For more than a decade, Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation has been making grants to organizations that support its mission of increasing the number of adults obtaining postsecondary credentials.

That’s the typical playbook for private foundations—contribute to other not-for-profits that are trying to make a difference. But over the past year, Lumina has aggressively moved in a more novel direction, funneling more of its $1.2 billion endowment into venture capital. Instead of just handing out grants, it’s taking ownership stakes in for-profit businesses, mainly education-tech startups.

University of Maryland (UM) Ventures announced today that the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has granted worldwide, exclusive licensing rights for a new vaccine technology to Serenta Biotechnology, LLC, a Gaithersburg, MD-based startup. The license is based on technology co-owned by UMB and Northern Arizona University and is the basis for a multivalent vaccine against infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterial strain often resistant to antibiotics.

Are you an NIH-funded investigator focused on medical device innovations? NIH recently announced the availability of administrative supplements to parent awards for a number of different activity codes with participation by four ICs (see lists below). Both SBIR/STTR awardees as well as recipients of a number of different research grants are eligible.

Maryland Technology Development Corp. is offering $300,000 to the person or organization that comes up with the best idea for how to support and grow technology companies in the state.

The Concept to Clinic: Commercializing Innovation (C3i) Program is designed to provide NIH-funded medical device innovators with an entrepreneurship training program to include specialized business frameworks and essential tools for successful translation of biomedical technologies from lab (concept) to market (clinic). The curriculum and customized mentoring provided by the program are intended to guide investigators in assessing the commercial viability and potential business opportunity for their innovation.

We are pleased to report that 20/20 placed first place among 21 pre-selected entrepreneurial contestants this month at the U.S. China Innovation & Investment Summit InnoSTARS competition in Houston, Texas: http://www.uschinainnovation.org/innostars/ . As a result, we have won an all-expenses paid trip to China to meet with and pitch to investors in that country as part of the Final Stage of the contest. The contest involved a 7-minute pitch by the CEO of 20/20 followed by Q&A before a panel of judges comprising Chinese and American VCs and business executives.

On April 26, hundreds of people came to East Baltimore for the grand opening of FastForward 1812. The event, billed as a celebration of a new physical space to support innovation, was just as much a celebration of the innovation hub’s promise to impact the future of Johns Hopkins, the city of Baltimore and people around the world by helping bring life-changing technologies to market.

“[This space is] a physical manifestation of our commitment to bringing together the necessary ingredients of innovation,” Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels said during the celebration’s opening remarks.

Last year, Johns Hopkins University and MedImmune announced their collaboration on a unique new initiative, the Johns Hopkins-MedImmune Scholars Program. The program has just selected its first Ph.D. candidates for a curriculum that will prepare them for careers in the biopharma industry.

Inez Lam and Natalia Majewska, both first-year Johns Hopkins University Ph.D. students, will participate in the five-year program, the first-of-its-kind in the United States, to gain a better understanding of the process and challenges of drug discovery and development. Upon completion, they will receive a traditional Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University.

University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher’s efforts to hotwire the region’s fledgling life sciences industry is getting a spark from a new seed capital fund targeted to helping develop new medications.

The Pittsburgh Revolution Fund is soliciting $200 million, which will be made available in the form of investments in drug research teams with the idea of spinning out companies, said Bill Newlin, chairman, Newlin Investment Co., a seed-stage investment firm in Sewickley.

Saluda Medical has raised $40 million in a round led by a GlaxoSmithKline VC fund. The series D gives Saluda the means to take its spinal cord stimulation (SCS) device through a pivotal trial in the U.S. while commercializing it in Europe and its home country, Australia.

Senator Bill Frist, MD, is among the country's most important healthcare leaders. He is a partner at Nashville-based Frist Cressey Ventures, a heart/lung transplant surgeon and a serial entrepreneur. He's also the former US Senate Majority Leader and has had a ring-side seat at the development of Nashville's healthcare startup scene, which is now one of the most mature in the country.

GlaxoSmithKline, once the largest real estate owner in Research Triangle Park, has sold what’s left of its once-sprawling RTP campus and will lease back a small portion of the property where 3,000 employees and contractors work.

The deal, involving 20 buildings, was announced late Friday by Los Angeles-based Parmer Innovation Centers, which purchased the property, and by CBRE, a Los Angeles-based real-estate advisory that represented GSK in the real estate sale. The sale price was not disclosed.

Senseonics is set to raise $41 million to support the anticipated commercialization of implantable continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system Eversense. The fundraising attracted the support of major existing shareholders New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Roche.

This inaugural event will showcase technologies being developed at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda and Frederick, and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) to encourage startup formation, technology licensing, and collaborations. It will introduce the local scientific community to the regional technology development stakeholders and highlight available resources.

Prospective investors, established companies, interested stakeholders, and those looking to commercialize technologies are invited and encouraged to attend. The day will feature short technology summaries by NCI and FNLCR innovators, as well as presentations from regional stakeholders involved with technology development and commercialization. An interactive poster session by innovators and technology ambassadors will concurrently occur.

ABOUT THE USDD: Every six months, the University Startups Demo Day engages with universities to accept 200 of their best university startups to be scored by a Corporate Selection Committee consisting of Fortune 500 companies. These double-curated startups by academia and industry represent the very top startups coming out of American universities that are industry aligned. The University IP Into University Startups (IP2Startups) program provide Fortune 500 companies an effective way to identify university technologies that correspond to business unit needs that can be licensed or commercialized by university startups. Our Investor Roadshow program provides funding for select Demo Day companies that develop towards corporate milestones over 2-7 years from the IP2Start and Demo Day programs.

IP2Startups and USDD Corporate Selection Committee Pool Includes: Air Products - Specialized Chemicals | Astra Zeneca - Pharmaceuticals | Barilla - Food Processing | BASF - Diversified Chemicals | BMW - Auto & Truck Manufacturers | Dassault Systemes - Software & Programming | DuPont - Chemicals | Eastman Chemical Company - Specialized Chemicals | Eli Lilly and Co. - Pharmaceuticals | Evonik - Specialty chemicals | Faurecia - Automotive parts manufacturing | GlaxoSmithKline - Pharmaceuticals | Hyundai - Auto & Truck Manufacturers | IBM - Computer Services | Johnson & Johnson - Medical Equipment & Supplies | Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of J&J - Pharmaceuticals | M Ventures (Merck KGaA) - Healthcare, Life Sciences, Performance Materials | Medline - Medical and Surgical Supplies | Pepsico - Beverages and Foods | Pfizer - Pharmaceuticals | SABIC - Chemicals | Saint-Gobain - Construction Materials | Sanofi - Pharmaceuticals | Schlumberger - Oil Services & Equipment | Sony - Consumer Electronics | The J.M. Smucker Company - Food Processing | Unilever - Household/Personal Care | Western Digital Capital - Computer Storage Devices

The purpose of the administrative supplement is to provide support for NIH-funded investigators to participate in an entrepreneurship training course, the Concept to Clinic: Commercializing Innovation (C3i) Program.  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. Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact NIH Scientific/Research staff for more information about the program before applying.

This is the third Challenge Project which the two organisations have run together.

UTC Cambridge students attended weekly sessions with scientists and business professionals from the MedImmune team to learn about many aspects of a medicine’s discovery and development, including scientific research, manufacturing and regulation. In addition to visiting MedImmune’s state-of-the-art laboratories at Granta Park, students also attended workshops, classes and practical sessions held at UTC Cambridge’s purpose-designed building at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. In addition to gaining exposure to scientific research disciplines, students focused on practical and operational matters such as the importance of team work and collaboration, as well as wider concerns facing patients, government and industry on a global scale.

Pappas Capital, a life science venture capital firm, announced today that its new fund, Pappas Ventures V, recently invested in OrphoMed, a clinical stage company that is developing best-in-class therapies for treatment of inadequately-controlled gastrointestinal disorders. The investment in OrphoMed is the first investment by the new Pappas Ventures fund.

Check-out our dynamic line-up of speakers and their panels:

RISE OF MEDICAL CENTERS AS "INNOVATION DISTRICTS"

Panelists will discuss the new real estate drivers around the medical campus planning and the physical design and programs that will change the way healthcare research and practice are delivered. Panel speakers include:

Event is for Post-Docs & Professional Scientists currently working in the Therapeutic Areas of:

• Oncology
• Respiratory, Inflammation & Autoimmunity •Cardiovascular & Metabolic Diseases •Infectious Diseases & Vaccines
• Related scientific disciplines

Event will include music, lawn games, hors d'oeuvres, drinks.

MedImmune fully supports and abides by the PhRMA Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals. MedImmune cannot accommodate or pay for the cost of a spouse or other guest of a healthcare professional. As such, this event is open to invitees only. If you are a prescriber and/or a Federal, State, or Institution employee, you may be subject to laws, regulations, or rules which prohibit, limit, or require the public disclosure of gifts, meals, or items of value you may receive. We ask that you comply with any such laws, regulations, or rules that govern your receipt of gifts, meals, or items of value. Please bring your State License Number (SLN) and National Provider Identifier (NPI) to the event. These will be used for reporting purposes where required by state and federal law (OPEN Payments). You may look up your NPI and SLN at http://www.npinumberlookup.org/.

TP Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on addressing oncology drug resistance, announced today that the company raised $45 million in a Series C financing round. The round was co-led by Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), OrbiMed Advisors, LLC, and S.R. One, Limited, and joined by existing investors Cormorant Asset Management and SV Tech Ventures. In conjunction with the financing, Carl L. Gordon, Ph.D., CFA, General Partner at OrbiMed, Hongbo Lu, Ph.D., Partner at LAV, and Simeon J. George, M.D., Partner at S.R. One, joined the company's Board of Directors.

Writing on trends, I frequently profile tech companies that use trends to outperform competitors. But using trends is not restricted to tech companies.

By following trends, since 1998 Alexandria Real Estate Equities has tripled the performance of the NASDAQ, quadrupled returns of the S&P 500, and quintupled the Russell 2000.  Alexandria has even outperformed technology stalwart Microsoft, and investment guru Berkshire Hathaway by 230%.

Inova Health System and University of Virginia are kicking off their new partnership with $450,000 in seed money to fund nine joint research projects geared toward better predicting, preventing and treating disease.

Now is the time to make certain your company and investors are prepared to apply for the Maryland Biotechnology Investor Incentive Tax Credit (BIITC) program. Investors can receive income tax credits equal to 50%* of eligible investments in Qualified Maryland Biotechnology Companies (QMBC). $12M in funding is available for these credits during the FY18 fiscal year.

Baltimore biotech firm, PathSensors, announced that its CEO, Ted Olsen, joined with other leaders of the Maryland Biohealth community in developing and issuing recommendations to grow Maryland's biohealth industry and position the state as a globally recognized Top 3 U.S. BioHealth Innovation Hub by 2023.

RM Global has created a VC fund dedicated to the FutuRx biotech incubator Johnson & Johnson set up with OrbiMed and Takeda. The life science investment banking firm has secured preferential access to FutuRx, positioning it to get in on the ground floor alongside the companies that founded the incubator.

Silver Spring drugmaker United Therapeutics Corp. extended an exclusive license with drug giant Eli Lilly & Co. to cover its pulmonary hypertension drug Adcirca, which will lose part of its patent protection later this year.

More people are starting businesses out of opportunity than out of necessity; the percentage of immigrant entrepreneurs is at a two-decade high. However, new businesses are creating fewer jobs than they did a generation ago.

Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels will co-chair the steering committee for a new statewide economic development strategy initiative focused on accelerating growth in the life sciences and cybersecurity industries in Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan announced today.

Maryland’s governor is putting new economic development energy into creating life sciences and cybersecurity startups.

To kick off the Governor’s Business Summit in Baltimore this morning, Gov. Larry Hogan provided some details on Excel Maryland. It’s a new initiative that’s seeking to bring together government, university and the tech community to develop a new strategy to grow startups.

The complex life cycle of a biotechnology product, pharmaceutical or medical device demands a broad range of legal expertise across many practice specialties. From intellectual property protection to corporate and regulatory advice, the leading law firms in the life sciences space combine sophisticated legal counsel with deep scientific knowledge.

Partners HealthCare's fund to advance innovations made at its hospitals has closed on the last $24.5 million of its most recent funding round.

Pharmaceutical giant Bayer has opened applications for its Grant4Apps programme. Geared to connect health start-ups with industry experts and help the best talents to thrive within the digital healthcare universe, the programme will offer start-ups an opportunity to become part of an economically inclusive market where innovation is not only encouraged but appreciated as a catalyst for expanding both economic and social growth, says Bayer.

We recently joined leaders from across the biomedical ecosystem at the White House to discuss how to best support biomedical innovation that improves human health and creates jobs and opportunity for economic growth. We discussed the unique role of National Institutes of Health-funded academic research in understanding the biology of human disease, and the irreplaceable role of the biotech industry in translating these basic science discoveries into breakthrough therapies for serious human diseases.

Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) announced today that it has completed an asset purchase of Remedy Pharmaceuticals’ Phase 3 candidate, CIRARA™ (intravenous glyburide). The target indication for CIRARA is large hemispheric infarction (LHI), a severe form of ischemic stroke where brain swelling (cerebral edema) often leads to a disproportionately large share of stroke-related morbidity and mortality. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted CIRARA Orphan Drug Designation for severe cerebral edema in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The FDA has also granted CIRARA Fast Track designation.