April 28, 2026

On April 22, 2026, Georgetown University hosted its annual Research & Innovation Showcase, bringing together faculty, students, investors, entrepreneurs, and regional leaders for a full day focused on translating discovery into real-world impact. Held at the Rafik B. Hariri Building, the event centered on this year’s theme, “Partnerships Power Possibilities,” highlighting how collaboration drives innovation from lab to market.

“The 2026 Georgetown University Research & Innovation Showcase highlighted the need for strategic partners to achieve research translation and innovation development,” said Tatiana Litvin-Vechnyak, Georgetown’s vice president for technology commercialization. “This year’s event brought together more than 400 investors, entrepreneurs, industry stakeholders, faculty, and students, all critical to our ability to achieve this goal. BHI’s collaboration over the years and sponsorship of the showcase has been crucial to this work.”

Charlottesville, Virginia – April 22, 2026 - Luminoah, a medical technology company focused on modernizing enteral nutrition, today announced it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for Luminoah Flow™, an enteral feeding system designed to improve the experience of patients who rely on tube feeding.

Luminoah Flow combines portability, precision, and connected technology into a streamlined system designed for both patients and clinicians. It provides access to real time data, simplifies workflows, and features a design intended to improve mobility and independence.

For Luminoah founder Neal Piper, this milestone reflects six years of innovation shaped by personal experience with enteral nutrition during his son’s cancer treatment. 

How do universities move promising discoveries out of the lab and into the market? In this episode of BioTalk, Tatiana Litvin-Vechnyak, Vice President of Georgetown’s Office of Technology Commercialization, Christon Hill, Program Manager for Georgetown Tech Ventures, and Jennifer Butler, Entrepreneur-in-Residence with BioHealth Innovation, discuss how Georgetown is building a stronger pipeline from academic science to startup formation.

The conversation examines how Georgetown’s commercialization efforts are evolving, how GTV supports faculty founders, and why structured programming, outside expertise, and stronger ecosystem connections matter for turning research into real-world impact. 

BioHealth Capital Region Week will return on September 15 through 17, 2026, at US Pharmacopeia in Rockville, Maryland, bringing together leaders from industry, academia, government, and investment for three days focused on the future of one of the nation’s leading biohealth ecosystems. The event will again feature the BioHealth Capital Region Forum, the Crab Trap Competition, and the Investment Conference.

This year’s Forum theme, “Growing the BioHealth Capital Region of Tomorrow,” reflects both the region’s momentum and the need for continued collaboration at a time when many organizations are navigating a more uncertain funding environment. As public funding conditions shift, the region’s long-term strength will depend on its ability to deepen partnerships, support commercialization, attract investment, and build new pathways for growth. The Forum will serve as a place for those conversations to happen.

THRiVE 2026 is bringing Virginia’s life sciences community together on April 30 in Richmond for a full day of conversation around innovation, investment, workforce, and growth across the bioscience sector. Hosted by Virginia Bio, the event will feature leaders from industry, government, research, and entrepreneurship, with sessions focused on startup momentum, funding in life sciences, workforce strategy, and the infrastructure needed to support long-term success.

With an opening reception on April 29 and a program designed to connect founders, executives, investors, and ecosystem partners, THRiVE 2026 is shaping up to be one of the state’s key gatherings for people working across biotech and health innovation. For anyone interested in where Virginia’s bioscience ecosystem is headed next, this is an event worth watching.

GW InnovationFest returns on Thursday, April 30, 2026, bringing together the George Washington University community for a showcase of research, creativity, entrepreneurship, and interdisciplinary problem-solving.

The event will feature research posters, demonstrations, author sessions, inventions, art, an inventor marketplace, festival programming, and interactive exhibits across fields including AI, health, engineering, public policy, education, sustainability, and the arts.

Attendees will have the opportunity to explore emerging ideas, connect with innovators across disciplines, and see how GW students, faculty, and researchers are turning bold thinking into real-world solutions. From hands-on demonstrations to cross-campus collaborations, InnovationFest highlights the breadth of work shaping the future at GW and beyond.

Rockville, MD—April 27, 2026 - Pharmatech Associates, a U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) company, today announced the appointment of Erika Porcelli as its new Chief Executive Officer. Porcelli has over 20 years of experience in the consulting space, leading organizations in regulated environments through transformative growth and complex change.

Pharmatech, acquired by USP in 2021 to help bridge the “translation gap” between quality standards and real world implementation, plays a critical role in extending USP’s mission to ensure the quality of medicines worldwide.

“Pharmatech enters this next chapter from a position of strength, with a solid foundation and a clear sense of purpose,” said Erika Porcelli, CEO, Pharmatech. “We will build on that momentum and move decisively toward the opportunities ahead.

Maternal health is one of the most urgent challenges in healthcare—and one of the greatest opportunities for innovation. 

Join the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and March of Dimes for the upcoming “Maternal Health Innovation: From Idea to Impact” five-part virtual event. This series will highlight resources for translational researchers and early-stage companies developing novel technologies for addressing maternal mortality and morbidity. Attendees will learn about current gaps in maternal healthcare and topics relevant to product development such as fundraising, regulatory approvals, reimbursement, non-dilutive funding, and business plan development. 

The kickoff for this series will be held on May 6, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. ET and subsequent sessions will be held every other week.

FREDERICK, Md., April 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Theradaptive, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering targeted protein therapeutics for tissue regeneration, today announced the successful treatment of the 45th and final patient in the RESTORE International Phase I/II Feasibility Study. This prospective, blinded, randomized, controlled study is designed to evaluate the safety and performance of OsteoAdapt® DE, a next-generation regenerative product developed to promote bone growth in alveolar ridge augmentation, a surgical dental reconstruction procedure.

"Completing enrollment in the RESTORE study is a major achievement that validates the growing clinical interest in our platform," said Dr. Luis Alvarez, Founder and CEO of Theradaptive. "We are grateful to the investigators, clinical teams, patients, and partners whose dedication made this milestone possible. This achievement strengthens our growing body of clinical evidence and brings us closer to delivering meaningful new treatments for patients with limited options."

"Participating in the RESTORE study has provided valuable clinical insight into the potential of OsteoAdapt DE as an innovative approach to bone regeneration," said Dr. Ariel Hirschhorn, Principal Investigator at Sheba Medical Center, a participating site in the multicenter trial. "We are encouraged by its potential to address more complex craniomaxillofacial procedures and are proud to contribute to this important advancement in regenerative medicine."

COLUMBIA, Md. – April 21, 2026 – Welldoc®, a leader in AI-powered cardiometabolic health solutions, today announced it has been selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to participate in the Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions (ACCESS) Model. Welldoc will participate in both the Cardio-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) and Early CKM (eCKM) tracks, bringing its AI-driven clinical platform to Medicare beneficiaries living with diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and prediabetes. 

The ACCESS Model is a 10-year initiative designed to move Medicare toward a value-based, technology-enabled future. Unlike traditional fee-for-service models, the ACCESS Model utilizes Outcome-Aligned Payments (OAPs), ensuring that Welldoc and its partners are reimbursed based on measurable health improvements such as a 1%-point reduction in HbA1c for patients with diabetes or a 5% weight reduction for patients managing obesity.

"Welldoc’s selection for the ACCESS Model is a pivotal moment in our mission to bridge the gap between clinical care and the patient’s daily life," said Keith Reynolds, Chief Operating Officer at Welldoc. "By focusing on the eCKM and CKM tracks, we are tackling the most prevalent and costly chronic conditions in the Medicare population. This model validates our evidence-based approach and allows us to scale our whole-person health tech solutions to those who need them most."

BETHESDA, MD, April 21, 2026 — Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB:NWBO) (the “Company” or “NWBio”), a biotechnology company developing DCVax® personalized immune therapies for solid tumor cancers, announced that it is establishing its own dedicated clinic for leukapheresis procedures at The London Welbeck Hospital. The Company is doing so in order to proactively address potential constraints in available leukapheresis capacity. The Company anticipates that this will facilitate scale-up of the Company’s programs and will also enable provision of these services for other parties.

A leukapheresis procedure is a specialized blood draw that is necessary to collect a patient’s immune cells for immunotherapies such as DCVax as well as CAR-Ts and other T cell therapies, and for certain other types of therapies. The procedure takes about 4 hours and involves filtering the patient’s blood through special equipment that collects the white blood cells and returns the red blood cells and plasma to the patient.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Altimmune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALT), a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing pemvidutide to address serious liver diseases, today announced the closing of its previously announced underwritten public offering consisting of (i) 64,250,000 shares of its common stock and 64,250,000 accompanying common stock warrants to purchase shares of common stock or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof and (ii) in lieu of common stock, to certain investors that so choose, pre-funded warrants to purchase an aggregate of up to 10,750,000 shares of its common stock and 10,750,000 accompanying common stock warrants to purchase shares of common stock or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof, each at an exercise price of $0.001 per pre-funded warrant. .

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, APRIL 22, 2026 — RIVANNA®, developer of AI-enabled clinical decision-support solutions, announced that it has expanded its clinical studies evaluating Accuro® XV, the company’s musculoskeletal imaging system, from two to eight sites nationwide. This expansion follows execution of a funding option by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The study will support development of the first-ever automated fracture detection algorithm derived from volumetric ultrasound imaging. RIVANNA’s computer-aided detection (CADe/x) technology will be trained on extensive upper and lower extremity injury 3D imaging datasets collected across eight clinical sites — a foundational capability unprecedented in musculoskeletal imaging. The study will also conclude validation and training of BoneEnhance®, an image segmentation module that enhances bone visualization and represents an incremental step toward the company’s full diagnostic platform.

The Baltimore Health Tech Startup Symposium will take place on May 1, 2026, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at The Garage at R. House in Baltimore. Hosted by the NSF I-Corps Hub Mid-Atlantic Region, the event will bring together founders, researchers, investors, biotech leaders, and ecosystem builders for a morning centered on the growth and potential of Baltimore’s health tech community. Attendees will gain insight into what it takes to move promising ideas into the marketplace and why Maryland continues to stand out as a strong environment for health tech innovation.

The program will include opening remarks from a leader in clinical innovation at Johns Hopkins Health System, followed by a panel discussion on launching a health tech company in Maryland. Designed for those building startups, supporting research commercialization, exploring investment opportunities, or seeking meaningful connections in the field, the symposium offers a valuable opportunity to learn from experienced voices and engage with the region’s health tech ecosystem.

The Maryland Business Innovation Association, with support from TEDCO, is accepting applications for the FY26 MBIA Commercialization Innovation Grant. Maryland-based innovative companies may apply for up to $5,000 to support commercialization projects with Maryland-based vendors and service providers.

Eligible applicants must be headquartered in Maryland, connected to an MBIA Entrepreneurial Support Organization member, and meet the program’s Maryland employee residency requirements. Applications are due Friday, May 22, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET, with information sessions and office hours available for interested companies.

BHI Board Member Prashant Panchal, MS, MBA, Director, Business Planning & Operations at AstraZeneca, will participate in Biotech, Borders, and Security: Reshoring the Future of U.S. Manufacturing on Wednesday, May 13, from 5:00 to 7:30 PM at Montgomery College’s Bioscience Education Center in Germantown.

Hosted by BioBuzz Networks in partnership with PIC MC at Montgomery College, the event will explore how reshoring, supply chain resilience, national security, and workforce development are shaping the future of U.S. biomanufacturing. Prashant will join the panel “Reshoring & Building Maryland’s Biotech Manufacturing Advantage,” which will examine how Maryland can strengthen its position as a leader in domestic biotech manufacturing.

The program also includes a fireside chat on building a U.S. Strategic API Reserve, followed by networking and tours of the Bioscience Education Center.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases is joining Innovation Translation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in celebrating its first anniversary with Innovation Week, a series of events highlighting public health innovation, applied research, and real-world translation.

CIDID will be featured in the opening event, “Designing Diagnostics for Real-World Impact,” on Wednesday, May 6, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. ET in Sheldon Hall, 615 N. Wolfe St. The panel will include CIDID Director Yukari Manabe and CIDID Innovation Awardee Alex Trick, Co-founder and CEO of Prompt Diagnostics. Dave Hickey, Health Advisory Board member, will moderate the discussion, which will explore the experience of designing public health diagnostic tools that can move from concept to meaningful use.

The event is free to attend, and registration is available at the event link. Innovation Week will continue with additional programming, including the AI + Health Care Idea Tank and Public Health Innovation Stories featuring Bloomberg School faculty.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases is inviting bio and medtech innovators to apply for a new solicitation through the Point-of-Care Testing Research Network program. The opportunity will support the development of novel point-of-care tests, with six innovation awards available for projects focused on expanding the use of point-of-care and over-the-counter diagnostics.

Through this solicitation, JH-CIDID will focus on new use cases for diagnostics targeting sexually transmitted infections and bloodborne infections. Selected projects may receive awards of up to $100,000, along with 6 to 9 months of in-house support from JH-CIDID experts.

Applications are due no later than May 1, 2026. Innovators developing point-of-care tests outside the STI focus area can also explore related POCTRN opportunities for chronic disease management and disease prevention.