News
04/24/2023
Renewable Chemical Innovator Capra Biosciences to Build a Green Biochemical Production Facility in Manassas, Virginia
Capra Biosciences is scaling up their novel bioreactor technology to produce sustainable chemicals in Northern Virginia. This project was funded through a special BioMADE Project Call focused on advancing bioreactor design and development, thanks to support from Schmidt Futures. The expansion will jump start Virginia’s bioeconomy and place the state on the map for biochemical …
04/20/2023
Mason engineers and partners receive $3M award to build new technology for personalized musculoskeletal injury rehabilitation to support troop readiness
Musculoskeletal injury (MSKI) is the most common form of medical injury experienced by Service members. Clinical interventions for MSKIs lack objective measures to determine their effectiveness, putting affected military personnel at risk of further damage if they return to duty before fully recovering. George Mason University bioengineer Dr. Parag Chitnis, an associate professor in the …
04/18/2023
VIPC Awards Commonwealth Commercialization Fund Grant to Carilion Medical Center
The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) announced that Carilion Medical Center has been awarded a Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) grant for $75,000. VIPC’s CCF programs have distributed over $47 million to Virginia-based startups, entrepreneurs and university-based inventors since 2012. Carilion Medical Center is a non-profit healthcare organization based in Roanoke, Va. The principal investigator for …
04/13/2023
Lighthouse Labs names new managing director
Lighthouse Labs has announced Art Espey as the new Managing Director, effective April 17. Art will replace outgoing Managing Director Paul Nolde, who will assume a similar role at Norfolk’s 757 Collab and 757 Angels organizations. Art has long been involved with Lighthouse Labs, having previously served on the organization’s Board of Directors as Founding …
04/12/2023
ModifyHealth Announces Strategic, Series B Investment from Middleland Capital’s VTC Ventures to Support Increased Demand for its Food-as-Medicine Solutions
ModifyHealth™, an innovative food-as-medicine platform and provider of medically tailored meals, welcomes VTC Ventures as a strategic addition to its Series B investment led by RC Capital and Nashville Capital Network. The funding will support ModifyHealth’s continued growth of its category-leading food-as-medicine solutions and further expansion of its nationwide operations to deliver meaningful patient outcomes. …
04/12/2023
Virginia Catalyst Announces Round 15 of Grant Funding
The Virginia Catalyst, also known as the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation (VBHRC), announced that it is accepting letters of intent (LOI) for Grant Round 15 to fund the development and commercialization of life science projects that address major unmet needs for improving human health and advance Virginia’s economy. “When you combine world class research …
04/11/2023
CivicaScript™, SortPak partner to package & deliver medicines to maximize patient convenience, compliance and savings
CivicaScriptTM, which is dedicated to bringing lower-cost generic medicines to U.S. consumers, and SortPak, which delivers pre-sorted medications to patients at no extra cost to patients or health plans, are partnering to provide CivicaScript medicines in packaging designed to maximize patient convenience, savings and medication compliance. SortPak offers two packaging options to make it easier …
04/06/2023
Euclid Vision Welcomes Specialty Eyecare Professional to Commercial Team
Euclid Vision Corp., a global leader in specialty contact lenses and proactive myopia management initiatives, is pleased to announce the continued expansion of its U.S. sales team with the addition of Jon R. Hudson, ABOC, NCLEC, who has joined the company as account executive for Texas, and Central and Southern U.S. territories. Jon brings 24 years …
04/05/2023
Richmond’s BrainBox Solutions secures another patent for its concussion test
Richmond biotech BrainBox Solutions Inc., the maker of an artificial intelligence-enabled concussion test, has earned a broad patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a set of eight biomarkers that correlate to specific findings on MRI tests. CEO Donna Edmonds said in a statement the biomarkers covered by the patent include indicators of …
04/05/2023
Phlow Announces over $35M in Series B Funding to Improve the U.S. Medicine Supply Chain
Phlow Corp., a U.S.-based public benefit corporation and contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced that it has closed a $36 million Series B capital raise as part of its mission to protect America’s medicine cabinet. Since its launch in 2020, Phlow has been working to leverage advanced development and manufacturing processes to re-imagine the …
03/31/2023
VTCRC Announces First Companies Selected for JLABS Virtual Residency
The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center (VTCRC) announced that three companies have been selected to join Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS (JLABS). Under a collaboration between VTCRC and Johnson & Johnson Innovation, LLC, established to support innovators in the Blacksburg-Roanoke region with the aim to accelerate emerging biotech and life science startups, the selected companies will …
03/29/2023
Granules Pharmaceuticals celebrates new Prince William County facility, $12.5M investment
Granules is ready to start shipping medications right from Prince William County. The India-based pharmaceutical maker opened up its new packaging and distribution facility just outside Manassas, promising to bring 57 new jobs to the county as part of a $12.5 million investment. Representatives for the $65 billion manufacturer said the move will strengthen the …
03/23/2023
Children’s National Hospital names Michelle Riley-Brown as new CEO to succeed Kurt Newman
The Children’s National Board of Directors announced that Michelle Riley-Brown, MHA, FACHE, has been named as the new president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Children’s National Hospital. On July 1, Riley-Brown will succeed Kurt Newman, M.D. , who is retiring after 11 years as president and CEO. Riley-Brown is an accomplished executive with over …
03/21/2023
Mason leads planning study to position Northern Virginia as a premier location for the life science industry
During the past several years, industry demand for a skilled life science workforce has been surging. In Virginia, while there are currently shortages in almost all health-related professions, little is known about whether there is an adequate supply of life science workers to meet the needs of employers. Now George Mason University is working toward …
03/21/2023
California invests $50M to partner with Civica Rx on insulin manufacturing
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced a new contract with nonprofit drugmaker Civica Rx, a move that brings the state one step closer to creating its own line of insulin to bring down the cost of the drug. Once the medicines are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Newsom said at a press conference …
03/07/2023
RAMP Welcomes 5 Startups into Spring 2023 Cohort
From designing battery electric spotter tractors to developing individualized neuro-oncology treatments for aggressive gliomas, the five companies accepted into RAMP’s Spring 2023 Cohort span the gamut of technology, health science and life science innovation. “We are thrilled to welcome these inspiring entrepreneurs and help them accelerate their vision,” said RAMP director Lisa Garcia. “Not only …
03/03/2023
New Manufacturing and Advanced R&D Facility Opens in Charlottesville, VA, Making Plant-Based, Prebiotic Sugar Alternative Accessible for All
A new manufacturing facility has officially opened its doors in Charlottesville, VA, dedicated to the production of tagatose, a sweet plant-based material with numerous health benefits. The facility, owned and operated by Bonumose, will produce high-quality tagatose for use in a wide range of food and beverage products. Tagatose is 90% as sweet as table …
03/03/2023
Indivior Completes Acquisition of Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Indivior PLC announced that it has completed the acquisition of Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Opiant”). The transaction strengthens Indivior’s addiction treatment and science portfolio by adding Opiant’s late-stage assets, notably OPNT003, an investigational opioid overdose treatment designed to offer an important treatment option to address the current wave of US opioid overdoses from powerful synthetic opioids, …
03/01/2023
AMPEL BioSolutions’ Breakthrough Predicts Drug Options to Slow End Stage Renal Disease
AMPEL BioSolutions announced a genomic precision medicine test for chronic kidney diseases, such as Lupus Nephritis, that could save lives by predicting kidney damage before it is irreversible and providing decision support for prophylactic therapies. Genes that drive the inflammatory pathways characteristic of different stages of kidney damage are revealed in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers …
02/22/2023
SRI scientists are developing therapeutics to help fight the next pandemic
SRI International, an independent nonprofit research institute, has been awarded a $4.95 million contract, with options to fund up to $21 million, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to develop drugs to increase the nation’s therapeutic arsenal against new or existing viral pathogens. The funds are part of the US government’s …
02/14/2023
Virginia Invests $66.7 Million to Expand Commonwealth’s Life Sciences Industry
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced more than $66 million in state grants for four projects within the Biotechnology, Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Cluster. These projects provide job creation, wage expansion, and broader economic growth throughout the Commonwealth. “In order to make Virginia a leader in biotechnology, life sciences and pharmaceutical manufacturing, we have to accelerate …
02/09/2023
CytoRecovery Awarded National Science Foundation Phase II SBIR Research Grant
CytoRecovery, Inc., a leader in marker free technologies for the enrichment, sorting, and recovery of live cells, announced that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has approved its application to receive a Phase II SBIR Research Grant. Titled “Bioelectrical Cell Enrichment, Sorting, and Recovery with On-Chip Sample Prep and Monitoring,” the grant will provide $952,558 in …
02/01/2023
Engineered BioPharmaceuticals to Expand in Virginia
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that Engineered BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical engineering and manufacturing company dedicated to advancing cost effective, state-of-the-art medicine, will invest $6.1 million to expand in the City of Danville. The company will expand from its current lab space in the Dan River Business Development Center into its first standalone manufacturing facility at …
02/01/2023
Adial Pharmaceuticals Enters Into Option Agreement for Sale of Purnovate Assets to Adenomed
Adial Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for the treatment and prevention of addiction and related disorders, announced it has entered into an option agreement for the sale of the assets of Purnovate, Inc. (“Purnovate”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Adial, to Adenomed, LLC (“Adenomed”), a new company formed by Purnovate …