New techniques for improving plants and animals promise to reshape virtually every aspect of the relationship between humans and our environment for the better. Safer and more sustainable crops have already made enormous contributions to the economy and the environment, and genetically improved livestock and companion animals are close behind. Discovery of more precise, predictable, and easily used techniques derived directly from nature is dramatically accelerating this progress. But fears of the new have led to calls in many nations for “precautionary” regulation, which risks stifling agricultural innovation without any showing of need or benefit. There is a better way.

The National Cancer Institute has picked the Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus as the site for a new laboratory building for its epidemiology and genetics researchers.

The planned 70,000-square-foot building will bring together about 134 scientists and employees now working in separate facilities in Gaithersburg and Frederick, about 25 miles apart.

Despite only coming into life two years ago, Pfizer and NEA-backed upstart Vtesse has already seen its rare disease candidate VTS-270, for Niemann-Pick disease type C1, nab the coveted FDA breakthrough tag, and has now been bought out by Maryland-based biotech Sucampo.

The deal sees the biopharma pay $200 million upfront in cash and stock, with the pair also seeking to set up a new foundation, after the deal is signed, “to support research related to NPC disease.” Both will pay into this new organization.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tagrisso (osimertinib; AstraZeneca) for the treatment of patients with metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by an FDA-approved test, whose disease has progressed on or after EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. 

Silver Spring-based biotech United Therapeutics Corp. (NASDAQ: UTHR) lost a recent challenge to one of its lead patents for its flagship drugs.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board found that all of the local company's claims for the particular patent — which impacts its lead products for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension such as Remodulin, Tyvaso and Orenitram — are not patentable.

When President Trump proposed a cut of nearly 20 percent in support for the National Institutes of Health, many wondered how the administration would even attempt to find such reductions. The answer emerged in the congressional testimony last week of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who argued the government could save billions without hurting research by cutting back on the overhead reimbursements to colleges and universities.

Qiagen said Friday after the close of the market that it has acquired an exclusive worldwide license from Johns Hopkins University for detection of the AR-V7 biomarker in all sample and cell types using nucleic acid tests such as PCR or next-generation sequencing.

As a result, Qiagen will commercialize its research-use-only AdnaTest Prostate Cancer Panel AR-V7 to detect the androgen receptor splice variant 7 from liquid biopsies to investigate resistance to potential drugs for advanced prostate cancer.

Research tools developer Canopy Biosciences announced today that it has exclusively licensed a novel gene-editing technology from Washington University in St. Louis and Johns Hopkins University.

The technology, called Tunr, involves targeting translation elongation by introducing consecutive adenosine nucleotides — known as polyA tracks — into a gene coding sequence of interest. As described in Nature Communications earlier this year, inserting polyA tracks into the open reading frame of an mRNA will suppress protein expression by decreasing the efficiency of the translation elongation phase leading to diminished production of protein and mRNA destabilization, thereby diminishing mRNA levels.

Independence Health Group, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. have given a $150,000 seed investment to VitalTrax. This is the group’s first investment from their $6 million digital health funding initiative announced in December 2016.

Scientists and policy-makers have long argued that public investments in science have practical applications. Using data on patents linked to U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants over a 27-year period, we provide a large-scale accounting of linkages between public research investments and subsequent patenting. We find that about 10% of NIH grants generate a patent directly but 30% generate articles that are subsequently cited by patents. Although policy-makers often focus on direct patenting by academic scientists, the bulk of the effect of NIH research on patenting appears to be indirect. We also find no systematic relationship between the “basic” versus “applied” research focus of a grant and its propensity to be cited by a patent.

Doctors can rebuild parts of the body that have been damaged, but they need soft tissue to do it.

Whether it’s facial reconstruction after trauma, a masectomy as a result of breast cancer or something more cosmetic like stopping wrinkles, the person who needs the procedure is typically the one to provide the tissue.

When: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM EDT Add to Calendar

Where: Harbor Launch @ IMET 701 E Pratt St Baltimore, MD 21202

Let's talk about the startup F word - Finance. It's a critical component of a company's success, and it's more than just spreadsheets. We're giving this topic its day in the sun, answering such questions as... When does a startup need a CFO? What functions should a CFO serve? What qualities are desirable in a CFO? How can startups without a CFO best attend to their finances?

Join us on Tuesday, April 11th from 5:30-7:30pm at the Columbus Center (701 E Pratt Street) for this fireside-chat style event, moderated by Ken Malone of BioHealth Innovation, Inc. and Early Charm Ventures. We will hear the experiences and perspectives of Eileen O'Rourke, Chief Financial Officer at The Abell Foundation, Steve Dubin, Principal, SDA Ventures LLC; Chairman, Enzymotec Ltd., and Ryan McQueeney, Chief Financial Officer at RedOwl.

Program: 6-7pm with BioBuzz networking before and after.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced that it has signed a modification to its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to manufacture and store bulk drug substance for its botulism antitoxin, BAT® [Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) - (Equine)], valued at approximately $53 million with a five-year period of performance. This modification to the contract will enable future filling and deliveries of final drug product to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). BAT is indicated for the treatment of symptomatic botulism following documented or suspected exposure to botulinum neurotoxin serotypes A, B, C, D, E, F, or G in adults and pediatric patients.

It's a bit of a strange world when a company growing at perhaps 5% per year, with downside risks, trades at 23X TTM EPS (historical GAAP numbers), but that's completely par for the course. The S&P 500 trades near 25X TTM EPS.

Some competitors to Roche Holding AG (OTCQX:RHHBY) trade much pricier than it does. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is at 29X. Before a one-time payment to settle a patent suit that affected Merck's (NYSE:MRK) Q4 EPS, MRK was around 32X. Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), a smaller player, is at 33X.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will spend $87.5 million over the next five years to continue a research partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and University of Maryland, College Park and to bring on additional partners, the universities announced Thursday.

Scientists from the participating universities will study high energy astrophysics, gravitational waves, space exploration and planets in the solar system at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, said T. Jane Turner, a professor of physics who runs UMBC's arm of the program.

The US-based University System of Maryland has set up a $25m fund called Maryland Momentum Fund to support startups formed within the system’s 12 public institutions.

Julie Lenzer, co-director of UM Ventures, a joint initiative of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland, said the university system had already committed $10m to the Maryland Momentum Fund.

Celebrate Your Organization’s Excellence in 2017!

Each year, UEDA members compete for our prestigious Awards of Excellence, which recognize outstanding, leading-edge higher education projects and initiatives promoting economic development and engagement. Never content to rest on our laurels, however, last year saw a significant revamping of the Awards program to reflect UEDA’s ongoing research on economic development and engagement in higher education. We hope you will join us!

Four weeks into my first semester of college, my academic confidence was completely shredded. I had back-to-back tests in cell biology, chemistry, and calculus, and my time management skills weren’t quite there yet. I failed my calculus exam, and suddenly I wasn’t sure I had the intelligence or the ability to get a degree in science.

A group focused on spurring regional cooperation to boost the economy wants to raise $3 million to $5 million to rebrand Greater Washington and challenge its reputation as an epicenter of politics and gridlock.

The 2030 Group, a consortium of businesses, organizations and executives, will unveil a new video and website Thursday that will serve as a sort of platform for future marketing efforts. Then a call to fund the regionwide branding effort will begin.

Agriculture Innovation to Commercialization (AgI2C) is a new 2017 initiative of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR) to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization in agriculture, natural resources, and environmental sustainability.  AgI2C will join the University’s innovation network that includes the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, Mtech in the School of Engineering, the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the University’s Office of Technology Commercialization.  

Initially, AgI2C will focus on: (a) incubating AGNR undergraduate teams to develop and pitch ideas for products and service, (b) offering an intensive Winter Term course for new graduate students, and (c) developing a learning and doing culture in AGNR academic courses.

2017 AgI2C Undergraduate Ideation Competition

The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources has partnered with the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to launch its inaugural Agriculture Innovation to Commercialization competition. Learn more about the competition at http://agnr.umd.edu/agi2c/ideation-competition.

Dreamit Health recently announced its spring 2017 cohort of startups, and it’s medley of eight impressive early stage companies from all around the world.

The new group represents Dreamit’s 22nd cohort, and this cycle represents the accelerator’s fifth year in partnership with Penn Medicine and Independence Blue Cross. The selected startups are addressing everything from the patient experience to the medical workflow.

Can a pill make you younger?

One of the few drug studies ever carried out in an attempt to address this question was reported by Novartis on Christmas Eve 2014. The company had sought to see whether giving low doses of a drug called everolimus to people over 65 increased their response to flu vaccines.

What do Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Mo., Baltimore, Indianapolis, and New Orleans have in common? According to a recent report, they're the best places to be if you're a woman in tech.

Roche's multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Ocrevus won U.S. approval, putting the potential blockbuster back on track after a brief delay and giving a lift to patients with a form of the disease that until now had no approved treatment.

The drug, also known as ocrelizumab and administered via infusion, becomes the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medicine for the primary progressive form of the neurological disease (PPMS).

Saturday, April 15 at 1:00pm

Mudd Hall – 3400 North Charles Street Baltimore, MD

Hatch 2017 brings over 6 speakers, 30 startups, and 3 workshops to the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus for a day of entrepreneurial education, networking, and celebration. Hatch is entirely free & open to the community. 

Our Speaker Symposium features some of Baltimore's biggest entrepreneurs and business leaders from around the nation. The Startup Showcase lets Baltimore and MidAtlantic companies showcase the game-changing products they have been working on, allowing attendees to network directly with the teams. Our BLUE workshop series consists of three, 30-minute breakout sessions focused on various facets of founding startups.    Come for the speakers and startups, stay for the free food and swag, networking opportunities, and celebration of the people and companies driving Baltimore forward.

Aging can seem like a scary prospect, but a wealth of scientific studies have found that youth isn't all it's cracked up to be. There are plenty of cases in which human beings peak well into middle and old age.

Teenagers, for instance, may have vitality on their side, but older people are generally more psychologically stable. And so it goes with several phenomena people experience as they age.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett will participate in a press conference today hosted by WorkSource Montgomery, Inc. in collaboration with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and Montgomery County Government to announce the Summer R.I.S.E (Really Interesting Summer Experience) program. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, at Kaiser Permanente’s Mid-Atlantic States Regional Administrative Offices on 2101 East Jefferson Street in Rockville.

This new initiative provides MCPS rising juniors and seniors with enriching summer career development experiences through local Montgomery County businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Funding and Research Opportunities
The following funding opportunity announcements from the NHLBI or other components of the National Institutes of Health, might be of interest:

Notices:

• Reporting Preprints and Other Interim Research Products
• (NOT-OD-17-050) National Institutes of Health
• Notice of Expiration for RFA-HG-16-016 "BD2K Open Educational Resources for Skills Development in Biomedical Big Data Science (R25)" 
• (NOT-RM-17-008)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives
• Notice of Expiration for RFA-ES-16-010 "Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Community-Based Data and Metadata Standards Efforts (R24)" 
• (NOT-RM-17-009)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives
• Notice of Expiration for RFA-ES-16-011 "BD2K Research Education Curriculum Development: Data Science Overview for Biomedical Scientists (R25)" 
• (NOT-RM-17-010)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives
• Notice of Expiration for RFA-CA-16-020 "BD2K Support for Meetings of Data Science Related Organizations (U13)" 
• (NOT-RM-17-011)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives

Requests for Applications:

• Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science for Research Relevant to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (U54)
• (RFA-OD-17-006)
• National Institutes of Health

Global technology leaders still consider the United States at the forefront of innovation, but China is catching up, according to a recent survey from KPMG. The accompanying report, "The Changing Landscape of Disruptive Technologies," also ranks the top global companies and visionaries for innovation. Beyond the lists, the findings reveal how companies are cultivating an innovation culture. A great many survey respondents, for example, said their organization has appointed a chief innovation officer to lead these efforts. In addition, they're measuring progress through patents earned, revenue growth, and brand and reputation barometers.

Millions of bodies suffer a loss of soft tissue — namely skin or muscle — each year. It can result from trauma, natural aging, or even surgery, like a mastectomy for breast cancer patients. Typically, the only option to repair such damage is surgery, and transferring tissue from one part of the body to another.

Across the commonwealth, families are feeling squeezed by stagnant wages and rising costs. Too many Virginians are working part-time instead of full-time; too many college graduates are working in jobs that don’t require a four-year degree.

Virginia’s anemic economic growth rates have trailed the national average for five straight years. We even fell to the bottom ten states for economic growth in 2014. More people are moving out of Virginia than moving in. Our tax climate ranking fell to 33rd in 2017. We’ve dropped out of the top 10 on the CNBC list of Best States for Business, after being number one just five years ago.

The University System of Maryland announced this month the launch of its Maryland Momentum Fund, which will provide $25 million to support startups formed within the system.

The university system has already committed $10 million to the initiative, and is working alongside the University of Maryland, Baltimore County as well as UM Ventures — a joint research and innovation program between this university and the University of Maryland, Baltimore — to obtain the remaining $15 million from local venture capitalists and angel investors, said Julie Lenzer, UM Ventures co-director.

GlaxoSmithKline and Regeneron have given their backing to a new project that will use patient data held by the UK Biobank.

The firms will get free access to the samples in return for covering the cost of sequencing it and, after a period of exclusivity, they will then allow the data to be plugged back into the resource for wider use.

Eli Lilly and Company has publicized plans to invest $850 million in the United States throughout 2017.

The media release, delivered Friday, follows a meeting between Lilly executives, federal, state and local government officials at Lilly Technology Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Once again, more than three-quarters of U.S. venture capital (VC) dollars went to companies in California, New York and Massachusetts in 2016, according to data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)/CB Insights’ Moneytree Report Explorer. Approximately 53.3 percent of all VC capital went to California companies, down nearly 4.4 percent from the states peak in 2014 (57.7) and down 3.9 percent from 2016. While California’s share declined, both Massachusetts and New York saw increases in their share of VC dollars invested: