| April 2008 |
NEWS FROM THE BIOPARKS |
Building Two of the UMB BioPark opened on March 31, 2008 as a crowd of 400 celebrated with political leaders, university faculty and administrators, bioscience and area business leaders, and community members. The event also marked the groundbreaking for Building Three, highlighting the phenomenal growth of the BioPark. In just five years the BioPark has added 380,000 square feet of lab and office space in two buildings, nine acres of land, 200 jobs and a parking garage with the third and fourth (the Maryland Forensic Center) buildings coming soon. UMB has partnered with Baltimore City Community College and Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy to site a life sciences training program at the BioPark. The BCCC Life Sciences Institute will take up 38,000 square feet in Building Two and will train about 200 students a year. The program will provide opportunities for high school students to get more hands-on experience in laboratory work and will also award associate’s degrees and certificates in the life sciences to community college students. Additional tenant announcements: Paragon Bioservices will move from the Hopkins Bayview Campus into expanded facilities in Building Two. The research firm Westat, now headquartered in Rockville, opened a satellite office in the BioInnovation Center in Building Two. A new Life Sciences Conference Center is open at the UMB BioPark. The space includes highly sophisticated audio visual amenities and can accommodate a variety of meeting space configurations. The center will have a 105-seat auditorium opening in fall of this year. For information on using this space, contact Brendan McHugh at bmchugh@collierspinkard.com. Activate, UMBC’s program that trains mid-career women to start and manage technology ventures received the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship’s award for Best Specialty Entrepreneurship Education Program. The award was based on innovativeness, uniqueness, quality, effectiveness, comprehensiveness, sustainability and transferability. In the first three years of the program ACTiVATE has trained 72 women and 15 of them have founded companies.
The Johns G. Rangos, Sr. Building, the first bioscience building at the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, opened on April 11, 2008. Members of the Maryland federal delegation joined with Governor Martin O’Malley and Mayor Sheila Dixon to celebrate the opening along with a crowd of about 400 well wishers. Johns Hopkins will be the anchor tenant and is leasing one-third of the space which will house the School of Medicine’s Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. Private biotech companies are expected to lease the remaining space in the 278,000 square foot building at 855 N. Wolfe St. in Baltimore.
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| GREATER BALTIMORE COMMITTEE BIOSCIENCE AWARDS CEREMONY | ||
The Greater Baltimore Committee held its Third Greater BaltimoreRegion Bioscience Awards Ceremony on March 18, 2008 at the Renaissance Hotel. More than 150 leaders from the region’s bioscience industry and research community attended. Winners this year were:
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| NEWS FROM BIOSCIENCE COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS | ||
Alba Therapeutics (Baltimore) has named Bruce Peacock as its new CEO. Peacock, a venture partner with SV Life Sciences Advisors, LLC replaces Dr. Blake M. Paterson who has led Alba since its founding in 2004. Baltimore County Department of Economic Development has coordinated an effort among the region’s life sciences companies and training programs to provide a coordinated, affordable curriculum designed to fill the need for training in key areas of laboratory, bio and pharmaceutical manufacturing protocols. The goal of the program is to increase the Baltimore region’s pool of qualified pharmaceutical manufacturing and laboratory workers. Courses will be taught by professionals from the UMBC Training Centers, Community College of Baltimore County, Parenteral Drug Association, and the Biotechnical Institute of Maryland. The training is designed for people working in the industry who want to advance their careers and for those who wish to enter the bioscience field. Spring courses will be held at the Catonsville campus of the Community College of Baltimore County. To register, call 410-455-4171. Celsion Corporation (Columbia) has received FDA approval for its application for a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for its Pivotal Phase III Primary Liver Cancer trial. With this agreement, Celsion will begin immediate implementation of the study which is designed to demonstrate the efficacy of Celsion’s proprietary chemotherapeutic, ThermoDox, in combination with radio frequency ablation as a first line treatment of primary liver cancer. Lentigen Corporation (Baltimore) has completed an exclusive licensing agreement with Cambridge Enterprise, the organization responsible for licensing technologies from the University of Cambridge (U.K.) for a fundamental patent in the area of lentiviral vector technology. Martek Biosciences Corporation (Columbia) has entered into a 15-year licensing agreement with Numico, a Dutch company and Europe’s top manufacturer of infant milks, formulas and weaning foods. Martek will be Numico’s exclusive supplier for all of its ARA and microbially derived DHA needs for infant formula products. Martek develops, manufactures and sells products from microalgae. Osiris Therapeutics (Columbia) has shown favorable results from an early stage clinical trial of its drug Prochymal in treating heart attack patients. The company is running final-stage trials for Prochymal for treating Crohn’s disease and for graft-versus-host disease. Prochymal contains adult stem cells which are used for tissue repair and inflammation control. PharmAthene, Inc. (Annapolis) has completed its purchase of the assets and intellectual property of U.K.-based Avecia Biologics, Ltd. that are related to Avecia’s biodefense vaccines business. PharmAthene was formed four years ago to develop bioterrorism vaccines for the government. The acquisition will build its portfolio of medical countermeasures against chemical and biological attacks. Pharmaceutics International, Inc. (Hunt Valley) received a $500,000 loan from Baltimore County to expand its capacity by purchasing a second building. This will add 88,000 square feet of space for manufacturing and administration. Pharmaceutics is a contract drug manufacturer. Traxion Therapeutics, Inc. (Baltimore) received a $74,018 grant from TEDCO to support its work in developing drugs to treat neuropathic pain. Traxion is working with the University of Maryland, Baltimore and pain researchers at the University of Maryland Dental School.
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| LEGISLATIVE WRAP-UP OF BIOSCIENCE LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES |
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| UPCOMING REGIONAL EVENTS | ||
Thursday, April 24, 2008 Thursday, April 24, 2008 Friday, May 2, 2008 Wednesday, May 21, 2008
For more news and events from the bioscience community, |
