Science and entrepreneurship are both acts of experimentation. Both involve taking risks to reach a positive end, changing course when needed, and attempting the never-been-done. While many start-ups now are focused on creating the next Facebook or some genius e-commerce play, there are also scientists tinkering in labs.

Biotechnology is sometimes forgotten about, but the field leads to real products — new drugs and medical devices that aid human health. Want to cure cancer? These people will be the ones to do it.

The recent news that tiny FerroKin BioSciences earned a big buyout deal with Shire ($SHPGY) has helped spotlight the growing popularity of the virtual biotech model. And that has big implications for everyone in the outsourcing industry.

Like other virtuals--such as Stromedix, recently acquired by Biogen Idec ($BIIB)--FerroKin had only a handful of employees working full-time for the company. CROs, CMOs and other outsourcers created a network of support vendors that carried out much of the heavy lifting in drug research. And with some proof of concept data in hand, FerroKin made a tantalizing morsel for an acquirer looking to build up its pipeline without having to acquire a sizable research infrastructure it didn't need.

As if we didn’t already know this, yes? Still, a new survey finds that 68 percent of pharma execs agree that Humpty Dumpty has fallen off the wall. To be specific, 44 percent agree that the pharma industry model is broken and 24 percent strongly agree with this statement. Another 22 percent are neutral and 6 percent disagree. We wonder where this 28 percent is working right now…

And over the next two years, 76 percent believe the healthcare system pricing and budget pressures will be the biggest challenge; followed by 70 percent who believe they will have to demonstrate cost effectiveness; 69 percent who cite more restrictive market access; 60 percent who fear generic competition; 53 percent who worry about less access to docs and 50 percent who are concerned about the ability of patients to pay for their meds.

GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson are teaming up with Index Ventures to launch a $200 million fund devoted exclusively to backing early-stage biotechs. And while its primary focus will be in Europe, the venture group intends to invest in biotechs throughout the U.S. as well.

Index takes what it calls an "asset centric" approach to investing, looking for developers with just one or two products--a classic feature of most start-ups. And some heavy hitters from GSK ($GSK) and J&J ($JNJ) will sit on the scientific advisory board of the new fund, giving a few early-stage companies a chance to mix with some top execs from companies they'll be hoping to partner with at some point. From GSK, R&D chief Moncef Slaoui (photo) and Paul-Peter Tak, head of GSK's immunoinflammation therapy area unit, will join Janssen's Paul Stoffels and Bill Hait, global head of R&D. They'll confer with Index Ventures' Francesco De Rubertis, Kevin Johnson, Michele Ollier, Roman Fleck, and Remy Luthringer.

In an age of information overload where getting in front of the right investors and potential strategic partners is harder than ever, where do you go to find the support you need to build the next iRobot, Zipcar, Constant Contact, or Achillion?

We know how to help investment-ready women-led companies raise capital to scale BIG. Springboard's forum programs are designed to support, promote and showcase investment-ready, high-growth companies led by women.  And after 11 years of presenting over 480 businesses that have raised over $5.5B in capital, we've figured out the secret to overcoming the hurdles startups face when trying to scale. It's about building relationships, not just about raising capital.  Click here to learn more about our how our forum programs work.

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Patrick Fung, a partner at New Enterprise Associates Inc., talks about the venture capital firm's New Experiment Fund, a seed-stage fund for financing student startups and investing in the U.S. East Coast. He speaks with Emily Chang on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg West."

JHU Research Accelerator is a platform that facilitates an easy and secure collaboration and sharing of resources across the JHU scientific community as well as other insitutions within the Sharing Partnership for Innovative Research in Translation (SPIRiT) Consortium of the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award program. Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, Washington University and the the University of Chicago are institutions currently members of the SPIRiT Consortium.

Last week we told you about some ambitious app development going on at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Well this week, Hopkins did themselves one better: They're diving in to not only create apps, but also to evaluate the 10,000-plus universe of health apps for efficacy and safety, according to a recent article in the Baltimore Sun.

Hopkins also will judge whether the apps are more or less effective than traditional care, such as in-person visits.

Biotechnology firms are coming around to a harsh reality: The gravy days are over.

These small, innovative drug companies were once an investment darling, able to secure millions of dollars from venture capitalists and even more later through public offerings. But in recent years, venture financing for biotech has been in decline, due to the tough economic environment and poor returns from stock offerings.

Ten biotechnology companies in Montgomery County last year received almost $6 million from investors who were spurred by the state and county’s biotech investment tax credit programs, officials said Monday.

The county’s program, which received its initial funding this fiscal year after being approved by the County Council in 2010, is the first such local one for biotechs in the nation, said Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) during a news conference at the Rockville headquarters of biotech Sequella. Officials approved $500,000 in fiscal 2012 and another $500,000 for fiscal ’13, which starts July 1.

Program Spurs Nearly $6 Million in Investments

Among Ten Local Biotech Companies

March 19, 2012

10:00 am

Sequella, Inc.

9610 Medical Center Drive, Suite 200

Rockville, Maryland 20850

Montgomery County Executive Isiah LeggettMontgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett will announce the first 10 biotech companies to receive significant investments through the County’s biotech investment tax credit program. The program allows investors receiving tax credits from the State of Maryland to also receive a supplemental payment from the County based on their investments in local biotech companies. The County’s program is modeled after Maryland’s Biotech Investment Tax Credit Program and works in conjunction with it.

Leggett will join other local and state elected officials, local biotech company executives and representatives from the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development.  

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) DA has published draft guidance describing plans on how to handle serious drug safety issues with marketed drugs, which is now open for comment.

The guidance is intended to lay out a framework for the agency's response to post-marketing safety issues including serious adverse events, product quality issues and medication errors, with a ranking system to help prioritise each issue according to its level of risk.

The FDA has been criticised in a string medical journal articles in the last 18 months for not monitoring its own adverse event reporting (AER) database effectively enough and failing to communicate safety issues in a timely and effective way to healthcare professionals and the public.

Starting a company is always challenging, but for founders of life science startups, the regulations and funding hurdles make it dauntingly complex, overwhelming, and seemingly insurmountable.

This first-time conference will answer the critical questions that founders must address to start and grow viable life science companies. Industry experts and successful entrepreneurs will provide practical guidance on how to commercialize innovations in each of four sectors: medical device, therapeutics, diagnostics, and digital health. If you have a new startup in this space or are ready to start one, this two-day event may be for you.

OriGene Technologies, Inc. announces the acquisition of Beijing Zhongshan Golden Bridge Biotechnology Co., Ltd (ZsBio). The strategic acquisition establishes OriGene's leading position in the Chinese pathology testing market.

Headquartered in Beijing, China since 1993, ZsBio provides pathology testing products to the growing Chinese oncology diagnostic market. ZsBio has an industry leading position in the Chinese pathology testing market because of its innovative product portfolio, expertise, strong client relationships, and has established itself as a thought leader in the Chinese pathology diagnostic field. The Chinese pathology testing market has been experiencing double-digit growth annually and is one of the fast-growing segments of the Chinese diagnostic industry.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation    has committed up to $220 million for the next five years to Rockville-based Aeras, a nonprofit dedicated to developing new vaccines for tuberculosis.

The grant extends the Gates Foundation’s longtime backing of Aeras, whose pipeline includes several mid- and early-stage TB vaccine candidates being developed through pharmaceutical and academic partnerships. The $220 million represents about half of what Aeras needs to meet its vaccine development targets through 2016, the nonprofit said in a news release Wednesday.

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy has launched a Center for Translational Medicine (CTM) under the leadership of Joga Gobburu, PhD, FCD, MBA, to help improve medical product development efficiency.

“By establishing the Center for Translational Medicine, the School of Pharmacy is demonstrating its commitment to improving the drug development and regulation process,” says Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP, professor and dean of the School of Pharmacy. “As a leader in the field of pharmacometrics, Dr. Gobburu’s expertise as director of the center will enhance our educational and research programs and will lead to substantial partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry and other collaborators.”

A Review of Medimmune Ventures Investment Portfolio.

Those looking to lose weight, quit smoking or keep tabs on a malady have a lot of choices in the smart-phone app stores. Choosing one that's beneficial is more of a problem.

Science is still trying to catch up to the market for mobile health applications, software that runs on mobile devices such as iPhones, Androids and tablets, which has produced tens of thousands of possible ways to achieve better health for free or a fee.

Joga Gobburu, PhD, MBA, FCP

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy has launched a Center for Translational Medicine (CTM) under the leadership of Joga Gobburu, PhD, FCD, MBA, to help improve medical product development efficiency.

“By establishing the Center for Translational Medicine, the School of Pharmacy is demonstrating its commitment to improving the drug development and regulation process,” says Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP, professor and dean of the School of Pharmacy. “As a leader in the field of pharmacometrics, Dr. Gobburu’s expertise as director of the center will enhance our educational and research programs and will lead to substantial partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry and other collaborators.”

In a November blog post, I mentioned the myriad of activities that are impacting our Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, one of which was the congressional effort to reauthorize these programs. Well, Congress voted on the reauthorization, and it was signed into law last December 31. I’ve been waiting until the Small Business Administration (SBA) released their interim guidance so I could give you the details of how the reauthorization will impact NIH small business grants.

The SBA guidance can be found in this blog  by Sean Greene, Associate Administrator for Investment and Special Advisor for Innovation at the SBA. It discusses the timeline Congress gave the SBA for revising the existing regulations and policy directives. They are targeting the end of 2012.

Health and Human Services Department Chief Technology Officer Todd Park will be the next federal CTO, replacing Aneesh Chopra, the White House announced Friday.

Park made millions in healthcare technology before joining HHS in 2009. He initially was hired as the department's "entrepreneur in residence."

According to a June 2011 report in The Atlantic, Park, by age 24, had co-founded the health care technology company Athenahealth. "Nearly 10 years later he made a fortune when the company went public with a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion," the magazine reported. The Atlantic and Nextgov both are part of Atlantic Media.

Gaithersburg-based OpGen has closed on a third round of venture capital that could add as much as $17 million to the company’s coffers if it meets certain milestones, an executive said.

Chief Executive Douglas White declined to specify how much money the company has collected immediately, but said he anticipates the firm will eventually use the entire amount.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), in collaboration with The Abell Foundation, announced today the establishment of the $3.3 million Propel Baltimore Fund, an angel investment fund for entrepreneurs and start-up companies located in Baltimore City. TEDCO will administer the fund and will begin accepting applications on April 2, 2012. Through the fund, companies may receive maximum investments up to $220,000.

"The Propel Baltimore Fund was created to help support the establishment and development of promising businesses in Baltimore City," said Abell Foundation president Robert C. Embry, Jr. "The Abell Foundation wants to ensure that innovators recognize Baltimore as an attractive location to start, build and sustain their businesses. TEDCO has an excellent track record as a state-of-the-art resource for entrepreneurs, and we are confident that the organization will be a strong partner in managing the fund and in supporting economic development in the city."

University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan

A new collaboration approved Thursday between the University of Maryland, College Park    and University of Maryland, Baltimore    could invest millions of dollars into the state’s tech community.

The University System of Maryland Board of Regents gave the OK to a long term plan for increased collaboration between College Park and UMB. The move comes almost a year after Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller proposed a merger between the two schools, which was ultimately rejected by the regents.

Montgomery County's Department of Economic Development has tapped Sally Sternbach as deputy director. Sternbach, who was executive director of Rockville Economic Development Inc., will work directly with Steve Silverman, director of the department. Montgomery County Press Release

Sally Sternbach, Executive Director of Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI), has been appointed to serve as Deputy Director of Montgomery County’s Department of Economic Development. Sternbach has served as executive director of REDI since 2003. Lynne Benzion, REDI’s associate director, has been appointed Acting Director while a formal search is conducted.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved MedImmune's, the global biologics arm for AstraZeneca PLC, FluMist Quadrivalent (Influenza Vaccine Live, Intranasal), a vaccine to prevent seasonal influenza in people ages 2 years through 49 years. The company submitted the sBLA early in the second quarter of last year.

FluMist Quadrivalent is the first influenza vaccine to contain four strains of the influenza virus, two influenza A strains and two influenza B strains. All other currently available licensed seasonal influenza vaccines are trivalent, containing three strains [two strains of type A influenza (A/H1N1 and A/H3N2) and one B lineage strain].

A proposal accepted Thursday by the University System of Maryland’s board of regents creates an alliance between its flagship institution in College Park and the professional school in Baltimore centered around combining research initiatives, blending public health programs and expanding course offerings in Montgomery County.

Chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan introduced the $45 million proposal, the result of an eight-month study ordered last year by the General Assembly, in Annapolis, calling it “a strategic alliance, a very significant set of initiatives and activities.”

Jim Hughes and Phil Robilotto see more than 100 ideas each year from scientists at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, potential innovations with a promise to better diagnose disease, alleviate pain, make medical care delivery more efficient, even save lives.

The biggest challenge is selling investors on the merits of research still in its infancy.