June 13, 2017 - 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and County Conference Center 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, MD 20852

Tuesday, June 13 MCCC 58th Annual Dinner honoring Dr. Martine Rothblatt and United Therapeutics as the Visionary of the Year United Therapeutics Corporation is a bio-tech company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and life-threatening conditions. They have five approved products on the market today and are in relentless pursuit of “medicines for life”®. Their overarching commitment to environmental sustainability is reflected in their new corporate office facility in Silver Spring. This seven-story, 108,000-sq.-ft., cutting-edge collaborative workspace aims to inspire people think out of today's box and into the realm of tomorrow.

Immigration advocates claim that about half of the most lucrative startups in America were founded by immigrants. But it's complicated for a foreigner to start a company in America — there's no such thing as a startup visa.

That's why some entrepreneurs are "hacking the system" through a workaround that started as an experiment in Massachusetts and has expanded to five other states.

VentureApp, a professional chat platform, today announced VentureMap New York City, an interactive network visualization of the city's tech ecosystem, in partnership with RRE Ventures. The map displays 3,043 investments into tech startups by angel investors, venture capitalists, incubators, accelerators, and more.

Sitting around a table before class, Shane Yeager talked about one of his two startups.

“Short Clips is a technology service where brands and agencies can take their media files — videos, audio, photos — put them into our platform, and then within 24 hours, get a professionally cut 15-second to one-minute video,” he said.

QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced the formation of a joint venture with Maccura Biotechnology Co., Ltd., a leading in vitro diagnostics (IVD) company in China. The joint venture, named MAQGEN plans to accelerate local adaptations, development and commercialization of the GeneReader NGS System in the rapidly growing clinical and clinical research markets in China. QIAGEN's GeneReader NGS System is the world's first complete Sample to Insight solution and makes the benefits of next-generation sequencing (NGS) accessible to any laboratory.

Pieris today announced a strategic collaboration in respiratory diseases with AstraZeneca to develop novel inhaled drugs that leverage Pieris' Anticalin® platform, including its lead preclinical drug candidate, PRS-060.

Anticalin molecules are engineered proteins which can mimic antibodies by binding to sites either on other proteins or on small molecules. They are smaller than monoclonal antibodies, offering the potential of direct delivery to the lung.

Medicine is a field slow to adopt an innovation; after all, you are dealing with people’s lives and there is a very high bar for discarding old ways. That said, a huge percentage of the medical community will agree that tradition has often hampered the adoption of new technologies that can significantly improve communication, collaboration, and community.

Healthcare companies (device manufacturers, payors, and providers, among others) have long relied on technology as a core utility—for tracking R&D efforts and patient information, scheduling payments and services, launching new care options, and generally keeping the lights on.

Look out Silicon Valley, there’s a new innovation hotbed in town.

For the second year in a row, Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN) has won the coveted #1 ranking at the Angel Capital Association’s annual ACA Summit in San Francisco.

AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) and its global biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval to Imfinzi (durvalumab). Imfinzi is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or whose disease has progressed within 12 months of receiving platinum-containing chemotherapy before (neoadjuvant) or after (adjuvant) surgery. Imfinzi is approved under the FDA's accelerated approval pathway, based on tumour response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

Tired of seeing most of the $1 billion-plus it raised for startup funding leave the state, Johns Hopkins University has opened a new state-of-the-art technology incubation hub, part of a $65 million expansion project.

If there was any doubt that a Republican-led Congress might give a strong boost to federal science spending, the Trump administration probably sealed the deal.

With its call in March for a mammoth $6-billion cut in the annual budget of the National Institutes of Health, the administration appears to have done more than anything else to energize the science community and supportive lawmakers, advocates said.

NHLBI small business awardees are eligible to apply for a competing revision to your current award. The Regenerative Medicine Innovation Project (RMIP), will support revision projects that propose solutions to widely recognized issues in the development of safe and effective regenerative medicine therapies.

Awards are anticipated in FY 2017

GSK today announced $139 million of new investment in its biopharmaceutical manufacturing site in Rockville, MD to support growing demand for BENLYSTA® (belimumab) for adult patients with active, autoantibody-positive, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who are receiving standard therapy.

The National Institutes of Health will get a $2 billion funding boost over the next five months, under a bipartisan spending deal reached late Sunday night in Congress. The agreement marks a sharp rejection of President Trump’s proposal to cut $1.2 billion from the medical research agency in the current fiscal year.

For Charles Li, locating his office at the Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus is like coming home.

Li received his MBA from the Carey Business School in 2014 and took the majority of his classes at the Rockville campus. Three years later, when presented with the opportunity to open a business office in Maryland, he chose JHU MCC. He likes the campus library and the proximity to his house.

Cerecor Inc. (NASDAQ: CERC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments to make a difference in the lives of patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders, today announced topline clinical results from a small, proof-of-concept clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health ("NIMH") of the National Institutes of Health. This was a Phase 2 trial of CERC-501, a potent and selective oral kappa opioid receptor ("KOR") antagonist, in treatment resistant depression ("TRD") conducted under the leadership of Dr. Maurizio Fava of Massachusetts General Hospital ("MGH").

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to march in Washington, DC, to celebrate and defend science—at a time when many believe that science does, in fact, need defending. President Trump’s budget proposal cuts 31 percent from the Environmental Protection Agency, slashes the Department of Energy’s basic science research program, and zeroes out a program that supports early-stage research into technologies that can reduce our national dependence on fossil fuels. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which spends $32 billion a year on biomedical research — most of which is undertaken in labs at universities and medical schools across the nation — would see a 20 percent cut, bringing the agency’s budget to its lowest level in 15 years. Beyond science, the president’s proposed budget also eliminates the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

VLP Therapeutics, LLC. (“VLP”), a biotechnology company focusing on the research and development of therapeutic and preventative vaccines and antibody agents, today announced that it successfully received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the composition of matter patent to cover immune checkpoint PD-1/PD-L1/PD-L2 inserted alphavirus VLP. The patent will be issued on May 2nd. The patent protects key composition of matter of VLP’s proprietary i-α virus like particles platform technology, and the pharmaceutical composition and vaccine for use in the treatment of cancer. Utilizing the platform technology covered by this patent and other patent estates, VLP is currently focused on developing preventative and therapeutic cancer vaccines as well as next generation of targeted antibody agents.

Silver Spring-based United Therapeutics Corp. has been clear about its ambitions to build an unlimited supply of certain transplantable organs.

Now, founder Martine Rothblatt said the company's new multiyear collaboration with a 3-D bioprinting company, announced Wednesday, takes it a big step toward that goal.

The region has seen serious spikes in venture capital funding in the last decade — and more of our local firms are benefiting.

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: RGRX) ("the Company" or "RegeneRx"), a clinical-stage drug development company focused on tissue protection, repair and regeneration, today announced that its licensee for RGN-137, GtreeBNT Co., Ltd., received a positive response from the U.S. FDA for its Phase 3 clinical trial design for RGN-137 to treat epidermolysis bullosa ("EB"). RGN-137 is a dermal wound healing gel that incorporates Thymosin beta 4 ("Tβ4") as the active pharmaceutical ingredient. GtreeBNT is planning to enter into the Phase 3 trial in the U.S. during the third quarter of 2017. 

PGDx launched in 2010 to bring innovative genetic analyses to cancer researchers, physicians and patients. PGDx uses cutting-edge next-generation sequencing and analysis techniques to identify mutations in patients’ tumors and facilitate the development of personalized treatment plans as well as novel basic science discoveries. In addition, PGDx has developed exciting liquid biopsy technology that uses patient-specific tumor alterations to create a simple blood test that will enable non-invasive tumor detection and monitoring. PGDx is composed of talented individuals with a variety of scientific backgrounds that are dedicated to advancing medicine through genomic technologies.

When California voters approved US$3 billion in funding for stem-cell research in 2004, biologists flocked to the state, and citizens dreamed of cures for Parkinson’s disease and spinal-cord injuries. Now, the pot of money — one of the biggest state investments in science — is running dry before treatments have emerged, raising questions about whether Californians will pour billions more into stem-cell research.

The lupus treatment landscape could soon welcome an entrant if a first-in-class anti-interferon monoclonal antibody (mAb) continues to hit clinical-trial targets. AstraZeneca and its biologics R&D branch, MedImmune, are developing anifrolumab, an investigational monoclonal antibody that blocks type 1 interferons to treat moderate to severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

The Johns Hopkins University announced today the opening of its state-of-the-art innovation hub, FastForward 1812. The 23,000-square-foot space near Johns Hopkins’ flagship hospital and schools of medicine, public health and nursing provides Baltimore’s burgeoning innovation ecosystem and area startups sought-after office, co-working and wet lab space to accommodate a variety of startups.

Epigenomics AG (FSE: ECX; OTCQX: EPGNY) (“Epigenomics” or “Company”), Cathay Fortune International Company Limited (“CFIC”) and Blitz F16-83 GmbH (in the future Summit Hero Holding GmbH, “Bidder”), a subsidiary of CFIC, have tonight entered into a business combination agreement (“BCA”) regarding the takeover of Epigenomics by the Bidder. Other than by CFIC, the Bidder will also be indirectly owned by the currently largest shareholder of Epigenomics, Biochain, the strategic partner of Epigenomics and a subsidiary of Team Curis Group.

AstraZeneca today marks a key milestone in its successful move to Cambridge, UK, with the ‘topping out’ of its new, state-of-the-art, strategic R&D centre and global corporate headquarters at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC). The Company, including its biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, already has 2,000 employees actively engaged in the city’s vibrant scientific, academic, clinical and business community. Occupation of the site will begin in stages in 2018.

BeneVir Biopharm, Inc., a biotechnology company developing oncolytic immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent No. 9,623,059, entitled “Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus and Therapeutic Uses Thereof”, covering the composition of matter for Stealth-1H, BeneVir’s lead oncolytic immunotherapy, as well as other platform assets. BeneVir is a portfolio company within Pansend Life Sciences, a subsidiary of HC2 Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT: HCHC)

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We are interested in the opinions of people like you regarding TEDCO (Maryland Technology Development Corporation) and its effectiveness in the Maryland Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. By answering the following questions, you will become a valuable part of an important study to evaluate and improve Maryland's position in growing the entrepreneurial technology community within the state.

Six new startups formed at Johns Hopkins over the weekend.

On the Homewood campus, 3 Day Startup offered a crash course in starting a company. The organization began as a student group in Austin in 2008, and now goes to universities around the country. It was the first time the event was held at JHU.

Local business leaders, elected officials, scientists and scholars attended the 2017 BioHealth Capital Region Forum at the campus of MedImmune in Gaithersburg on April 19 and 20th. The forum focuses on the biotechnology cluster in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., which is working collaboratively to become a top three biotech hub in the United States by 2023.

EY today announced the finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017 Award in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who are excelling in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. These business leaders were selected by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala on June 15, 2017 at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner.

Local business leaders, elected officials, scientists and scholars attended the 2017 BioHealth Capital Region Forum at the campus of MedImmune in Gaithersburg on April 19 and 20th. The forum focuses on the biotechnology cluster in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., which is working collaboratively to become a top three biotech hub in the United States by 2023.

The Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board (LSAB) was created by the legislature in 2007 to assist in maintaining Maryland’s preeminence in the life sciences industry. Comprised of 18 members, the Board includes the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Commerce, a representative designated by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), and 16 members appointed by the Governor.