The company is working on a therapy for pancreatic cancer using nanotechnology.

OpGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPGN) today announced that it has been awarded a contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop smartphone-based clinical decision support solutions for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and infection control in low- and middle-income countries. The one-year $860,000 award began September 30, 2017 and funds development and evaluation of cloud-based mobile software. OpGen will work with partners Teqqa, LLC and Universidad El Bosque (UEB) of Bogota, Colombia led by Maria Virginia Villegas, M.D., M.Sc.

The University of Maryland BioPark was honored as the Outstanding Research Park of 2017 at the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) International Conference in Huntsville, Ala., on Oct. 11.

American Gene Technologies (AGT), a private Maryland biotechnology company developing cures and treatments for Infectious diseases, cancers and monogenic disorders hosted a ribbon cutting October 23, 2017 celebrating the grand opening of its new 24,000 sq. ft. laboratory and offices. From its new location, AGT will begin clinical trials for its HIV Functional Cure therapeutic in the next six months.

The new AGT expansion will allow for acceleration of gene and cell therapeutic development laboratories supporting the HIV Functional Cure project that is expected to enter the clinic early next year, as well as to sustain the momentum of phenylketonuria and immuno-oncology therapeutics anticipated for clinical activities in late 2019. These early-stage programs represent substantial assets backed by an impressive IP portfolio. The new offices will support the company’s expected growth through early 2020.

TEDCO today announced six finalists for its first-ever Incubator Challenge, a competition created to identify and reward the best ideas for supporting and growing technology companies in Maryland. The finalists will share their ideas with attendees of the 7th Annual Entrepreneur Expo and Stem Cell Symposium on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at the Hilton Baltimore.

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) today announced approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of a new inhalation device, called the TD-300/A, for use with Tyvaso® (treprostinil) Inhalation Solution (Tyvaso).

South Korea must swiftly work to build up a strong medical big data system as it will form the backbone of future medicine led by personalized and predictive health care, biohealth experts in Seoul said Monday.

When the District’s financially troubled 1776 incubator merged with an out-of-town counterpart recently, it became the latest star of Washington’s tech scene to fade away after a few years in the limelight. The sort of permanence that helped make Silicon Valley a top technology hub has largely eluded the region’s start-up incubators.

Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology company with a pipeline of immune checkpoint antibodies and cancer vaccines, announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted marketing authorization to GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) herpes zoster vaccine, SHINGRIX, containing Agenus' proprietary immune adjuvant QS-21 Stimulon®. SHINGRIX is indicated for prevention of herpes zoster (also known as shingles) in adults aged 50 years and older. The addition of QS-21 Stimulon helps improve the vaccine's effectiveness by boosting immune response in older adults who often experience age-related decline in immunity.   

Gov. Larry Hogan is supporting Elon Musk and his desire to bring an undergrond hyperloop to the East Coast, and it seems like a bit of the Tesla founder’s social media strategy has rubbed off on the Maryland Republican.

The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurship series offers in-depth measures of the people and businesses that contribute to America’s overall economic dynamism.

Join Maryland Tech Council CEO, Tami Howie, at the 7th Annual TEDCO's Entrepreneur Expo on October 25, 2017 for a fireside chat with Mike Heslin, the Baltimore Market Manager for Lyft from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room Key 12.

AstraZeneca and MedImmune, our global biologics research and development arm, have been voted one of the top science employers worldwide, in the prestigious Science 2017 Top Employers Survey1.

Our key strengths, as highlighted by survey participants, focused on our aspirational work culture, our dynamic and intellectually challenging environment, and our commitment to collaboration, which our scientists enjoy at research centres across the globe. 

Many are exploring alternatives to traditional ‘per pill’ arrangements underlying reimbursement. This holds implications for pharma manufacturers.

OCTOBER 26, 2017

Host:  UM BioPark & Wexford Science + Technology

Location:  UM BioPark Life Sciences Conference Centeer 801 W. Baltimore Street Baltimore  Maryland  21201

Time:  5:00pm to 6:30pm

Please join the BioPark's Monthly Networking Event. Mingle with BioPark tenants, and UMB faculty and staff.

Thursday, December 07, 2017 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM EST

Horseshoe Casino Baltimore 1525 Russell Street Baltimore, MD 21230

We're excited to announce MTC's first annual Black & White Affair. Our exclusive holiday party will feature gourmet appetizers, music, unique silent auction items and cocktails as you help fund internships through the inMD platform.

Since the launch of the BioPark Initiative in 2003, the BioPark has grown to include nearly three dozen companies with more than 1,000 employees. Looking out a fifth-floor window of BioPark Building One, BioPark Senior Vice President Jane Shaab pointed out other BioPark facilities, such as the Maryland Proton Treatment Center, the Maryland Forensic Medical Center, the newly added Lion Brothers Building, and the construction site where work has begun on BioPark Building Three, a facility that will double the number of BioPark employees.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the second in a radically new class of treatments that genetically reboot a patient’s own immune cells to kill cancer.

Inova Health System is bringing Northern Virginia tech investor Rick Gordon into the fold.

This is the latest in my “superstar effect” series. Richard Florida posted an interesting analysis of venture capital investments over at City Lab.

Drug accelerator Cydan has gained a $34 million injection as it eyes deeper inroads into rare diseases for its second fund.

Germantown-based bioengineering company Intrexon Corp. will have access to up to $100 million of new capital through a deal with an affiliate company controlled by its founder and chairman, Randal "RJ" Kirk.

The operating partner for 1313 Innovation’s co-working space in Wilmington is merging with a Washington, DC organization.

1313 operates from the Hercules Plaza building in downtown Wilmington, with Benjamin’s desk serving as its partner.

Illumina Ventures, a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm, closed its maiden fund, at $230m.

Launched with an initial $100m investment from Illumina, Illumina Ventures has then been supported by a mix of corporate, institutional, sovereign, and individual investors.

VLP Therapeutics, LLC (“VLP”), a biotechnology company focusing on the research and development of therapeutic and preventative vaccines announced today the receipt of a Phase I grant from the National Cancer Institute under auspices of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Institutes of Health. The $298,729 grant under the Award Number R43CA217445 is focused on “the development of a novel Virus-Like Particle vaccine-based cancer immunotherapy targeting PD-L1” and will also explore broader immune checkpoint inhibition mechanisms.

Brian Smith joined BHI in October of 2017 as a digital marketing and IT specialist. Brian manages BHI’s information technology assets in addition to serving as a marketing specialist for BHI and its client companies. Brian comes from a background in health science having earned his bachelor of science degree in human biology from Towson University. Before joining BHI, Brian was the principal of a small business that provided web information services and IT support to businesses in and around the metropolitan Washington DC area. Brian has an enthusiasm for entrepreneurialism and draws from experience working in both clinical research and biomanufacturing.

As the leaves settle on the ground, so do the newest Venture for America fellows into the place they’ll call home for the next two years. The food hall R. House, which was spearheaded by two VFA Fellows, hosted the full group last week, giving new fellows had the chance to mingle and chow down on gourmet hors d’oeuvres with the current cohort and local community of supporters.

What began as a kind of business experiment in innovation has acquired a life of its own.

The idea in 2011 was to create a space at what was then Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical research and development facility in San Diego for an “innovation center,” a place where 18 to 20 life sciences startups could incubate, replete with lab space and equipment. J&J would screen applicants and charge them to lease the space, but would not require an ownership stake or impose licensing requirements on the startups. It would be a “no strings attached” deal.

Infosecurity Group, the founders of Europe’s no.1 information security event, is pleased to announce Inky as the Infosecurity North America Cyber Start-up Company of the Year 2017. Four start-ups competed today during Infosecurity North America 2017 Expo and Conference, presenting their elevator pitches to a judging panel of venture capitalists. 

Dreamit has teamed with Accenture, one of the world’s leading professional services companies, to connect Accenture’s strategy and innovation leadership to the startup founders at Dreamit working on transformational products in health tech and urban tech.

This semester, FastForward U (FFU) will begin offering entrepreneurial advising to students looking to start a company or business venture. FFU is an initiative from Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV), an office that facilitates licensing and patents for Hopkins researchers and supports technology startups.

The Association of University Research Parks (AURP) today announced the recipients of the Awards of Excellence recognized during its 2017 International Conference hosted by Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, AL. Additionally, AURP announced the results of the election for its 2018 Board of Directors.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Apella, Alexandria Center for Life Science 6:00 - 7:30 PM

Brick by brick, and startup by startup, the New York biotech scene is slowly being built up. More startup incubators are either up, or in development, than ever before. Several pieces necessary to a functional life sciences ecosystem are now in place, and many other milestones will simply take time to develop and succeed. Yet industry and government leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs can’t get complacent—there is much more that New York can do, right now, to gain ground on other hubs and further establish the region as a top center for life science. If the right progress is made, 2018 could be a signature year for the city—or, if progress proves elusive, the momentum could slip away.

The National Institutes of Health and 11 leading biopharmaceutical companies today launched the Partnership for Accelerating Cancer Therapies (PACT), a five-year public-private research collaboration totaling $215 million as part of the Cancer Moonshot.  PACT will initially focus on efforts to identify, develop and validate robust biomarkers — standardized biological markers of disease and treatment response — to advance new immunotherapy treatments that harness the immune system to attack cancer. The partnership will be managed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), with the Food and Drug Administration serving in an advisory role. 

When someone’s body parts are donated, it’s a life-or-death race against the clock as hearts, lungs, livers and hands rapidly deteriorate outside the body.