.

The 22-year-old firm has invested in a number of well-known local companies.

At the beginning of this decade, when the fallout of the financial crash was still being felt and traditional venture firms were struggling to raise money, the investment arms of big pharma companies stepped in to fill a funding gap that was starving start-ups. Fast forward to the current period of plenty and, while corporate cash is no longer quite so crucial to the ecosystem, many of these units remain enthusiastic backers of early-stage science. 

Friday is the official last day of #HIMSS19 in Orlando. The annual healthcare conference, which began on Monday, February 11, was packed full of presentations, panels, products and people.

Wed, February 27, 2019 - 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM EST

Join us in the Washington, D.C. office of Reed Smith LLP for an engaging and interactive program discussing the implementation and commercialization in healthcare 3D printing and bioprinting applications, and the barriers associated with making this leap!

“How did you get in the robot?” That was the question a young patient at Children’s National Health System had on Thursday for Dr. Bear Bot.

Among the organizations taking glass-enclosed office space in the recently opened WeWork at University of Maryland College Park is an organization looking to promote research parks that cluster minds in science and business.

Steve Kousouris, who has been serving as Interim Executive Director of Technology Transfer at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures since June, has assumed this role permanently effective Jan.1. Additionally, Mark Bailey, previously Associate Director of Finance, will assume responsibility for the portfolio that Steve has overseen since 2013 in the capacity of Director, Finance & Administration.

But not everything is expected to change at the Gaithersburg campus.

Nuventra Pharma Sciences, a clinical pharmacology and PK/PD consultancy in Durham, NC, recently offered some insights on why clinical trials fail. In addition to biological considerations—such as pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamic, and human response to a drug varying from animal models—Nuventra presented a list of reasons that included:

Over the past couple of years, the term "record-breaking" has frequently been used to describe the state of venture capital in the US, as the space hits new heights with deal value, mega-rounds and fundraising. In 2018, some of these records reached heights not seen since the dot-com boom.

Akonni Biosystems, a molecular diagnostics (MDx) company that develops, manufactures, and intends to market advanced MDx systems, today announced receipt of a $3 million, three-year Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Akonni received the Phase I contract in August 2016.

The National Institute of Health awarded a University of Maryland research center team of scientists $3.6 million to help fund their work on the cells responsible for destroying cancer cells.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) today announced the appointment of Seamus Mulligan to the company’s Board of Directors effective March 19, 2019. Mr. Mulligan was a co-founder and principal investor of Adapt Pharma Ltd. and served as its chairman and CEO from 2014 until 2018, when Adapt was acquired by Emergent.

A team of researchers led by the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine has developed a methylated epigenetic biomarker panel integrating a sponge-based collection tool and a methylated-bead PCR method that it believes can detect Barrett's esophagus (BE).

The life sciences industry is taking off, with the medical technology and biotech sectors expected to grow further as traditional pharmaceutical companies are joined by startups and incubator labs driving new research and development. And with life sciences innovation rising, so is demand for the space in which to innovate.

Are you an experienced biohealth entrepreneur seeking new opportunities in the BioHealth Capital Region? BioHealth Innovation is developing a database of experienced industry personnel willing to work in potential C-suite positions with our university and startup partners. If you would like to have your contact information and vita included in this database for their review, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. an updated vita by this Thursday, February 14th.

Are you a start-up in Maryland, DC or Virginia seeking feedback on your biohealth business idea, pitch deck, or commercialization plan.  Sign up now to schedule your feedback session with BHI EIRs on Wednesday, February 27th.  (Next sessions scheduled for 3/20 and 5/22.)  Pre-registration is required; sign up here (“EIR resource”at BHI).  For questions/more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

University of Maryland Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research, 9600 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD 20850

Register NOW:  https://tinyurl.com/BHISBIR2019

• 8:00 a.m. – Networking and Registration
• 8:30 a.m. – Welcome
• 8:35 a.m. – SBIR Funding Opportunities at the National Institutes of Health
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  • National Institute on Aging
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse
  • National Cancer Institute  
• 9:45 a.m. – Partnership Opportunities with NCI Frederick National Lab  
• 10:00 a.m. – BREAK
• 10:20 a.m. – SBIR Funding Opportunities with the National Science Foundation    
• 11:00 a.m. – BREAK  
• 11:15 a.m. – SBIR Funding Opportunities with USAMRC    
• 11:45 a.m. –  Lunch  
• 12:45 p.m. – (1:1 Room Set)  
• 1:00 p.m. – Writing Your Specific Aims Page OR 1:1 Meetings* (available simultaneously)  
• 1:30 p.m. – Writing Your Phase II Commercialization Plan OR 1:1 Meetings* (available simultaneously)  
• 2:00 p.m. – Writing Your Specific Aims Page OR 1:1 Meetings* (available simultaneously)  
• 2:30 p.m. –  Writing Your Phase II Commercialization Plan  OR 1:1 Meetings* (available simultaneously))  
• 3:00 p.m. –  1:1 Meetings* (NIH only)  
• 4:00 p.m. – Adjourn

Pre-Registration REQUIRED: RSVP by noon, February 26 at https://tinyurl.com/BHISBIR2019
No charge for entrepreneurs to attend • If seeking 1:1 meeting(s) please include organization(s) in RSVP.

Utilization of digital health services and technologies has been on the rise since we first began surveying the US adult population in 2015. Budding choices of wearables, apps, telemedicine, and other tech-enabled services make it easy for consumers to test out what it might be like to “go digital” for their health. In the first three years, our annual survey showed that tools for fitness and wellness represented a common (and low-risk) entry point for consumers to experiment with products that fit neatly into their already tech-enabled lifestyles. In the 2018 data that we examined for this report, we saw something different.

Today we’re celebrating around the Technical.ly Slack channel. It’s the 10th anniversary of Technical.ly’s founding in Philadelphia, marking a decade of local tech news and innovation community coverage.

PitchMasters™, a workshop-style event for entrepreneurs preparing for their first institutional capital raise, held its 2019 Kick Off and Alumni Event on Jan. 30, 2019. Four emerging startup companies, Skipiit, Trove Therapeutics, Uplift and VERALOX Therapeutics, practiced their pitching skills and gained insights from experienced entrepreneurs, investors, industry influencers and fellow PitchMasters™ alumni.

The Association of University Research Parks (AURP), a professional association of university-related research and science parks, announced the appointment of Brian Darmody, Associate Vice President of Corporate Engagement at the University of Maryland (UMD), as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Additionally, the association has opened a new office at the UMD Discovery District in the Washington, DC area, to be known as ‘AURP HQ2.’ Mr. Darmody will immediately assume his new role as CEO at the new location. He will continue his role at UMD and plans to transition out of UMD over time.

Shares of MacroGenics went stratospheric Wednesday following the release of data from a pivotal Phase III study of the company’s lead drug candidate in breast cancer that beat many investors’ expectations.