Cerecor Inc today announced that it has signed an option with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) for an exclusive license to develop and commercialize small molecule D-Amino Acid Oxidase inhibitors ("DAAO inhibitors") that were developed at the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute ("BSi").

DAAO inhibitors inhibit the degradation of D-serine, an amino acid which has a central role in the normal function of the glutamate / NMDA system in the human brain.  Growing evidence suggests that deficits in glutamate transmission are central to the neurobiology of schizophrenia.  D-serine, when administered in multi-gram quantities per day, has been shown in multiple studies to improve cognition (executive function) and reduce positive symptoms in schizophrenics. DAAO inhibition in the brain, as a means of increasing D-serine levels, has been a target for treating schizophrenia by major pharmaceutical companies for many years. 

The University of Maryland Medical Center is one of the nation’s top hospitals, according to the annual Leapfrog Group survey. This is the seventh year UMMC has received this distinction.

The Leapfrog Group survey analyzes patient safety and quality performance measures from almost 1,200 hospitals. UMMC is one of only two hospitals in the U.S. (and the only one on the East Coast) to make the list every year since it began in 2006.

Baltimore’s newest incubator is officially open for business — and class.

Betamore, located at 1111 Light St. in Federal Hill, aims to help grow technology companies by day and teach the next generation of entrepreneurs by night. The incubator will host technology companies developing products for Internet and mobile devices and offer co-working space for freelancers and contractors in other technology sectors. After work hours, the entrepreneurs from tenant companies and other experts in the area will teach classes on practical technology and entrepreneurship skills, like Web development and pitching to investors.

While accelerators may be in a bubble, they’re also beginning to have a measurable, positive impact on the ecosystem. The real opportunity, though, is not in creating another Y Combinator, but in building vertical-specific accelerators that bring together industry partnerships to create learning and business opportunities for their startups. In healthtech, there’s Rock Health, Blueprint, Healthbox, New York Digital Health Accelerator and Startup Health to name a few.

The roster is growing, and today we have another addition to the list from veteran accelerator DreamIt Ventures. Today, DreamIt is partnering with Independence Blue Cross (IBC) and The University of Pennsylvania Health System (Penn Medicine) to create a digital health accelerator, designed to provide with entrepreneurs with the resources they need to take advantage of opportunities in the changing landscape of the health industry.

KQED and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation each invested $1.25 million in Matter Ventures, a media startup accelerator they've created with help from Public Radio Exchange.

Corey Ford, who ran the accelerator Runway, is CEO of Matter Ventures.

The accelerator -- publicized last year as Public Media Accelerator -- will pick startups for its four month program and pay them a $50,000 investment as they work in shared space in the South Park area of San Francisco.

A new $50 million investment fund will provide seed capital to launch new businesses that use technologies from government and university research labs in the Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

The Chesapeake Regional Innovation Fund will provide seed capital for startups and emerging technology companies focused on innovations in energy, life sciences and security. The first investments are anticipated for later in 2013.

Early stage startups already see New York as a hub for media, advertising and fashion. But the city is starting to build up its name in health tech as well.

At the start of this year, both Startup Health and Blueprint Health – two incubator-type programs that provide funding, mentorship and connections – announced their first classes of startups.  Then, in October, the New York Digital Health Accelerator, backed by the New York eHealth Collaborative nonprofit and the private New York City Fund, introduced its own batch of health tech startups.

NHLBI Funding and Research Opportunities

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

NIH Guide Notice:

• NOT-HL-12-161: Notice of Correction to Eligibility Information for RFA-HL-13-019 Mentored Career Development Award
• NOT-OD-13-007: Deadline Extended for Applications Due on October 29 and 30, 2012
• NOT-OD-13-008: Amendment to Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Contract Solicitation (PHS 2013-1)

Program Announcement (PA):

• PA-13-018: Administrative Supplements for Research on Sex/Gender Differences (Admin Supp)

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.

As of Friday, the Division of Economic and Community Outreach changed its name to the Division of Innovation and Applied Research.

The department “serves as a point of entry for businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and community members interested in collaborating with the University,” according to Towson’s website.

The name change is a small part of the work that Dyan Brasington, the vice president for Division of Innovation and Applied Research, is doing under President Maravene Loeschke.

The Johns Hopkins University performed $2.1 billion in medical, science, and engineering research in fiscal 2011, making it the leading U.S. academic institution in total research and development spending for the 33rd year in a row, according to a new National Science Foundation ranking.

The university also once again ranked first on the NSF's separate list for federally funded research and development, spending $1.88 billion in FY2011 on research supported by NSF, NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense. In FY2002, Johns Hopkins became the first university to reach the $1 billion mark on either list, recording $1.14 billion in total research and $1.023 billion in federally sponsored research that year.

A Maryland biotechnology company is pushing for the state to expand eligibility to a pool of money from tobacco companies that funds anti-smoking and health programs.

20/20 Gene Systems Inc., a Rockville-based company, is requesting that $2 million in grants be made available for research into new screening and treatment methods that could lower mortality rates due to cancer. The money would come from the state’s Cigarette Restitution Fund.

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett wants to provide some high-tech companies with capital in exchange for ownership stakes in the businesses, a first for a local jurisdiction.

Leggett’s economic development team hopes to have such a bill before the County Council in two weeks. The proposal would be similar to Maryland’s State Challenge Investment Program, said Peter Bang, chief operating officer for the county’s Department of Economic Development.

Venture capitalists invested $7.0 billion in 898 deals in the second quarter of 2012, according to the MoneyTree™ Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the National Venture Capital Association, based on data provided by Thomson Reuters. Quarterly venture capital investment activity climbed 17 percent in terms of dollars and 11 percent in the number of deals compared to the first quarter of 2012 when $6.0 billion was invested in 809 deals.

The number of Early stage deals reached the highest quarterly total since the first quarter 2001, with $2.1 billion going into 410 deals, an 18 percent increase in dollars and a 28 percent increase in deals from the prior quarter. The Internet-specific sector also saw increases during the second quarter, rising 22 percent in dollars and 31 percent in deals from the prior quarter to $1.8 billion going into 261 deals in the second quarter.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have combined the ability to detect cancer DNA in the blood with genome sequencing technology in a test that could be used to screen for cancers, monitor cancer patients for recurrence and find residual cancer left after surgery.

"This approach uses the power of genome sequencing to detect circulating tumor DNA in the blood, providing a sensitive method that can be used to detect and monitor cancers," says Victor Velculescu, M.D., Ph.D., professor of oncology and co-director of the Cancer Biology Program at Johns Hopkins.

According to the consensus, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) will fall in popularity as young people grow up and demand chemical medicines.

But Morgan Stanley's Bin Li disagrees.

"TCM is becoming more popular.  According to CEIC, growth in the TCM industry is higher than in the western medicine industry. TCM industry sales reached Rmb423bn in 2011, representing a 24% CAGR over 2003-11, versus 21% for western medicines. Based on our AlphaWise survey, nearly 30% of doctors trained in western medicine use TCM as a first-line therapy and 46% use TCM alone or together with western medicines to treat patients. Because TCM has a long history in China, many Chinese people, including the younger generation, prefer to use TCM to combat chronic diseases. Given the strong endorsement from physicians, we believe demand for TCM will remain high, as drug choices are generally made based on doctors’ recommendations."

Historically startups have been synonymous with Silicon Valley, but as more and more communities across the country support entrepreneurs we hope to change this perception. As of today, we have launched 30 Startup Regions across the country. This week we shine a spotlight on Maryland as a vibrant and supportive community for startups.

Startup Maryland launched on March 30, 2012 at the University of Maryland, College Park campus. Kevin Plank, Founder & CEO of Under Armour and Startup America board member, was in attendance and the whole room was buzzing with excitement.

QIAGEN N.V. today announced that China’s State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has approved QIAGEN’s careHPV Test and instrument platform. The careHPV Test is the first molecular diagnostic to screen for high risk human papillomavirus (HPV) designed for low-resource clinical settings, such as areas lacking electricity, water or modern laboratory infrastructure. QIAGEN expects to announce the product availability of careHPV in China in January 2013, followed by India later in 2013 and other emerging markets as approvals are received. QIAGEN will introduce the careHPV Test and key data of its performance at the International Papillomavirus (IPV) conference, starting November 30 in Puerto Rico.

QIAGEN is the global market leader in HPV testing with its “gold standard” digene HC2 HPV Test, the most validated and sensitive diagnostic for detection of high-risk HPV – a primary cause of cervical cancer. It is the only assay that has demonstrated its effectiveness in close to 1 million women in clinical, randomized and independent studies. The digene HC2 test, compatible with modern laboratories and automated processing, is widely used in developed countries and large cities in emerging markets, including China. The digene HC2 test has protected more than 100 million women so far and remains QIAGEN’s core product for cervical cancer prevention. The careHPV and digene HC2 tests are both based on clinically proven Hybrid Capture technology, and are highly complementary because they serve different laboratory needs.

Research university administrators are understandably jittery about the fiscal cliff facing policy makers in Washington, given the prospect that federal budget cutbacks would shave -- if not savage -- government funds for academic research and development.

A report released Wednesday by the National Science Foundation provides a reminder about how painful the fall off the cliff might be. The agency's annual look at research spending by universities -- which is driven heavily by federal funds -- shows that R&D spending surged to its highest level ever in 2011, to $65.1 billion. That was up 6.3 percent from 2010's $61.2 billion, with both years' figures inflated by funds included in the economic stimulus law that Congress passed in 2009.

This week, October 15-19, 2012, is Economic Development Week across Maryland, initiated and sponsored by the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA). In recognition, the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development (DED) announces eleven local companies making the 2012 Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies, key events taking place this week to support local businesses and several mixed-use development projects coming soon to the County.

Eleven of Maryland’s twenty companies making the Inc. 500 list are located in Montgomery County. The list ranks companies using several criteria, namely growth over the previous three years and amount of sales in 2011.

The Montgomery County companies making the list, in rank order, are:

• #174 Blue Corona, Gaithersburg
• #241 E-SAC, Rockville (Rockville Innovation Center)
• #252 MBL Technologies, Rockville
• #253 TISTA Science & Technology, Rockville
• #265 RainKing Solutions, Bethesda
• #269 Special Operations Solutions, Silver Spring (Silver Spring Innovation Center)
• #309 WeddingWire, Bethesda
• #387 Digital Management, Bethesda
• #439 Standard Solar, Rockville
• #451 Sonatype, Silver Spring
• #489 LongView International Technology Solutions, Bethesda

The MdBio Foundation, Inc. today announced that it has named Brian Gaines as its CEO. Gaines brings more than 25 years of leadership, philanthropic and management experience to the MdBio Foundation. He has spent the majority of his professional career working for and creating several entrepreneurial endeavors in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. He will be responsible for advancing MdBio's overall mission, as well as day-to-day operations, fundraising, development and launch of MdBioSphere(TM), and supporting all educational programs, including the MdBioLab. The MdBio Foundation will continue to work closely with the MdBio Division of the Technology Council of Maryland to support the bioscience industry in Maryland.

"We are thrilled to have Brian on board at the helm of MdBio," said J.J. Finkelstein, chair of the MdBio Foundation. "His work in the philanthropic community, combined with his experience in finance and operations, and his entrepreneurial background, will make him a great asset in helping grow the foundation and supporting our mission."

Baltimore City’s technology incubator, Emerging Technology Center (ETC), announced today that 14 experienced mentors have agreed to participate in the 2013 program, AccelerateBaltimore™. AccelerateBaltimore™ accepts hundreds of applications, from all over the nation.  ETC reviews and evaluates each submission, looking for strength in idea and offering. A distinguished panel of tech business leadership selects the top six companies to participate in a three-month program that helps focus and grow the 6 businesses.

AccelerateBaltimore™ participants engage with local and regional business mentors in a variety of sectors.  This year ETC is proud to announce that 14 business leaders will join the program.   Members of the mentoring team include Chris Brandenburg, Co-founder and CTO of Millennial Media, Greg Cangialosi, CEO of Nucleus Ventures, Ron Schmelzer, CEO of Bizelo and Co-founder of Baltimore Tech Breakfast and Andrew Coy, Co-Executive Director of Digital Harbor Foundation, Ann Quinn of Quinn Strategy Group, Victoria McAndrews of CMD, and Russell Clark Co-Founder of Illuminis.

In a commentary to be published in the Dec. 12 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, two Johns Hopkins faculty members predict an ever-diminishing role for government and drug company funding of basic biomedical research and suggest scientists look to "innovative" kinds of private investment for future resources. Current negotiations in Washington over sequestration and the so-called "fiscal cliff" provide an opportunity to fundamentally rethink the funding of biomedical research, they say.

Pointing to a decade of flat government funding for biomedical research, higher-than-ever costs of clinical trials, reduced drug industry investment and the threat of deep cuts to the federal research budget without congressional action by January to stop them, the commentators warn that without "creative" new sources of funding, biomedical innovation faces a crisis.

Businesses that receive economic development money from Montgomery County soon might have to share some of their profit with the county government.

A bill being introduced in the Montgomery County Council would give the county up to 25 percent ownership in companies that receive economic development funds. That means if a company is successful, the county can profit off it.

Steve Silverman, director of the county Department of Economic Development, said the county currently gives forgivable loans to companies that promise to create a certain number of jobs and occupy a certain amount of space in a certain time period. He said it makes sense for the county to consider having a stake in companies it invests in.

The goal of the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC) is to translate research into new products to advance the care of the Nation’s war fighters. TATRC is deeply aware that it must encourage that next breakthrough to enhance military health, while making effective use of the federal funds that it stewards.

To determine what it should fund, TATRC must decide whether a new technology solves an important problem and who would purchase it. While all TATRC project proposals are expected to provide detail on commercial potential, the reality is that many researchers do not have the knowledge or resources to assess this effectively and develop a commercialization strategy on their own.

Download the PDF: TATRC’s Technology Transfer/Commercialization Program could be a model for speeding viable medical innovations to the warfighter

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, (AGTC), a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing gene therapy products to treat rare retinal diseases, announced today that it has secured $37.5 million in a Series B round of financing.

Alta Partners and S.R. One, Limited led the financing, with new investor Osage University Partners joining existing investors InterWest,Intersouth Partners and MedImmune Ventures in the round. The funding will allow AGTC to continue development of its Phase 2 program in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1) and initiate full development of potential treatments for two orphan ophthalmology indications, Achromatopsia (ACHM) and X-Linked Rentinoschisis (XLRS).

Established companies such as Dell Computer (NASDAQ: DELL) and Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) say they are eager to invest in health IT startups—they just need to figure out how the U.S. healthcare system is going to evolve over the next five years; what applications are most likely to get reimbursed; what technologies make the most sense for doctors, for patients, and for insurers; and how they can mesh a startup’s culture with highly regulated, slow-to-change industries.

That was the confusing message from a conference for entrepreneurs and investors in New York on Tuesday, sponsored by the Life Sciences Angel Network, titled Healthcare Information Technology: Change, Outlook & Opportunity. One of the speakers, Steve Hochberg, has started or invested in some 12 early-stage medical technology companies, and last year was named chairman of Continuum Health Partners, New York City’s largest hospital network. Yet he told the meeting that when it comes to health IT, “the healthcare delivery system is so complicated that I’ve chosen to invest elsewhere.”

There’s a new early stage angel fund in town, and it’s on the hunt for creative, out-of-the box ideas for improving the delivery of healthcare using fewer resources.

The Alliance Healthcare Fund focuses on helping early stage business-to-business healthcare companies bring to market ideas that improve acute care, reduce spending and challenge the status quo.

In pure dollar terms, it’s a relatively small fund, but partner Joe Mayernik said the real value comes elsewhere.

The Tech Council of Maryland, Maryland's largest technology trade association with more than 400 biotechnology and technology members employing more than 200,000 in the region, today announced that Art Jacoby is stepping down from his CEO duties effective February 15, 2013 to return full-time to his consulting practice. TCM has commenced an executive search to identify its next CEO.

"I want to thank Art for his exemplary leadership of TCM," said Larry Letow, chairman of the Tech Council, who also is president and CEO of Convergence Consulting. "We have accomplished a great deal during his tenure and wish him success in his consulting practice. Moving forward, the TCM Board will conduct a thorough executive search that takes into consideration the valuable insights of TCM stakeholders. We look forward to identifying the best possible leader to advance TCM's mission of helping Maryland technology companies collaborate, grow and succeed."

As healthcare providers implement the changeover to electronic medical records and meaningful use requirements, the opportunities seen by health IT companies aren’t restricted to US businesses. The Consulate General of Canada in Philadelphia is planning to launch a health IT accelerator at the beginning of next year. The goal? To help Canadian companies to chase a significantly larger market with the potential to grow US jobs in the process.

Vincent Finn, a Philadelphia-based trade commissioner with the Consulate General of Canada, said the initiative has the potential to create high-paid jobs. Canada has already established technology accelerators in San Francisco and New York and a clean energy accelerator in New York. The companies selected for the health IT accelerator at the University City Science Center will be among those Canadian companies participating in the upcoming eHealth summit scheduled for November 28.

The latest joint venture between the University of Maryland, College Park and University of Maryland, Baltimore will combine computer know-how from College Park and Baltimore’s wealth of medical researchers.

The Center for Health-related Informatics and Bioimaging will focus on projects that use technological advancements to improve medicine and patient care. The overarching goal will be to advance the idea of personalized medicine, through which doctors use advance technology and biomedical information to tailor treatment decisions to individual patients.

When Gail Folena-Wasserman joined Gaithersburg biotechnology startup MedImmune in 1991, she was its first employee in research and development, and dreamed of what the company might be "when it grew up."

Two decades later, the senior vice president for biopharmaceutical development is helping to test new drugs at a dramatically different MedImmune. Five years since a $15 billion acquisition by British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, the company is funneling a pipeline of potential therapies that has grown three times over and covers a wider spectrum of diseases.

 Startup Maryland is proud to announce that CoFounders Lab (Rockville, Md.) has claimed the top spot in its Pitch Across Maryland competition. The company was named the winner in the video pitch competition at the Maryland Entrepreneur Expo on November 13, by a panel of distinguished judges. The judges also named Woofound (Baltimore, Md.) as the runner-up.

As the winner and runner-up, CoFounders Lab and Woofound will receive free entry and bypass the first round of judging in the InvestMaryland Challenge, a national seed and early-stage business competition hosted by the State of Maryland. All Pitch Across Maryland participants are encouraged to apply.

There is a host of websites for people who want to link up for personal relationships.

CoFoundersLab of Rockville wants to do something similar, but for business relationships — specifically launching a new venture.

The company has attracted notice from many local entrepreneurs. Judges who viewed the video that CoFoundersLab submitted to the Startup Maryland pitch contest in September liked the concept enough to name it the winner of the “Pitch Across Maryland” contest this week over almost 200 competitors.

Arizona's first-of-its-kind statewide technology transfer startup program, AZ Furnace Accelerator, is pleased to announce it has selected the first 10 startups that will participate in the business accelerator program. As part of the competitive process, a panel of judges selected the 10 winners from a group of 22 finalists and more than 50 applicants.

The AZ Furnace Accelerator is a groundbreaking initiative that encourages entrepreneurs from across the country to find and commercialize innovations developed within the state's universities and research institutions. These 10 winning companies utilized innovations from Arizona State University, Dignity Health Arizona, Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona. They represent a wide array of technologies and innovative solutions — from biomarkers for disease diagnosis to new methods for massive data storage to repurposing discarded tires for new concrete and construction materials:

The first question most people seem to ask when contemplating a new startup is where they will get investor money. That’s certainly a valid question, but all the money in the world won’t make your business a success if you hate what you are doing, and you don’t have a plan to use it. I suggest that there are several other questions even more important than the money one.

The best way to assure the success of your startup is to do something you love, as opposed to something that will make you a lot of money. Of course, all these things and many more are critical, so it’s important that you keep your priorities straight. Here are the right questions to ask yourself, in the right order, before asking others about money: