Weekly Quick Hits (BHCR) – Week of October 23, 2023
It was a big week for the research community in the BioHealth Capital Region, with the White House and U.S. Department of Commerce designating Baltimore as one of 31 tech hubs nationally, out of 400 applicants. BioBuzz is proud to be part of the Baltimore Tech Hub, now moving into Phase 2 of the process, where between five and 10 of the Tech Hubs will receive a grant of between $50 million and $70 million each. Richmond also was named a Tech Hub to specialize in affordable drug development, and a southwest Virginia group gained funding through the program for its work on advanced manufacturing and materials. BioBuzz will be instrumental in linking talent to funded research and growing companies in a way that visibly tracks impact across the BHCR.
By Sam Hopkins | October 27, 2023
| Quick Hits is BioBuzz’s weekly round up of all the life science news you don’t want to miss, in your region of interest. Don’t miss a beat; SUBSCRIBE to our weekly Quick Hits newsletter via LinkedIn (BioHealth Capital Region, Greater Philadelphia, Research Triangle Park) or get it delivered to your inbox every week. |
Funding, Awards and Collaborations
Richmond Tech Hub to Focus on Drug Building
The Richmond-Petersburg area will focus on the development of affordable medicines as Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Tech Hub. Called the Alliance for Building Better Medicine, the group that submitted the Tech Hub proposal includes VCU, Phlow Corp., and AMCAP Fine Chemicals.
Tech Hub Designation Positions Baltimore Region for Predictive Medicine Leadership
This monumental designation not only solidifies Baltimore’s position as a driving force in the tech and biotech industries but also grants the region access to a considerable financial boost that will accelerate innovation and catalyze growth. Read more here: Baltimore Tech Hub.
TEDCO to Host Workshops for Women Entrepreneurs
Touting Maryland’s nation-leading per capita rate of women-business ownership (52%), Maryland’s TEDCO is hosting four week-long workshops for female founders, co-founders, or CEOs of companies at a minimum of pre-seed and maximum of pre-series A status. The first application deadline is November 15, with locations to be announced. More info here: TEDCO Women Entrepreneurship Program.
Virginia Tech Gets $5 M for COVID-19 Human-Animal Interface Research
An interdisciplinary team at Virginia Tech will work to determine which species are most important in determining infection across species susceptible to infection and transfer of COVID-19. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service awarded the $5 million grant that will involve multiple Virginia Tech labs and academic departments.
TEDCO Funds Sisu’s Autotranfusion Tech
Baltimore’s Sisu Global Health gives surgical patients access to fresh, whole blood using blood from their internal bleeding and recirculating it within the same surgery. TEDCO announced this week that its Inclusion Fund would invest $100,000 in Sisu, which is not the company’s first TEDCO funding. Sisu is a women-led business and sells its Hemafuse device globally.
In the Clinic
Altimmune Gets Fast Track Status for Liver Disease Treatment
The Gaithersburg company is developing Pemvidutide for the treatment of obesity and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), and the FDA has not granted Fast Track designation for the clinical development program. President and CEO of Altimmune Vipin Garg said that in the Phase 1b study, pemvititude showed “class-leading relative reductions in liver fat and non-invasive markers of hepatic inflammation and a favorable safety and tolerability profile. Altimmune has previously advanced an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
People on the Move
Amgen Layoffs Expected to Have Limited Effect on Rockville’s Horizon Tx
Horizon Therapeutics was acquired by Amgen for $28 billion, and now Amgen is laying off 350 employees from the Horizon side. Amgen said that the positions would be eliminated starting at the end of this year and continue through 2024 in line with “overlap with existing teams at Amgen.” Amgen has had previous layoffs in 2023, blaming drug prices and inflationary pressure. The Washington Business Journal reports that the layoffs are not expected to affect the company’s Rockville, MD operations in the near future.
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Sam Hopkins has spent the past decade in the Baltimore area life-science and healthcare ecosystem, including roles at Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, the U.S. Army, and early-stage companies. He spent the previous decade as a journalist, which saw him cover everything from clean energy conferences in Morocco, to Soviet-era Estonian rock’n’roll, to trailblazing CEOs in Timonium. Sam is an avid athlete and coach, and he lives with his wife and two sons in Baltimore’s Oakenshawe neighborhood. You can often find him around town spinning records as DJ Balagan, or performing in musical groups Sink and South of Boundary.
