PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an urban office REIT and the first, longest-tenured and pioneering owner, operator and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, is at the vanguard of the vital life science ecosystem that is advancing solutions for COVID-19 through a multifaceted, highly impactful strategy that includes a mission-critical focus on making rapid COVID-19 testing available to all Americans. Widespread screening and diagnostic testing, in addition to safe and effective vaccines and therapies, are desperately needed to resolve the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), an S&P 500® urban office REIT, is the first and longest-tenured owner, operator, and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A properties clustered in life science, technology, and agtech campuses that provide our innovative tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments that enhance their ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity, and success. For more information, please visit www.are.com.

Our annual cluster ranking profiles the top U.S. life sciences hubs and tracks the progress of the up-andcoming life sciencesmarkets that are fast becoming options of choice for life sciences companies and investors alike. Finally, the outlook introduces prominent industry trends that will provide new engines of growth.

In this report

In addition to highlighting the current state of life sciences real estate clusters across the U.S., this report will provide answers to three critical questions that both life sciences companies and lab developers must consider in order to remain at the crest of industry trends.

Venlo, The Netherlands, August 13, 2020 – QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced that it will continue to execute its successful growth strategy aiming to create significant value for shareholders and other stakeholders after the voluntary public takeover offer by Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (NYSE: TMO) did not achieve the minimum 66.67% acceptance threshold from QIAGEN shareholders.

Originally Aired: August 12, 2020 Time: 3:00 pm ET

Gene therapy has undergone a renaissance in recent years, with several drugs offering beneficial, even life-saving treatments, now approved by the FDA and EMA. A big reason for this turnaround is the emergence of adeno-associated virus (AAV) as a generally safe and efficient vector for therapeutic gene delivery.

Earlier this summer, reports emerged of two fatalities in young boys in a clinical trial for a rare muscle disorder using AAV. This sad news has turned the spotlight on viral dosage, vector manufacturing and immune responses as factors we need to better understand to ensure the safety of gene therapy treatments in the future.

COLUMBIA, Md. (August 13, 2020)— TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced its recent round of investments in six (6) start-up companies and funding to  fifteen (15) university projects through the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII). 

Established in 2012, the MII program was created as a partnership between the State of Maryland and five Maryland academic research institutions: Johns Hopkins University; Morgan State University; University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and University of Maryland, College Park. The program’s mission is to accelerate promising technologies with significant commercial potential to market while leveraging each partner University’s strengths. 

Montgomery County is closing all testing sites Friday until further notice after issues were raised by the state with some testing kits.

Anyone who was tested at a county-sponsored clinic in the past two weeks should be retested at another community-based clinic, the county said on its website.

Maryland's department of health raised questions about protocols used with some test kits by AdvaGenix, which uses self-administered kits to collect saliva. These kits account for about 7% of all tests conducted in the county, adding up to hundreds every day. 

We sourced the community, built a roster of Greater Washington’s hottest enterprises and innovators, and narrowed that list to the ecosystem’s 50 elite.

Then Thursday afternoon, we celebrated those fast-growing, move-making players: DC Inno’s 2020 Inno on Fire winners. All had banner years — for expansions, launches, fundraises and pivots — and all in a time of profound, unprecedented change.

The incubation period of a disease is the time between infection and the emergence of symptoms. Although it varies from person to person, understanding the average incubation period of an infectious disease is critical to controlling it.

Authorities use the incubation period to determine the length of quarantine, for instance, as well as to understand how the disease is transmitted and to identify the source of the outbreak.

Reporting to Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, the senior licensing associate independently manages a docket of technologies and has advanced level skills in technology marketing and licensing. The individual assumes primary responsibility for directly facilitating the technology transfer, development and commercialization of assigned technologies and faculty/departmental clients, assisting faculty and staff with the establishment of new commercialization agreements and business development relationships, supporting the establishment of R&D collaborations with industry partners to advance early stage discoveries, and managing relationships with key stakeholders internal and external the organization to proactively enable technology transfer. The Senior Licensing Associate will provide high quality services including invention receipt and capture, patentability assessment, market outreach (in-depth marketing support strategic and tactical), business development (structuring, drafting and negotiating commercialization agreements) and shall deliver the highest quality of customer service. This position will also manage other functions for the office as assigned in addition to technology licensing. 

The BioHealth Capital Region and BioForward Wisconsin come together as Lisa Johnson joins Rich Bendis on BioTalk to discuss her career, the industry, and growing biohealth in the Midwest. 

Listen now via Google https://bit.ly/2DtF6Y1, Apple, https://apple.co/3fJU0q3, Spotify https://spoti.fi/3fFpb5H, TuneIn https://bit.ly/3iqNAh9, and YouTube Audio https://bit.ly/2PERPcH

BioHealth Innovation (BHI) was created in 2012 by Rich Bendis and key industry leaders to accelerate the commercialization of high potential scientist entrepreneurs and companies within the BioHealth Capital Region (BHCR), which consists of Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Prior to BHI’s launch, the region’s development efforts were heavily focused on academic and government research assets. BHI’s mission is to give the life science industry a greater voice within the region and to be more market and entrepreneur-driven. During the last 8.5 years, BHI has grown substantially and spearheaded the effort to create a strong regional brand that is now known as the BHCR.

Download the PDF

Researchers at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, and the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, have identified five immune response markers that, collectively, were able to distinguish between those COVID-19 patients who convalesced from the infection, and those who didn’t survive the disease. The researchers used a systems serology technique to generate a detailed profile of SARS-Co-2-specific humoral—antibody generating—responses in hospitalized patients, which they validated in a second patient cohort. The findings indicated that individuals who survived COVID-19 infection and those who died exhibited antibody responses that were primarily directed against different SARS-CoV-2 proteins.

Image: NIH

GAITHERSBURG, Md., July 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shreis Scalene Therapeutics LLC (SSTx), a MD-USA-based medical device company will fast-track the manufacture and distribution of the CE-marked (EU-Class 1) Scalene Hypercharge Corona Canon (SHYCOCAN) under US FDA 'Enforcement Policy for Sterilizers, Disinfectant Devices, and Air Purifiers During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency."

Image: SHYCOCAN Devices

With so much attention on COVID-19 treatment and vaccine developments, life science laboratories are getting more notice.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Pasadena, California. It’s the largest landlord in the US for laboratories and related offices.

Its top companies by rent revenues include Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Celgene, Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Merck (NYSE:MRK)—which we own in Profitable Investing—Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), Novartis (NYSE:NVS), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY).

The University of Maryland School of Medicine and about 30 other U.S. centers have begun recruiting thousands of volunteers living in COVID-19 hot spots to join the nation’s most advanced trial for a vaccine against the disease.

The vaccine was developed by the Massachusetts biotech company Moderna along with the National Institutes of Health. It is among several vaccines to reach a Phase 3 trial globally but was the first one announced under Operation Warp Speed, the federal program to quickly identify, produce and distribute 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. and OSAKA, Japan, Aug. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK), today announced a partnership for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of NVX‑CoV2373, Novavax’ COVID‑19 vaccine candidate, in Japan. NVX‑CoV2373 is a stable, prefusion protein made using Novavax’ recombinant protein nanoparticle technology and includes Novavax’ proprietary Matrix‑M™ adjuvant. Takeda will receive funding from the Government of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) to support the technology transfer, establishment of infrastructure and scale-up of manufacturing. Takeda anticipates the capacity to manufacture over 250 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine per year1.

The Johns Hopkins University on Thursday reversed plans to bring undergraduate students back for in-person classes, housing, or activities, urging them to stay away from Baltimore for the fall semester. Employees, the campus said, should expect to work from home through the end of the year.

Image: COURTESY OF JOHNS HOPKINS U.

ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Emmes today announced that three corporate vice presidents have been promoted. Dr. Traci Clemons has been named chief research officer, Marian Ewell is now chief scientific innovation officer, and Jennifer Hester is the company's chief human resources officer. These are all newly created positions for the company.

Image: Dr. Traci Clemons

The year 2020 began with great promise and opportunity for the Aug. 6 guest of the weekly web-based program, Virtual Face to Face with Dr. Bruce Jarrell. After tearful goodbyes here at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), the University System of Maryland (USM) embraced former president Jay A. Perman, MD, as its new chancellor on Jan. 6.

Image: https://www.umaryland.edu

Johns Hopkins University became the latest school to announce that it will be conducting classes for the upcoming fall semester virtually, one of the many institutions of higher education to forgo in-person learning as the coronavirus pandemic rages.

This follows the spring 2020 semester that was moved online during the onset of the virus. 

Image: https://thehill.com

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GSK today launched a national campaign to help increase low rates of vaccination among older adults. The campaign, Brought to You By Vaccines, will educate adults ages 50 and older about the value of vaccines and the urgent need to talk to their healthcare provider or pharmacist about the recommended vaccines they need or may have recently missed.

GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adaptive Phage Therapeutics (APT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded to provide an effective therapeutic response to the global rise of multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogenic bacteria, today announced Mayo Clinic has committed $1.75M as a lead investor in a $7 million convertible note financing round.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) awarded Johns Hopkins researchers $35 million for clinical trials to test a convalescent blood plasma outpatient treatment to fight COVID-19.

Download an A to Z business guide that offers federal, state and local resources to help your Montgomery County business succeed. The newly expanded, 14-page MCEDC Business Resource Guide. Find funding, training, talent, support for women and diverse businesses and more—a handy guide to use and share.

Click here to download.

The study found the candidate elicits “robust antibody responses” and is well-tolerated, the company said Tuesday.

Image: Novavax is advancing a Covid-19 vaccine candidate through clinical trials. COURTESY NOVAVAX

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 20/20 GeneSystems, Inc. is proud to announce that in partnership with Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, the largest hospital in Taiwan, it has won the 2020 Taipei Biotech "Technology Transfer Cooperation Award" Gold Medal Award, the Oscar in the biotechnology industry, for its OneTest an artificial intelligence (AI) powered blood test that can assist in the early detection of many common cancers.

The Frederick Innovative Technology Center business incubator and accelerator, or FITCI, as it is better known, has been a linchpin for the Frederick, Maryland life science ecosystem for more than 15 years. BioHealth Capital Region signature companies like RoosterBio, Inc., BioFactura, Theradaptive, KempBio (now Kemp Proteins), and Bridgepath Scientific all made their start at FITCI. 

Image: https://biobuzz.io

Today the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation announced a collaboration with Longwood Fund, a biotech-focused venture capital firm, to accelerate innovative therapies for cystic fibrosis. Together, Longwood and the CF Foundation are dedicating resources to advance projects with transformative potential and incentivize early stage companies to prioritize CF drug discovery and development. The Foundation has committed $20 million to the collaboration as part of its Path to a Cure.

The Covid-19 Pandemic vividly demonstrates the need for rethinking ways to manufacture biological materials and create sustainable medical product supply lines for the United States. New program funding, new regulatory schemes and new community engagement are all solutions as we witness the renaissance of life science manufacturing in the US from Delaware to Alabama to California. Join a discussion of best bio and pharma manufacturing practices, public policies and programs to help the US respond to the Covid-19 Pandemic and create a more resilient manufacturing infrastructure.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) (the “Company”) announced today that it intends to offer $400 million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes with an expected maturity date of August 2028 (the “Notes”). The Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by all of the Company’s direct and indirect subsidiaries that guarantee debt under its credit facilities. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to repay the $353 million outstanding under its $600 million revolving credit facility with the remainder to be used for general corporate purposes.

Pfizer’s disclosure last week that it may reverse plans to in-shore manufacturing facilities and science jobs to the United States is just the tip of the iceberg of the problems we’ll face if President Trump implements his executive order to implement foreign reference pricing to determine drug prices under Medicare.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), a late-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced Phase 1 data from its Phase 1/2 randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of its COVID‑19 vaccine with and without Matrix‑M™ adjuvant in healthy adults 18-59 years of age. NVX‑CoV2373, the Company’s recombinant COVID-19 vaccine candidate adjuvanted with Matrix-M, was generally well-tolerated and elicited robust antibody responses numerically superior to that seen in human convalescent sera. The data have been submitted for peer-review to a scientific journal and to an online preprint server at medRxiv.org.

The two co-founders behind TruGenomix have a vision for helping veterans and others who might be prone to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A new partnership with Sanford Health will help them work toward this vision.

Charles Cathlin serves as chief executive officer, and Tshaka Cunningham, Ph.D., is chief scientific officer of their small, veteran-owned precision behavioral health company based in Maryland.

Each year, the FNIH recognizes outstanding achievements by a promising young scientist in biomedical research by bestowing the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences, a $100,000 award. The prize is made possible by a generous gift from philanthropist Ann Lurie.

The awardee is selected by a jury of six distinguished biomedical researchers including: