Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI), a privately held, Maryland-based biotechnology company, announced today the promotion of Teri Heiland, Ph.D. to Chief Scientific Officer. In her new role, Dr. Heiland will oversee all of research and development and will play an integral role in business development and the management of ITI’s existing and future partnerships. Dr. Heiland is a co-founder of ITI and has amassed over two decades of executive leadership experience in the biotechnology and life sciences sector. Dr. Heiland’s focus at ITI stems from her background in DNA vaccine design, optimization and development, which has created a broad pipeline of vaccines in oncology, allergy and animal health and has driven licensing deals for ITI with Astellas and Zenoaq. ITI’s investigational UNITE technology platform has the potential to utilize the body’s natural biochemistry to develop a broad immune response and is currently being employed in a Phase II clinical trial as a cancer immunotherapy.

Are you looking to increase the success rate of your state’s SBIR/STTR proposals? If so, a reminder that applications for the Small Business Administration’s Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program are due next Friday, June 28, at 4 p.m. EDT. This program provides one-year funding to organizations executing programs related to SBIR/STTR outreach, technical assistance, or financial support. As a way to help inform these proposals, SSTI has updated the data from a January Useful Stats article on NIH SBIR/STTR success rates to include the most recent year available, FY 2018.

Jolene Gurevich was going to be an investment banker on Wall Street. But her roots as a competitive Latin ballroom dancer in New York gave her the inspiration to make a move toward entrepreneurship, and Venture for America provided her a clear path into the startup ecosystem in Baltimore. Now manager of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech Ventures) incubator at the University of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund, Gurevich guides the trajectory of scientists-turned-entrepreneurs.

Catalent is continuing to expand its fast-growing biologics operations, agreeing to acquire Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS)’s oral solid, biologics, and sterile product manufacturing and packaging facility in Anagni, Italy, for an undisclosed price.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation is recruiting a Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS @ Washington DC.    The goal of Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJI) is to advance transformative healthcare solutions that improve the lives of people around the world and, in so doing, to deliver value to Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”).  JJI accomplishes this by catalyzing new science and technology through collaboration and exchange of ideas. This growing team is looking for a colleague inspired to help build and innovate new ways of fostering a productive life-science ecosystem.

This position will be responsible for setting the strategic direction and overseeing all operational activities for JLABS in Washington DC and leading our partnership with Children’s National Health System.  This position will also be part of the Global Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JLABS leadership team. 

Minnowtech, LLC, an aquaculture technology company that provides an imaging platform to enable shrimp farmers to measure shrimp abundance to optimize feeding, announced today it has been awarded a $225,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Sanofi will apply Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing capabilities toward developing new drugs, through a collaboration whose value was not disclosed.

The companies said they have agreed to create a virtual Innovation Lab to “radically” transform how future medicines and health services are developed and delivered.

Intrexon has scaled its proprietary yeast fermentation process and is on track to realize production of pure cannabinoids at a target cost of goods of <$1,000/kg. With exclusive global access to Intrexon's technology for microbial production of cannabinoids, Surterra gains a clear research and development roadmap to:

Surterra Wellness

Just 16 months into its existence, a local biotech startup has investors swarming.

Gaithersburg, Md.-based Viela Bio has completed a $75 million Series B funding round, bringing its total raised since launching to more than $350 million.

Attorneys Vern Norviel and Charles Andres recently sat down with Katharine "Kathy" Ku, WSGR’s new chief licensing advisor, to discuss questions and situations that come up in the licensing process. Kathy is an internationally recognized leader in the field of licensing and technology transfer, and spent almost three decades as the executive director of Stanford University’s Office of Technology Licensing. Kathy’s many accomplishments include implementation of the Cohen-Boyer DNA Cloning licensing program which contributed to the creation of the biotechnology industry, and her work on the document: In the Public Interest: Nine Points to Consider in Licensing University Technology. This document, which provides nine principles that continue to influence and guide university licensing, should be read by any start-up contemplating taking a university license.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and The Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) recently hosted the third annual Technology Showcase at The FNLCR’s Advanced Technology Research Center (ATRF) in Frederick, Maryland. The event provided industry thought leaders, inventors and entrepreneurs a platform to network, showcase their technologies, and learn more about the tech transfer process, starting a new business and various fundraising strategies.

Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BIOE) Ph.D. students Michelle Bookstaver, John Daristotle, Mary Doolin, and Emily Gosselin were recently named recipients of the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31) by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Together, their NIH F31 fellowships could total up to $235,000 in funding over two years to support research in vaccine design, sprayable surgical sealants, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and new therapies to treat multiple sclerosis. 

Vaccines have reduced the public health threat of many infectious diseases, including polio, measles, mumps, and small pox. 

In the face of growing international concerns over antimicrobial resistance, Qiagen has launched a one-stop shop that compiles publicly available genomic data, scientific literature and phenotypic information on potential superbugs.

Funding and Research Opportunities

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

General Notices

Notice of Information for RFA-HL-20-009, "BLOODSAFE: Research to enhance availability of safe blood for patients with severe anemia and hemorrhagic conditions in low or lower-middle income countries (LLMICs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (UG3/UH3 CT Optional)"
(NOT-HL-19-706) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Notice of Information for RFA-HL-20-010, "BLOODSAFE: Research to enhance availability of safe blood for patients with severe anemia and hemorrhagic conditions in low or lower-middle income countries (LLMICs) in Sub-Saharan Africa-DCC (U24 CT Not Allowed)"
(NOT-HL-19-707) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

A large pharmaceutical company is spending more than $11 billion to acquire the maker of two drugs used to treat skin cancer.

New York-based Pfizer said Monday it would acquire Boulder, Colorado-based Array BioPharma for $11.4 billion, or $48 per share.

Baltimore-Md.-based Inner Loop Capital is giving D.C.-area startups a financial boost with this new fund.

AstraZeneca said it would invest $630 million into Korea’s biotech and healthcare sector over the next five years.

Leif Johansson, chairman of the British-Swedish drugmaker, announced the plan at the Korea-Sweden Business Summit, attended by President Moon Jae-in, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven in Stockholm on Friday, local time. The business summit was held as part of President Moon’s state visit.

Viela Bio today announced the successful completion of a $75 million private placement of its Series B preferred stock, bringing the total capital raised since the Company's launch in February 2018 to more than $300 million. The financing round was led by HBM Healthcare Investments, and additional new investors participating included Viking Global Investors, Cormorant Asset Management, Terra Magnum Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs, and Barer & Son Capital. Existing investors participating included Temasek.

CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CASI), a U.S. biopharmaceutical company that is focusing on developing and accelerating the launch of innovative therapeutics and pharmaceutical products in China, the U.S., and throughout the world, announces the signing of a license agreement for exclusive worldwide license and commercialization rights to an autologous anti-CD19 T-cell therapy product (CNCT19) from Juventas Cell Therapy Ltd., a China-based domestic company located in Tianjin City, China. Juventas will continue to develop CNCT19 with CASI’s participation on the program’s steering committee. CASI will be responsible for payment of certain future development milestones and sales royalties.

FREDERICK, A KEYPLAYER IN THE BIOHEALTH CAPITAL REGION

After last year’s BIO International Convention in Boston was overshadowed by reports of topless women dancers bearing the logos of biopharma company sponsors at an unofficial party, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization in October sent its members a letter insisting that they pay more than lip service to diversifying their historically male executive suites and boardrooms.

The C3i Program is designed to provide medical device innovators with the specialized business frameworks and essential tools for successful translation of biomedical technologies from the lab (concept) to the market (clinic). Through this program, the NIH fosters the development and commercialization of early-stage biomedical technologies by engaging investigators who are interested in better understanding the value of their innovation in addressing an unmet market need. The curriculum and customized mentoring provided by the C3i Program are intended to guide investigators as they assess the commercial viability and potential business opportunity for their innovation.

The first facility has opened at Dayton, OH’s 4.3-acre OneFifteen campus, a treatment center for opioid addiction. The project is a partnership of life sciences REIT Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Verily, an Alphabet company, with Alexandria leading design and development.

RoosterBio, a regenerative medicine manufacturing technology leader, has received a $300,000 grant from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission to facilitate new product development. RoosterBio is one of three Maryland-based companies who received the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) Commercialization Program Award totaling $899,990 to assist with the creation of start-up companies or new technologies developed in Maryland.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019 from 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM EDT

Attendees will be provided an overview of Virginia Neuroscience (VNI) Initiative and how it accelerates neuroscience research by providing strategy, infrastructure, and research tools to clinicians, researchers, and industry. VNI members conduct basic and translational research in neurobiology to advance our understanding of brain diseases.

D.C.'s top economic development official is leaving government to join Amazon as the tech giant builds its second headquarters in Northern Virginia.

Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner, who has held the position for over four years, will join Amazon to tackle regional economic development issues, the Washington Business Journal reports. 

70 Years of Scientific Research on Diseases (1947-2017) - number of research articles published (PubMed) # For more interesting & helpful content on healthcare & data science, follow me & Brainformatika on LinkedIn.

Corvidia Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, announced today the initiation of patient screening for a Phase 2b dose-finding study of ziltivekimab. Previously known as COR-001, ziltivekimab is a proprietary anti-interleukin-6 ligand monoclonal antibody (anti-IL6 mAb), targeting residual inflammatory cardiovascular risk in patients living with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD).

On behalf of AURP, and our BIO Health Caucus Co-Chairs Mark Romney and Rich Bendis, we would like to thank all who participated at the inaugural BIO Health Caucus, making it a grand success!

Each of our speakers and sessions shared significant insight into what is on the horizon for our global biomedical innovation district. Everyone's active presence was paramount in our ongoing mission to help the AURP community thrive. This gathering of bio-focused professionals served as an opportunity to establish, promote, and assemble health-related anchor institutions, creating new technologies, developing biotechnology partnerships, and improving health outcomes.

The next BIO Health Caucus will converge at the AURP IC2019 on November 5, 1:00 – 4:00 pm.

A vaccine for HIV. Nanoparticles. A topical ointment for sickle cell disease.

Those are just three examples of technologies discussed at a showcase held by the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and the National Cancer Institute.

Inova Center for Personalized Health, Fairfax You’re invited to spend the day with innovative entrepreneurs, professionals and industry leaders. Discover opportunities to help you navigate through a rapidly evolving modern industry & gain access to cutting edge technologies and tools.

Join forces with industry and academia leaders, researchers and decision-makers, all gathered together, at the same time, and at the same place, bringing ideas together to make a global impact and change the world.

Women Building Bio is where the future is transformed into reality.

You are invited to join Learning Undefeated as we expand our reach again and welcome three new mobile laboratories.

Drop Anywhere Labs are the newest innovation in mobile STEM education, custom-built shipping containers that serve as flexible laboratory and classroom space for middle and high schools. Tour all six of our mobile laboratories including Drop Anywhere Labs, the Mobile eXploration Lab, MdBioLab, and Verizon explorer lab.

Event Info

Date: Thursday, August 1, 2019

Time: 4:00 - 6:00 PM

MCEDC talks with Douglas Liu, SVP of Global Operations for Qiagen, about how his company makes improvements in life possible.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an urban office REIT uniquely focused on collaborative life science and technology campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, today announced that it has strategically partnered with Columbia University to open Alexandria LaunchLabs®, the premier life science startup platform, at the university in the spring of 2020. Building upon the success of the flagship Alexandria LaunchLabs site at the Alexandria Center® for Life Science – New York City, Alexandria LaunchLabs @ Columbia will increasingly focus on promising life science startups emerging from Columbia and peer institutions, which serve as the greatest source of new company formation in the NYC life science ecosystem.

Hundreds of politicians, Capitol staff members, and campus top brass will gather on Wednesday in Washington to hear about researchers’ work. The scholars aren’t leaving any detail to chance.