Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced that it has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $63 million by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop an antidote spray device for the treatment of known or suspected acute cyanide poisoning. The single-use intranasal spray device will deliver a stabilized form of isoamyl nitrite (SIAN) and is intended for use by first responders and medical personnel following a cyanide incident.

The greatest economic development sweepstakes in the country is underway and Montgomery County officials are hoping the county can be a player.

Amazon is searching for a second headquarters site to house as many as 50,000 employees, at an expected cost of $5 billion to construct. The footprint for the new headquarters would be up to 8 million square feet by 2027 and an initial 500,000 square feet by 2019.

When Knox Singleton first took the helm at Inova Health System in 1984, Mobil Corp. was still building its campus — the first major corporate headquarters ever landed by Fairfax County — on the massive wooded lot just across the street from the health system's Fairfax hospital.

ConverGene has entered into a Sponsored Research Agreement with University of Maryland, Baltimore. Under this agreement University of Maryland School of Medicine Professor Curt I. Civin, M.D., who is associate dean for research and director of the Center For Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, will investigate the in vivo anti-leukemic effects of ConverGene’s lead drug candidates, CG223 and CG250. Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) is a likely first disease target for these compounds.

The company just received a Series A investment from VSP Global, one of the country’s largest networks of vision doctors.

Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CPP), a private biotech company developing novel therapeutics to prevent cancer and other diseases, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted “Fast-Track” status for its lead drug CPP-1X/sul for adults with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), which is currently in a Phase 3 clinical trial. FAP is a rare genetic disease that if left untreated progresses to colorectal cancer in nearly 100% of patients. Currently there is no effective treatment for FAP.

Flagship Pioneering (fka Flagship Ventures), a Cambridge, MA-based life sciences venture capital firm, is seeking to raise $500m for its latest fund.

Congressional lawmakers from both parties have rejected the Trump administration's proposals to cut spending for NIH, and have joined forces to increase spending on biomedical research.

Developers Taconic Investment Partners and Silverstein Properties are spending $20 million to renovate the 326,861-sf Movie Lab building in Midtown Manhattan for life science research usage.

After holding it in the District for years, the health system is packing up and taking its annual symposium across the country.

Emergent Biosolutions produces cures in Downtown Baltimore for cancer patients, troops and stockpiles in case of a chemical attack.

Fractal Technology, a startup founded at Johns Hopkins, was recently acquired by Annapolis Junction–based Sunayu, according to the cofounders.

Threats come in all sizes, some so small you can't see. The damage, however can be catastrophic.

Emergent BioSolutions creates remedies for diseases like cancer and ebola, chemical attacks like anthrax, as well as those against our troops, like mustard gas.

The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, College Park were ranked among the top tier in the U.S. News and World Report annual rankings of colleges and universities released Tuesday.

UK-based liquid biopsy firm Angle said today that it has inked a comarketing agreement with Qiagen for circulating tumor cell (CTC) technology.

What does it really cost to bring a drug to market?

The question is central to the debate over rising health care costs and appropriate drug pricing. President Trump campaigned on promises to lower the costs of drugs.

Pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences has just put up a cool $11.9 billion to acquire Kite Pharma, which has developed a genetic engineering approach for treating cancers.

Every year, as part of their strategic planning, executives’ minds turn to setting performance targets—and then achieving them. In so doing, those at medical-device companies should bear in mind the high hopes shareholders have for future growth. Can these hopes be met?

On Monday, the California gene-hunting company Human Longevity published a paper making the bold claim that it can identify individuals using their genomes to predict what their faces looks like.

Scientists at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) in San Diego, California have devised a way to optically image tumors with unprecedented clarity using quantum dots. These nano structures are tiny particles, only a few nanometers wide, that generate light of a specific wavelength when they’re themselves stimulated by a light beam. On their own quantum dots are quite bright, but their signal gets washed out by other nearby quantum dots. To clean the signal and be able to see tumors better, the SBP team used a so-called “etchant”.

The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) is pleased to announce the 12 finalists selected to pitch their pediatric medical device innovation at our 5th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium on Sunday, September 24th in San Jose, CA.

Can genomics wizards make an informed guesstimate on what a person looks like, based on his or her DNA? J. Craig Venter sure thinks so, per a new PNAS paper. Yet his Human Longevity Institute study is facing Twitter blowback for that claim.

BioHealth Innovation CEO, Richard Bendis discusses with Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation for #MOCO365 how BioHealth Innovation helps accelerate the growth of life science and biohealth companies.

Inova announced today that Mickey Y. Kim, MD, MBA, has been named Senior Vice President of Research and Commercialization. In this role, Dr. Kim will work with Inova's institute leaders to establish Inova's research priorities, manage its portfolio, work collaboratively with Inova's external partners, and drive the commercialization of research.

Do you have experience in digital health? Are you passionate about developing innovative solutions to complex challenges? If so, consider joining the FDA Digital Health team as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence! The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is establishing this Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Program to support and help develop our Software Precertification (PreCert) Pilot Program —a critical piece of our Digital Health Innovation Action Plan, announced on August 8, 2017.

DATE AND TIME: Wed, September 27, 2017 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM EDT

LOCATION: 1801 Rockville Pike Suite 320 Rockville, MD 20852

Join us for our open house to connect and network in our new Rockville offices. Enjoy breakfast and discover the many services we offer to help expand business opportunities in MoCo.

We hope you can join us.

Garage parking is available in the building. If you have any questions, please contact Meaghann Diez at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) has been awarded a $115,000 grant to further develop and commercialize a multi-specific antibody as a therapeutic for HIV.  The grant is funded under the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) that supports the commercialization of academic-based research in the State of Maryland and thereby supports the State’s efforts to foster economic development.  The MII program is a collaboration between the State of Maryland and five Maryland Institutions:  University of Maryland, Baltimore, University of Maryland, College Park, Morgan State University, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and Johns Hopkins University.

Wednesday, October 18 – Friday, October 20, 2017 at the MC Bioscience Education Center in Germantown, MD.

Bio-Trac® Training Programs is currently accepting preregistrations for our 2017 hands-on training workshops. Preregistration is strongly encouraged due to our small class sizes. Simply provide the few required details below and indicate applicable course(s).  We will contact you directly with complete details upon receipt of your preregistration.

Johns Hopkins University moved up to 13th in the world and ninth among U.S. universities in the newest Times Higher Education world university rankings, published Tuesday.

Universities often seek to supplement their coffers by finding ways to access private-sector funds, such as by setting up technology transfer offices and trying to commercialise their research.

Five startups have been selected to participate in the inaugural M-1 Ventures health and fitness-focused accelerator program based at Johns Hopkins University.

MdBio Foundation is excited to be partnering with Verizon Innovative Learning to bring a new mobile experience to District of Columbia Public Schools. The Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab is an entirely new way for middle school students to discover concepts of engineering design. The explorer lab is a shared immersive learning experience that combines movie-quality video, special effects, and hands-on educational gaming to create a learning environment that gets kids excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) – right in the school parking lot.

It was an audacious undertaking, even for one of the most storied American companies: With a single machine, IBM would tackle humanity’s most vexing diseases and revolutionize medicine.

When Betsy Edmunds met her future husband, Hooks Johnston, through friends at a bar in New York City on March 30, 1985, she couldn't believe two things about this tired and overworked investment banker — his name, and how he spoke so earnestly about his family.

Join us on September 24, 2017 in San Jose, CA, one day before The MedTech Conference powered by AdvaMed, for the 5th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium. This year’s theme is “Partnering for Breakthroughs in Pediatric Surgery and Care.”

TOP REASONS TO ATTEND

1. Network and form new partnerships in the world of pediatric device innovation
2. Get inspired by Daniel Kraft, MD as he discusses the future of health and medicine
3. Learn from Alan Flake, MD about the promise of the “Artificial Womb” device that could help babies born extremely prematurely
4. Hear Vasum Peiris, MD of the FDA talk about hot healthcare issues affecting children
5. Engage and be an active participant during Hot-Button panel discussions that will cover topics from funding to regulations to market dynamics – as they relate to the health of our children