News
05/17/2023
Carilion Clinic promotes COO Arner to president
Nancy Agee remains CEO of Roanoke health care system Roanoke, VA /Virginia Business/ Carilion Clinic has promoted its executive vice president and chief operating officer, Steve Arner, to president of the Roanoke-based nonprofit health system. He will remain COO while taking on new duties as president, Carilion said in its announcement Tuesday. Nancy Howell Agee, …
05/15/2023
Revivicor Building New R&D hub in SWVA
The company behind a pig-to-human heart transplant in 2022 is building a new research and development hub in Southwest Virginia to raise pigs for their hearts and kidneys, for transplantation into people. In March 2022, the first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig died, two months after the groundbreaking surgery at the …
05/10/2023
LifeNet Health acquires best-in-class wound care portfolio
LifeNet Health expands its portfolio of wound care solutions, adding revolutionary products such as TheraSkin®, with the acquisition of the Bioventus Inc. wound care division. This step strengthens LifeNet Health’s position as a global leader in regenerative medicine offering next-level wound care. “Non-healing wounds are a modern healthcare crisis,” said LifeNet Health President and CEO …
05/05/2023
Agrospheres to invest $25M in Albemarle expansion
Agricultural biotech startup AgroSpheres will invest $25 million to expand in Albemarle County, creating an estimated 50 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. The company will increase production at its facility at 1180 Seminole Trail and build a research and development and demonstration facility for new products, which will be a pilot plant for a …
04/25/2023
VWCC and Radford Announce Agreement for Biotechnology Students
Virginia Western Community College and Radford University will sign an articulation agreement during a signing ceremony on Monday, May 1, on Virginia Western Campus, that will result in a cost-effective transition for students focusing on the field of biotechnology. Virginia Western students completing the Associate of Science (A.S.) degree in Science with a specialization in …
04/25/2023
Biggest Risk Factors for Emerging and Mid-market Biopharma Companies, Costly Clinical Trial Delays
Aspirin, the original wonder drug, and its use as an analgesic and fever reducer can be traced back to 500 BC. Over the decades of the 20th and 21st centuries, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of aspirin to manage and treat several health conditions, including in the prevention of …
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, …