Soligenix, Inc. (OTCQB: SNGX) (Soligenix or the Company), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing products that address unmet medical needs in the areas of inflammation, oncology and biodefense, announced today that it has initiated a development agreement with Emergent BioSolutions to implement a commercially viable, scalable production technology for the RiVax™ drug substance protein antigen.  RiVax™ is a vaccine candidate being developed to protect against ricin exposure.  Soligenix will transfer the manufacturing processes and analytics to Emergent to conduct process development work that could potentially lead to a future commercial manufacturing collaboration.   

On April 30, 2015, KeyGene USA, celebrated the opening of its new R&D facilities co-located at the University of Maryland’s Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) in Rockville, Maryland. The R&D facilities include offices, molecular biology labs, a state-of-the-art greenhouse and access to modern growth chambers, tissue culture facilities and other resources. KeyGene USA is part of KeyGene, a leader in molecular breeding and translational agriculture with its headquarters in Wageningen, the Netherlands. KeyGene USA’s research programs will primarily be focused on crops of significance to the North and South American markets.

The angel investor market in 2014 had a slight correction in investment dollars and in the deal size. Total investments in 2014 were $24.1 billion, a decrease of 2.8% over 2013, according to the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. A total of 73,400 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding in 2014, an increase of 3.8% over 2013 investments. The number of active investors in 2014 was 316,600 individuals, an increase of 5.9% from 2013. The change in both total dollars and the number of investments resulted in a deal size for 2014 that was smaller than in 2013 (a decrease in deal size of 6.4% from 2013). These data indicate that angels were active investors in 2014 but at decreased valuations than in previous years, indicating a slight market correction in valuations. However, the $24.1 billion is a robust amount and is close to the market high of $26.0 billion that occurred in 2007.

Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser has named Matt Bailey the first director of technology innovation for the Office of the Chief Technology Officer.

The appointment is part of an effort to create innovative solutions to address the challenges that Washington, D.C., faces as a city, said Bowser in a release.

There seems to be something special about coworking spaces. As researchers who have, for years, studied how employees thrive, we were surprised to discover that people who belong to them report levels of thriving that approach an average of 6 on a 7-point scale. This is at least a point higher than the average for employees who do their jobs in regular offices, and something so unheard of that we had to look at the data again.

Forest City Enterprises and its partners on Friday will break ground on a $65.6 million, 165,000-square-foot building at 1812 Ashland Ave. that will be a hub for Johns Hopkins University’s efforts to commercialize research.

Construction is expected to be completed in August 2016.

When it came to deciding where drug giant AstraZeneca would expand its work making biologic medicines, there was no question the project would happen in Maryland, the company's top U.S. official said this Wednesday. "I don't know where else we would go in terms of innovation," said Paul Hudson, AstraZeneca's U.S. president as the company unveiled progress on its $200 million expansion in Frederick.

A mid-stage trial of Roche Holding AG's experimental immunotherapy showed that it doubled the likelihood of survival for lung cancer patients with the highest levels of a specific biomarker.

The drug, known by the code name MPDL3280A, is part of a new class designed to help the body's immune system fend off cancer by blocking a protein known as Programmed Death receptor (PD-1), or a related target known as PD-L1, used by tumors to evade the body's defenses.

Cancer is costly, pervasive and a growing problem for businesses.

It already accounts for between 10 percent and 15 percent of employers' health costs. As employees work longer before retiring, the bill could get bigger. That’s why Johns Hopkins Medicine is launching a new program that could reduce the business costs of cancer by helping employees better prepare for and cope with it.

Luis Branco didn't originally plan to head to the front lines of the Ebola crisis.

His Germantown-based startup, Zalgen Labs LLC, was testing its diagnostic kits in Sierra Leone last May for a different illness called Lassa Fever, which is endemic in West Africa and kills scores of people there every year. But then, Ebola began to spread.

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) announced that it has entered an agreement with Abbott (NYSE: ABT), a global healthcare company, to develop companion diagnostic tests to identify patients with severe asthma who are most likely to benefit from the investigational biological therapy, tralokinumab. To date, no companion diagnostic blood tests have been approved for use in asthma.

Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott will develop and commercialise diagnostic tests to measure serum levels of the proteins periostin and DPP4 (dipeptidyl peptidase-4), which have been identified as potential predictive biomarkers of up-regulated IL-13 in severe asthma. The tests will be developed in conjunction with AstraZeneca’s Phase III trial of tralokinumab, a potential treatment for patients with severe, inadequately controlled asthma, developed by the company’s biologics research and development arm, MedImmune. Periostin has been previously described as a potential biomarker for asthma1, and DPP4 is a novel and promising predictive biomarker identified by MedImmune.

A new phase 1 study has begun at the University of Oxford that will investigate the use of a modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) Ebola Zaire vaccine candidate (MVA EBOZ) as a prime-boost to GSK's Chimp Adenovirus type 3 (ChAd3) Ebola vaccine candidate. The study, being conducted by the clinical research group of Professor Adrian Hill of the Jenner Institute, has received regulatory approval to begin from the United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled a policy vision for the healthcare industry, which outlines the basic plan for each health sub-sector.

Presented during the ‘2015 Bio & Medical Korea’ held at the COEX Convention Center in Seoul last month, the ‘Healthcare Industry Promotion Plan’ is expected to boost Korea’s competitiveness in the healthcare industry.

May 31-June 3, 2015 - Washington, DC

Health Datapalooza is a national conference focused on liberating health data, and bringing together the companies, startups, academics, government agencies, and individuals with the newest and most innovative and effective uses of health data to improve patient outcomes.

As a serial entrepreneur who now runs an Israel-based platform that helps companies raise money from investors, Jon Medved has seen more than a few locales.

“If you’re looking for innovation outside of Silicon Valley in the states, you can really do no better than Maryland,” said Medved, the CEO of OurCrowd.

Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: PIRS), a biotechnology company advancing its patented and proprietary Anticalin® biotherapeutic technologies, announced today that Jean-Pierre Bizzari, M.D., has joined the Company's Board bringing the total number of directors to six.

Dr. Bizzari was the Executive Vice President, Group Head, Clinical Oncology Development at Celgene Corporation. Since joining Celgene in 2008, he directed the development and approval of a number of leading oncology products including REVLIMID®, VIDAZA®, ISTODAX®, and ABRAXANE®.

One of the region’s biggest real estate investors just plunked down more money into the South of Market neighborhood that will soon give rise to a swarm of new offices for technology companies.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE: ARE) – which has specialized in life sciences and now is building offices for Uber in Mission Bay and Stripe in SoMa– will team up on a joint venture with TMG Partners on the already-approved 505 Brannan St. TMG made the announcement Tuesday morning.

Baxter International is shelling out $900 million on Sigma-Tau’s Oncaspar (pegaspargase) product portfolio, in a move designed to strengthen its commercial foothold in the global oncology market.   Oncaspar is a first-line biologic used as part of a multi-agent chemotherapy regimen to treat the blood cancer acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), currently pulling in sales of around $100 million a year.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Oncaspar® (pegaspargase) product portfolio from Sigma-Tau Finanziaria S.p.A. The acquisition further accelerates the innovation capabilities and the commercial presence of Baxter BioScience in growing oncology markets for rare and orphan diseases. The company gains the leading marketed biologic treatment Oncaspar, the investigational biologic calaspargase pegol, and an established oncology infrastructure with clinical and sales resources. The Oncaspar transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. By mid-year, Baxter expects to establish the BioScience business as a separate, publicly traded, innovation-oriented biopharmaceutical company, Baxalta Incorporated.

Congratulations to all the winners in the third InvestMaryland Challenge. All four will receive a $100,000 top prize from the Department of Business and Economic Development. Check out the rest of the prize winners in the list below, and an explanation of all the different prizes provided by sponsors and partners here.

The Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship (ILSE), a non-profit translational science research integrator, accelerator and incubator, and ATCC, the premier global biological materials resource and standards organization, announced today a collaboration to establish The ATCC Center for Translational Microbiology at ILSE (the “Center”).

The focus of the Center will be on key challenges identified by both ATCC and ILSE in current translational microbiology, including antimicrobial resistance, synthetic biology, microbial bioinformatics and the microbiome. Research laboratories and staff will be located at ILSE facilities within the state-of-the-art New Jersey Center for Science, Technology & Mathematics (NJCSTM) building at Kean University. Kean University is a founding member of ILSE.

Welcome to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Strategic Visioning Forum. The Institute is gathering ideas for the most compelling scientific priorities in the four NHLBI Strategic Goals to address over the next decade.

Your opportunity to submit initial ideas to help the NHLBI Strategic Visioning process will close on May 15. Click on Submit a New Question or Challenge and don’t miss your chance to share your voice!

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced an agreement to feature Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funded early-stage biomedical companies in an expanded Innovation Zone at the 2015 BIO International Convention®. The Innovation Zone companies, focused on drug discovery, diagnostics and other therapeutic platform technologies, will have dedicated exhibit space and participate in BIO One-on-One Partnering™. Select companies will make 15-minute company presentations in the BIO Business Forum. The Innovation Zone will also feature six universities funded under the prestigious NSF Accelerating Innovation Research Program (AIR). This select group will demonstrate advanced biomedical prototypes that are very close to commercialization stage.

UNC and pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline are joining forces to try developing a cure for HIV/AIDS, with the British company pledging a five-year, $20 million contribution to the effort.

GSK is also chipping in a 10-person research team, to work with faculty members, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students attached to four different labs in UNC’s medical and pharmacy schools.

I’ve known Edmund Pendleton from the University of Maryland as the Director of the D.C. National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Node (a collaboration among the University of Maryland, Virginia Tech, George Washington, and Johns Hopkins). But it wasn’t until seeing him lead the first I-Corps class at the National Institutes of Health that I realized Edmund could teach my class better than I can. After seeing the results of 500+ teams through the I-Corps, the NSF now offers all teams who’ve received government funding to start a company an introduction to building a Lean Startup.

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a global pharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track Designation for cobiprostone, a locally acting chloride channel activator, for the prevention of oral mucositis. The FDA has also accepted the company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application to initiate a phase 2 clinical trial of cobiprostone for the prevention of oral mucositis in patients suffering with head and neck cancer receiving concurrent radiation and chemotherapy.

Physicians are not only becoming more proficient with EHRs, they are using their systems for more than just reference. That’s the conclusion of a new Accenture survey of more than 2,600 doctors in Australia, Brazil, England, Norway, Singapore and the U.S.

Interoperability is growing as well, albeit slowly. In 2015, for the first time, a majority of U.S. physicians surveyed by Accenture (51 percent) said they “routinely” access patient data from outside their organizations, up just slightly from 45 percent in 2012.

Of all the rumors ever to swirl around the world’s most valuable company, this may be the first that could involve spitting in a plastic cup.

Apple is collaborating with U.S. researchers to help launch apps that would offer some iPhone owners the chance to get their DNA tested, many of them for the first time, according to people familiar with the plans.

Montgomery College offers Summer 2015 classes designed to meetyour entrepreneurial needs in support of your business ideas.

For Aspiring Entrepreneurs:

The Intentional Entrepreneur:

This one day class helps you identify your entrepreneurial skills and abilities, and addresses any concerns you may have about business ownership. This class is a must for anyone considering starting a business!

Monday, May 18, 2015 6–10 p.m.
Saturday, July 11, 2015 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

For Early Stage Entrepreneurs:

New Venture:

Designed specifically for the entrepreneurs in the early stages of business development.

Wednesdays, June 3–August 5, 2015 6–9 p.m.

For more information, please contact Karen Ambrose, Program Director at 240-567-2592 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

When it comes to the Puget Sound region's biotech industry, is it more important to have big anchor companies or an ever-churning ecosystem of small innovators?

That was one of the questions posed to a panel of three biotech executives last week at an industry forum hosted by news website Xconomy at Fred Hutch.

Don't forget to register NOW for Wednesday's T2 Speakers Series "Commercializing Innovations at Georgetown University" with Georgetown University Office of Technology Commercialization Director Ruchika Nijhara, Ph.D. 

Tech Transfer Speakers Series is a free monthly program offered through the Gateway to Innovation: Montgomery Welcome Center for Federal and Academic Tech Transfer. For more information and additional calendar items, please visit TechTransferConnection.com.  Engage with others in the tech transfer field by joining the Gateway to Innovation LinkedIn Group.  Brought to you by: Montgomery County Department of Economic Development and the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer.

JOIN THE GATEWAY TO INNOVATION LinkedIn Group and start networking with other researchers, federal lab professionals, university technologists, investors, and many others in our area.  Move your technology forward by reaching out and connecting!!

Kelly Chu stands at the front of the room and explains a complex spreadsheet displayed on a projector.

With precision she describes the discounted free cash-flow model she built of a food-services and construction company, and walks through its revenue-growth assumptions before making a recommendation on whether or not to invest.

Free, Open Entrepreneur Office Hours for University of Maryland Students, Faculty and Staff, and Regional Entrepreneurs with Bio or Tech-Based Startups or Ideas  

Get answers now from experienced entrepreneurs and legal/business professionals on how to build a successful startup company. Receive free and impartial advice, brainstorm business strategies, investigate funding opportunities and learn about the vast resources available to entrepreneurs.

There is nothing like the sight of children to inspire hope, so it was only fitting that University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) President Jay A. Perman, MD, began his second annual State of the University Address on May 7 with a performance by the sixth-grade dancers from Southwest Baltimore Charter School.

But there was deeper meaning as well to their presence at his optimistic address “Renew the State. Repair the World” before an overflow crowd at the School of Nursing.