ARPA-H made its final hub location decision, selecting the historic Bowen Building in downtown Washington, D.C. as the site for its Stakeholder & Operations hub.

Why is this important? The new space will allow federal staff and contractors to work in one location, enhancing staff's ability to manage programs and coordinate with federal partners—such as Congress, Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Administration. Since the agency was authorized in March 2022, much of ARPA-H's D.C. staff has been working remotely or from temporary offices.

Rockville, MD – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) is proud to announce that our Founder, President & CEO, Rich Bendis, has been named a finalist for the Community Builder Award in the 2023 BioHealth Capital Region Annual Awards, hosted by BioBuzz.

Rich Bendis’ dedication to fostering innovation and supporting the biohealth ecosystem has been instrumental in driving growth and collaboration within the industry. His visionary leadership at BHI has created a platform for emerging companies, researchers, and entrepreneurs to connect with resources, expertise, and opportunities, significantly contributing to the region’s economic development and public health advancements.

BioBuzz’s recognition of Rich Bendis as a finalist for the Community Builder Award is a testament to his unwavering commitment and impactful work in the BioHealth Capital Region, encompassing Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia.

In an effort to accelerate growth in the cybersecurity and health technology industries in Montgomery County, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) has partnered with The MITRE Corporation of McLean, Virginia—a not-for-profit corporation that operates federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), including the National Cybersecurity FFRDC.

BHI will serve as the primary manager for the Rockville Innovation Center (RIC), which is home of BHI's health tech startup accelerator, Relevant Health. MITRE will provide the resident RIC start-up companies technical mentorship and insight into the most pressing cybersecurity challenges facing business and government today. This collaboration is an extension of a strategic initiative recently launched by MITRE to act as an innovation bridge between the private and public sectors.

The RIC will support start-ups and attract early-stage technology companies within these key technology sectors to graduate companies into commercial spaces in Montgomery County in a few short years.

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today that the Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO), who is the agent for Montgomery County, has selected BHI to manage the Germantown Innovation Center (GIC) located within the Pinkney Innovation Complex for Science and Technology at Montgomery College (PIC MC). The Germantown Innovation Center was previously managed by the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development, which transitioned into the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) on July 1, 2016.

Additionally, BHI and PIC MC have signed an agreement to work collaboratively on business incubation and company recruitment at the PIC MC—a 20-acre integrated academic, business and research campus.

Attracts Top Health Tech Startups from Around the Country and World

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, Oct. 27, 2015  – Relevant Health, a health technology startup accelerator in the Washington, DC metro area, welcomes its inaugural class.
The selected startups come to Relevant Health from its backyard of Bethesda and Rockville, as well as Washington, DC, Baltimore, New York City, and Latvia. This week, the cohort of startups embarks on a five-month program that involves an intensive product development focus, enabling them to improve their skills to define, develop, position and launch a viable health tech product.

"Relevant Health chose candidates who have a vision and business model for a product that promises significant positive impacts in the health sector,” stated Rich Bendis, BioHealth Innovation President and CEO. “A cohort of companies building wearable devices, consumer-facing health apps, and provider-facing healthcare platforms is a strong representation of the innovation occurring in the health marketplace."

Juan Carlos Lopez of Roche and Mike Gill, Secretary for Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development, Join BHI Board

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today that its Board of Directors has unanimously voted and approved the appointments of Board Member Juan Carlos Lopez, Ph.D., Head of the Academic Relations and Collaborations (ARC) Group at Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED), and Ex-Officio Board Member Mike Gill, Secretary, Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), State of Maryland.

"We are pleased to have two powerhouse individuals join our dynamic board," said Richard Bendis, BHI President and CEO. "We also want to thank Roche's Dr. Judith Dunn for her commitment and service to our board during her tenure, which has now ended. We are grateful for her leadership and contributions during her time with us."

Dr. Lopez leads the Roche pRED's team in conducting outreach to academic and non-profit biomedical research and healthcare organizations for purposes of enhancing and complementing their internal R&D efforts. He began his career with the Nature Publishing Group in 2000, coming on board as an Associate Editor to launch Nature Reviews Neuroscience. In less than a year, he advanced to Chief Editor and led the publication to become the top monthly reviews journal in the neuroscience field, a position it retains to this day. In 2004, he was named Chief Editor at Nature Medicine, which is ranked by the Institute of Scientific Investigation as the world's top journal in experimental and research medicine.

Financial Award from SBA's Accelerator Competition Supports Relevant Health's Mission to Bring the Best Health Tech Products and Services to Market

ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- BioHealth Innovation's Relevant Health, a recently launched health technology startup accelerator focused on bringing products to market, participated in the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Second Annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Relevant Health was among 80 winners from a pool of 400 applicants from across the country, including all 50 states, the District of Columbia and territories. Relevant Health was the only accelerator in Maryland to be recognized with this honor.

The total prize amount for all of the winning accelerators was $4.4 million, and the announcement came yesterday at 4:00 p.m. EDT when President Barack Obama formally named the winners during an event at the White House. The President discussed the future of innovation and entrepreneurship as demonstrated by individuals and businesses within the United States who participated in the White House Demo Day. SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet played a similar role in ceremonies in Los Angeles as part of the same program.

Each of the winning accelerators will be given $50,000 to aid in continuing to invest in the innovative startups and entrepreneurs who participate in the programs. In exchange for the recognition and funding that was awarded to them, the accelerators will be required to provide quarterly reports documenting metrics around the use of these funds, including job creation, additional funding generated, outside sponsorships and the status of startup launches.

−Drs. Steve Wolpe and Ethel Rubin Named EIRs for National Institutes of Health; Dr. Albine Martin to Serve as EIR Working with Johns Hopkins University and Maryland-Based Health-Technology Companies

−BHI Continues Search for Neurology and Neuroscience Experts to Fill Roles of EIRS for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

ROCKVILLE AND BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, June 8, 2015 – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today the hiring of three new entrepreneurs-in-residence (EIRs): two for the NIH and one to work with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Maryland-based health-technology companies. Additionally, BHI is actively recruiting neuroscience and neurology experts for EIR positions within the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) is providing grantees of the National Institute of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) with mentoring and training designed to develop and hone their presentation skills as a step toward securing investment dollars and strategic partners. The NIH has awarded BHI a contract to conduct a multi-year effort for NINDS grantees that will boost their business acumen, strengthen their communications skills, and introduce them to additional sources of funding designed to help bring new healthcare products to market.

"Frequently, NINDS grantees are forced to balance their focus between advancing their research and technology objectives into healthcare products and the necessity of procuring funding and building partnerships to drive those advancements. They are truly distinct activities, but progress needs to be made on both fronts to mature projects for commercialization," said Richard Bendis, BHI President & CEO. "By coaching grantees on the best methods to develop and deliver impactful industry presentations and introducing them to investors and strategic partners, we help strengthen the grantees' business perspective and expand their networks."

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, April 7, 2015 – To capitalize on the region's significant human capital and resources driving health innovation, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) and ProductSavvy, in partnership with Montgomery County Department of Economic Development (DED), are launching a health technology accelerator program named, "Relevant Health." The accelerator will consist of a five-month intensive program focused on preparing eight early-stage health-related businesses for pilot product testing and financing. The program is scheduled to launch in September 2015 and will be located in the Rockville Innovation Center, part of the Montgomery County incubator network.

BHI is a public-private partnership that's been building programs to foster commercialization of health and life sciences assets in the Central Maryland region over the last three years.
"It's fitting that we are fueling the launch of the first dedicated health-technology accelerator aimed at 'moving minds to market' in Montgomery County with the product-acceleration company, ProductSavvy, and our strategic partner, Montgomery County DED," said Richard Bendis, BHI President and CEO. "Montgomery County is a hotbed of brilliant scientific minds driving new innovation. Our mission is to focus these minds toward new commercial-oriented goals. This new accelerator will allow us to foster leadership teams in these companies, enabling them to interact with the rich health resources and talent located in Central Maryland."

AstraZeneca and MedImmune, in Partnership with BioHealth Innovation, Inc. and Tech Council of Maryland, Convene Life Sciences Leaders from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. to Support Growth of Regional Biotech Ecosystem

Gaithersburg, Md., March 30, 2015 – Today and tomorrow, more than 400 leaders from life sciences companies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, investment funds and government entities across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. will convene for the first Maryland Regional Biotech Forum. This event, hosted by AstraZeneca and its global biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, in partnership with BioHealth Innovation (BHI), Inc. and the Tech Council of Maryland, will be held at MedImmune’s corporate headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was launched as part of a collective effort to grow the region’s biotech ecosystem and chart a course toward becoming one of the top three biotech hubs in the nation by 2023.

The Maryland Regional Biotech Forum agenda boasts an impressive lineup of more than 100 speakers and panelists, including Gerd Binnig, a Nobel Prize laureate in physics and Founder and CTO of Definiens; Rachel King, Chair of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of GlycoMimetics; more than 25 regional CEOs, including Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca; five university presidents from across the region; and leaders from federal institutions.

In addition, the region’s first Leaders of Tomorrow Summit will be held in parallel with day two of the Maryland Regional Biotech Forum, also at MedImmune’s headquarters. This event is the Mid-Atlantic region's first student- and postdoc-led, cross-functional and inter-generational leadership summit, and is designed to engage and influence the next generation of biotech leaders and ignite innovation in the future bioeconomy.

BHI to Provide Qualified EIRs to NHLBI and NINDS

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has signed an agreement to extend and expand its entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) program with BHI. Under the terms of the new agreement, BHI is providing the services of five EIRs to the NIH starting with two lead institutes: the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

“BHI is excited to extend its existing relationship with NIH. By adding new EIRs within multiple institutes, we expand our ability to both support breakthrough technologies and to help identify new commercial opportunities working with national scientific experts,” said Richard Bendis, BHI President & CEO. “These new breakthroughs can then turn into new health-related products, many of which will come from the cutting-edge startup companies fostered by BHI that are focused on further enhancing the future of healthcare for all.”