BioHealth Capital Region Q1 2023 News Recap – We Get Knocked Down, But We Get Up Again

By Sarah Ellinwood
April 11, 2023

Now that I got that 90s earworm in your head…

We all know it’s not the best of times right now for the life sciences, but it’s certainly not the worst of times either, especially in the BioHealth Capital Region.

Having been beaten down a bit in 2022, biohubs across the nation, including the BioHealth Capital Region, buckled down to brace the storm. And while we’ve definitely seen a fair share of not-ideal news (looking at you, SVB…), there still has been much to celebrate. As the weather finally warms up and folks start to go out-and-about to events again, let’s hope that momentum and spirit of collaboration continue to carry forward.

Here are just a few of our favorite stories to look back on in Q1. Drink your whiskey drink, or drink your vodka drink, and read on.

The Biotools Innovator and MedTech Innovator Roadshows Rolled into Baltimore

At the end of March over 80 startups from around the country convened at the IMET on Baltimore’s inner harbor to pitch their company products with the hope of making the cut for the Finals competition, which will be held in Anaheim this fall.

This was a huge testament for Baltimore’s medtech scene, which is continuing to flourish. It showed that the life sciences and medtech communities both in Baltimore and Maryland as a whole are just as competitive as other larger cities out there.

After hours of pitching to a multitude of judges, companies near and far headed over to the Baltimore Peninsula to relax, celebrate, and network at The LaunchPort, located in City Garage Science and Technology Park. 

BioBuzz and FITCI Announce Strategic Partnership

We have to give ourselves a little self-love as well! Just recently we announced that we are joining forces with the Frederick Innovative Technology Center (FITCI) to continue driving life science growth forward in the BioHealth Capital Region. The partnership will consist of shared programming to boost local business and entrepreneurial development, complemented with mutual cross-promotion to fuel further recognition and growth. Plans are in the works for co-hosted events, such as quarterly happy hours, panels, networking socials, workforce development and DEI events, and meetups for specific niches of the biotech industry, even a technology showcase.

The partnership will also help bring awareness of FITCI partner companies outside of the Frederick region, thanks to our regional presence. Meanwhile, FITCI’s forthcoming expansion and significant presence in Frederick County will help bring new eyes to BioBuzz as the go-to platform for industry professionals and job seekers. We’re super excited, and we hope you are as well! More to come!

All Eyes on Novavax in 2023

Celebrations were had this past summer when Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, Nuvaxovid, received an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA. As the initial fanfare began to die down, however, people began to question whether the EUA came too little, too late to compete with the Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines.

In its Feb. 28 2022 year-end earnings call, the Gaithersburg-based company announced plans to cut spending to preserve its cash runway while preparing for the fall vaccination season – a season that could be a make-or-break situation. New Chief Executive Officer John Jacobs, who took over the company reins at the beginning of the year, said there are concerns related to its revenue streams due to uncertainties of U.S. government funding, as well as ongoing arbitration with Gavi, the global vaccine alliance.

In order for Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine to remain competitive in the shifting market, the company will need to remain proactive in developing a vaccine against the appropriate strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, due in part to the longer production window for its protein-based Nuvaxovid vaccine compared to the top mRNA-based vaccines.

Virginia is for (Life Science) Lovers

Let’s not deny it – when we talk about the BioHealth Capital Region, much of the attention has leaned more toward Maryland, particularly Montgomery County and Frederick. Hold on to your crab cakes and Old Bay, though, because the Commonwealth is tipping the scales.

In February Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the approval of over $66 million in state grants for four projects in the Biotechnology, Life Sciences, and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Cluster, which is aimed at creating job opportunities, raising wages, and promoting economic growth throughout the state. Projects include funding UVA’s new Institute for Biotechnology, bringing laboratory incubator space to Roanoke, building a new life sciences lab building in the Virginia Biotech Park, and supporting biomanufacturing needs in Greater Richmond.

Emergent BioSolutions’ OTC Narcan Receives FDA Green Light, Breathing New Hope in the Battle Against Opioid Overdoses

Opioid overdoses continue to be a major concern across the United States, especially with the rise of fentanyl. In fact, it’s estimated that there’s an opioid-related death every eight minutes.

Now, about three months after Emergent initiated organizational changes to enhance its core medical countermeasure business, the company was able to celebrate some good news with the FDA approval of over-the-counter Narcan nasal spray. Emergent plans to work with representatives from the government, retail and advocacy groups to ensure availability of the newly-approved OTC product, which is estimated to kick up by late summer.

Shady Grove Innovation District Reveals Phase One Plans For New Life Science Lab Space and Office Suites

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again – it doesn’t matter how much innovation comes out of your biohub if entrepreneurs move away because they can’t find lab space. Boston Properties (BXP) unveiled plans for the first phase of the Shady Grove Innovation District (SGID) in Montgomery County, which will bring much-needed science space to the region.

The initial phase will comprise a 137,000 square-foot lab and office building, an outdoor plaza and a residential complex with 15% affordable units. BXP plans to start construction as soon as spring 2024, subject to approval from the City of Rockville. In total, SGID will have up to nine buildings, offering 1.3 million square feet of life sciences space and two acres of parkland. The district is also accessible via mass transit and is close to other biohealth real estate developments.

Maryland Innovation Initiative and Henry Jackson Foundation Forge New Collaboration to Support Innovation Across the State

The Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) program, nestled under the TEDCO umbrella, and The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in February to work together to promote the commercialization of medical research conducted at five Maryland partner universities. As part of their partnership, the organisations will bring new medical technologies and medicines to the public and members of the armed forces.

MII’s efforts so far have helped to create 144 start-ups, $629m in follow-on funding and seven exits, according to their press release. HJF, on the other hand, manages a portfolio of almost 14,000 awards, which has resulted in over 1,000 patents, over 200 licensed technologies and over 35 products brought to market through partnerships with the DoD, other federal labs such as the NIH, and academia and industry. 

“We’ve used the word “ecosystem” a lot today. And if you think about the definition, it’s about organisms working and living together in a symbiotic way. But what we’re talking about here today is about how we all can come together to make a better Maryland,” said TEDCO CEO Troy LeMaile-Stovall at the signing event.  “That’s what it’s about – how do we take out ‘individualism’ and create ‘together-ism’?”

Speaking of the Maryland Innovation Initiative….

At the very end of the quarter, MII announced it had invested $600,000 into three Baltimore-based companies, including two that are life-scienced based (Prompt Diagnostics and ComputChem). Prompt Diagnostics is an early-stage diagnostics company focused on the development of a portable and automated infectious disease diagnostics platform for use in multiple healthcare settings, including rural hospitals in the United States and abroad, while ComputChem is developing next-generation platform solutions for in silico covalent drug discovery design and lead optimization.

Liftoff! NImmune Biopharma Launches Strong with Phase III-Ready Asset Gained from Landos Biopharma

NImmune Biopharma, a new life science startup founded by Virginia entrepreneur Josep Bassaganya-Riera, is focusing on a potential new drug application for its experimental therapeutic for ulcerative colitis. NImmune Biopharma’s lead asset is omilancor, which it secured in February from Landos Biopharma. NImmune also gained the rights to Landos’ LANCL portfolio of immunoregulatory therapeutic assets, including LABP-104 and LABP-111. Each of these assets were originally developed by Bassaganya-Riera, who served as chief executive officer of Landos until his departure in November 2021. The assets activate the Lanthionine Synthetase C-Like 2 pathway, which enhances immunoregulatory processes that provide protection from autoimmune disease.

The company hopes to replicate the Phase II clinical remission data omilancor produced in active disease UC patients in its upcoming Phase III trial planned for the second half of 2023. In the Phase II study, omilancor demonstrated biologic-like efficacy with potentially best-in-class safety, generating a 30% clinical remission after 12 weeks in UC patients. The company believes the gut-restricted therapeutic also has applications in Crohn’s disease and psoriasis. 

As for the other assets, LABP-111, now known as NIM-5834 will be developed for type 1 diabetes and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a fatty liver disease. LABP-104, now known as NIM-1324, is a Phase II-ready biomarker-guided therapeutic developed for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis.