With a dozen approvals for biosimilars under its belt already, the Food and Drug Administration has started a new effort to accelerate the development and adoption of the drugs.

Ascentage Pharma, a global biopharmaceutical company with a local hub in Maryland, has raised $150 million in Series C financing.

Is your biohealth company located in Maryland, DC or Virginia? Are you thinking of applying for a biohealth related SBIR grant?   Does your technology qualify?  Are you eligible?  Should you apply to NIH? NSF? to other organizations?  

Sign up now to learn more from one of BHI’s SBIR consultants. Office hours are scheduled next in Montgomery County August 8th and 15th.  (There is no fee for this service.  Depending upon your technology and stage in the business cycle, BHI may also prepay for experts to help you improve your SBIR and other non-dilutive funding applications. For more information, click here.)

Due to company graduations,  co-working and individual office space is becoming available at the Montgomery County innovation centers located in Rockville and Germantown.  Each location offers shared meeting and kitchenette/lunch room space, and affordable, flexible lease terms.  Tenants in these facilities also have access to BHI Entrepreneurs-in-Residence analysts, and other professional staff for additional support. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

RESI/Life Science Nation are hosting a day of partnering and networking at RESI/Life Science Nation’s inaugural First Coast Innovators Gathering. Biohealth incubators, accelerators, tech transfer offices, and research labs from the East Coast can promote their organizations and spinout companies to RESI’s audience investors and partners seeking to connect with the region’s earliest stage companies. Participating organizations also are able to offer their companies discounted attendance to day one. For more information, click here.

For the first time this fall, Life Science Nation (LSN) will have two days of competition as part of the RESI Healthtech Week (September 5-7, 2018). Day 1 will feature the First Coast Innovation Challenge, where the top 10 ranked companies of the First Coast tech hubs will present their technologies as a 10-minute pitch to a panel of early-stage investors. Day 2 features the traditional RESI Innovation Challenge, where the top 30 companies who apply are chosen to showcase a poster on the RESI Global Partnering Conference Exhibit Hall.  First Coast Innovation Challenge is geared toward companies which have recently moved out of the lab and are ready to target grant, angel, and seed funding. The First Coast Innovation Challenge on Day 1 complements the RESI Global Innovation Challenge on Day 2, offering greater investor exposure to companies from the earliest stage to more established startups that are looking globally and seeking funding from institutional investors.

Apply by this Friday, July 27^th to participate in First Coast Innovation Challenge.

GlaxoSmithKline is reportedly considering whether to split its business into a consumer health spin-off and standalone pharmaceutical and vaccines group.

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) today visited Vibrent Health, a Fairfax, Virginia-based health technology company for a tour of the company’s new office followed by a town hall session with Vibrent’s 140 employees.

"Studying and developing new technologies is critical to improving our health care system and expanding access to more Virginians. I’m looking forward to learning more about the work Vibrent Health is doing to modernize the industry as well as hearing from their employees on how the Senate can better support innovation in the health care space," said Kaine.

Following an advisory panel recommendation on July 6, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved, under Priority Review, single-dose Krintafel (tafenoquine) for the radical cure (prevention of relapse) of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax)malaria in patients aged 16 years and older who are receiving appropriate antimalarial therapy for acute P. vivax infection.

Venture capital investment in early-stage biotechnology and pharmaceutical startups is seeing exuberance that could be classed as “froth,” but it does not appear to be in bubble territory yet.

Gaithersburg biotech startup Neuraly has raised $36 million for its potential Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease treatment, the company announced.

IndieBio is making its way to New York.

The San Francisco-based biotech incubator received a $25 million investment from the state's government. The move is part of a broader push to support life sciences startups across New York State (h/t The Wall Street Journal).

The University of Pennsylvania’s startup incubator is getting a boost from a big pharmaceutical company.

The First Coast Innovator’s Gathering on Day 1 is focused on tech hubs and companies from the First Coast: DC, MD, PA, NJ, NY, RI, CT, and MA. We encourage all global tech hubs and their constituents to attend.

There's been more venture capital invested through the first six months of 2018 in the US than any six-month period in recent history, which highlights the new normal in the industry: more capital concentrated into fewer, larger deals. On the exit end of the spectrum, there's been improved access to the IPO market, particularly for enterprise tech companies.

A startup company spun out of Johns Hopkins says it’s been able to slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease in mice models — and with a fresh infusion of cash, the company is taking the program into human trials.

High-profile investors led by billionaires Bill Gates and Leonard Lauder are throwing their weight behind a “venture philanthropy vehicle” offering more than $30 million in grants for new biomarkers and early diagnostic tests for Alzheimer’s disease.

The Trump administration moved swiftly in the past 24 hours to implement pieces of its plan to bring down drug prices, preparing several significant steps as one of the biggest U.S. drugmakers said it would bring down the cost of some medicines.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC today announced agreement to launch the Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS (JLABS) JPOD @ Philadelphia (JPOD @ Philadelphia) in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to accelerate healthcare innovation and commercialization in Philadelphia and beyond.

With Tenable formally filing to go public in late June, observers are closely watching for updates to its Form S-1, which is required to be filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of an IPO.

Montgomery County is turning over management of the Silver Spring Innovation Center to the recently-launched coworking division of a Maryland-based real estate company.

"It will take another 30 years for America to catch up to Montgomery County's diversity." - The New York Times

Algorithms used in a Spark Baltimore–based company’s software was recently patented for algorithms that will help it expand its presence in the market, according to its CEO.

MaxCyte announced that it has received Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a clinical study in the United States with its first wholly-owned chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapeutic candidate, MCY-M11.

True Bearing Diagnostics Inc. is working to commercialize an early-detection test for coronary artery disease, a possible game-changer for the health care industry.

The Chronicle‘s executive-compensation package includes the latest data on more than 1,400 chief executives at more than 600 private colleges from 2008-15 and nearly 250 public universities and systems from 2010-17. Hover over bars to show total compensation as well as pay components including base, bonus, and other.

The Worldwide Genomics Market report is an expert analysis report explore the market by Size, Share and Forecasts Till 2025. The Global Genomics Market size was estimated at USD 12.02 billion in 2016. It is anticipated to progress at a CAGR of 9.7% over the forecast period. Widening base of genomic data pool from genomic research activities is enabling physicians, biologists, and patients to further investigate genetic predisposition to certain diseases.

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 it has acquired 219 East 42nd Street for $203 million on a fee simple basis, through a membership interest in the purchasing entity 219/235 East LLC. As part of the transaction, 219/235 East LLC leased back 219 East 42nd Street on a triple net basis to Pfizer Inc., which announced earlier this year plans to relocate its global office headquarters to Manhattan’s Hudson Yards neighborhood in 2022. Ideally located in the heart of Manhattan’s East Side Medical Corridor with critical adjacency to New York City’s renowned academic and medical institutions, the acquisition of this approximately 350,000 RSF, 10-story office building represents significant and immediate net operating income growth with a strong yield from an investment-grade tenant.

Recently I had the chance to hold a replica of the upper part of a human airway—the windpipe plus the first two bronchi. It had been made from collagen, the biological cement that holds our bodies together. It was slippery and hollow, with the consistency of undercooked pasta.

This recently re-surfaced brainteaser has been making the rounds on the internet again. Apparently, reported Sharesplosion, if you can find the "C' that's hidden somewhere among the rows and rows of "Os" in under seven seconds, you're a genius (they claim that 99% of adults can't achieve this feat).

The chairman of Johns Hopkins University's Berman Institute of Bioethics has made a $15 million gift to establish a new endowment and support studying bioethicists.

Small biotech companies on Monday can start applying for matching grants from Montgomery County through a new program.

Thursday, July 19, 20184:30 - 7:00 PM EST

Spend an inspiring 10 minute ‘ideastorming’ session with the Anchor Ventures PowerTen, the most influential innovation leaders in the greater Baltimore area – build on an idea for your company, bring your ideas for a program topic, a product, a system improvement or a better way to grow our ecosystem. Complete the RSVP link with your idea and we’ll match you to our PowerTen. Then mingle with more than 150 local entrepreneurs at our networking happy hour.

The Society of Physician Entrepreneurs and the MBA Collaborative Alumni Angel Group, in conjunction with NIH, cordially invite you to join us for our next meeting:

Summer Healthcare/Life Science Pitch Event

July 24th 2018 5 PM-8 PM

This program will be focused on start-up and emerging biotech, pharmaceutical, Health IT, and healthcare companies. Referrals are coming from NIH officials and consultants as well as SoPE/CAAG members and affiliates.

Call for Start-Ups; Please submit your Executive Summary and non-proprietary Slide deck to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for consideration to pitch at this upcoming event.

The prospect of Amazon entering the pharma industry with the acquisition of PillPack will be a troubling development for pharma executives around the globe.