July 21, 2026

COLUMBIA, Md., (July 14, 2026) — TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced the latest round of Baltimore Innovation Initiative (BII) Pilot Program awardees. This round will divide $664,448 amongst 13 awardees. The BII Pilot Program falls under the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII), fueling innovation and economic impact in the Baltimore region.

“The Maryland Innovation Initiative is proud to invest in innovation coming from Baltimore’s institutions of higher education,” said Abi Kulshreshtha, executive director, MII. “The Baltimore Innovation Initiative plays an instrumental role in deepening Baltimore’s strengths in life sciences, healthcare, and artificial intelligence.”

The BII was created to support an equitable innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem within higher education institutions in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As part of Maryland’s matching contribution toward the Baltimore Tech Hub, the BII seeks to advance technology toward commercialization of a product or service and bolster support for entrepreneurs developing technology-based ventures.

“We are thrilled by the continued enthusiasm for the BII program and the diverse ideas represented in this cohort. We look forward to supporting these thirteen awardees as they advance innovative technologies, expand entrepreneurship resources, and strengthen Baltimore’s innovation ecosystem,” said Jalaycia Lewis, BII program manager.

The BioHealth Capital Region is known for the therapies it makes. Increasingly, it is worth watching for how it makes them.

Across Maryland, the buildings where biologics, cell therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics get developed and manufactured have quietly become some of the most environmentally ambitious facilities in the country — net-zero towers, LEED Platinum laboratories, ISO-certified energy systems, and product lines re-engineered to strip out plastic and waste.

It is not an accident, and it is not only a corporate ESG story. It is an engineering story — which is exactly why the region’s pharmaceutical engineers got there early.

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering’s Chesapeake Bay Area (ISPE-CBA) chapter stood up a dedicated Sustainability Committee years ago — one of the first such committees in the nation for ISPE. In a region that ranks among the top three U.S. biopharma clusters, that head start gave Maryland’s manufacturers a forum to compare notes on energy, water, waste, and green facility design long before “sustainable manufacturing” became a boardroom mandate.

The committee is Co-Chaired by Jennifer Bullock Dir. Of Environmental Sustainability at AstraZeneca, and Matt Dillon, Application Specialist at PureFlow.

ROCKVILLE, Md.,, July 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- REGENXBIO Inc. (Nasdaq: RGNX) today announced positive data from long-term follow-up studies of investigational surabgene lomparvovec (sura-vec, ABBV-RGX-314) in wet AMD using subretinal delivery and diabetic retinopathy (DR) using suprachoroidal delivery. These new data were presented at the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) 44th Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada.

"Sura-vec continues to demonstrate a durable safety and efficacy profile across multiple routes of administration, reinforcing its potential to preserve vision long-term and change the treatment paradigm for patients with chronic retinal disease," said Steve Pakola, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of REGENXBIO. "These long-term data support the potential for a single treatment to provide lasting disease control while reducing the burdensome need for chronic anti-VEGF injections, which too often leads to undertreatment and subsequent vision loss. We are especially encouraged by the wet AMD five-year data as sura-vec was evaluated in patients with harder-to-treat disease requiring more frequent injections, unlike other studies that have evaluated treatment-naïve patients. The durable efficacy observed through five years supports the potential of sura-vec to treat a significant unmet need in this community."

Sura-vec for the treatment of wet AMD: 5-year data summary

Participants in Cohorts 3 and 4 of the Phase I/IIa trial received subretinal sura-vec at doses similar to those being studied in the ATMOSPHERE® and ASCENT® pivotal trials and demonstrated stable to improved visual acuity and had meaningful reductions in anti-VEGF treatment burden through five years, apart from a polypoidal participant in Cohort 4 with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, refractory to anti-VEGF.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for the 12th Annual BioHealth Capital Region Week, September 15–17, 2026, at US Pharmacopeia in Rockville, Maryland.

Sponsors help keep BHCR Week free to attend while gaining visibility with biohealth leaders, investors, emerging companies, academic institutions, government partners, and regional collaborators across the BioHealth Capital Region Forum, Crab Trap Competition, and Investment Conference.

Sponsorship also provides access to one of the most valuable parts of the week: the VIP Leadership Dinner. This smaller, invite-only gathering brings together senior executives, investors, speakers, public-sector leaders, university partners, and key opinion leaders in a more focused setting than the daytime program. For sponsors, it is an opportunity to build relationships, have higher-value conversations, and connect directly with people who are helping shape the future of the BioHealth Capital Region.

BHCR Week sponsors are recognized across event materials, signage, the registration site, and BHI communications, providing visibility before and during the event. Sponsorship is a strong way to support regional collaboration while positioning your organization in front of the companies, investors, researchers, and partners driving biohealth growth.

To learn more, contact Rich Bendis at rbendis@biohealthinnovation.org and Andy Eckert at aeckert@biohealthinnovation.org.

The Federal Laboratory Consortium will host its next Member Connect session on August 5, 2026, from 2 to 2:30 p.m. ET, spotlighting AURP, the Association of University Research Parks. This free virtual event will introduce participants to AURP’s work supporting research parks, innovation districts, and the communities that connect discovery with practical application.

Featuring Brian Darmody, Chief Strategy Officer at AURP, the session will examine how these place-based innovation ecosystems help strengthen technology commercialization. Research parks create space for universities, federal laboratories, startups, established companies, and economic development partners to work in closer alignment.

For federal researchers and technology transfer professionals, AURP member parks offer a valuable bridge between early-stage discovery and market readiness. These environments can help promising technologies find development partners, industry collaborators, entrepreneurial support, and pathways toward broader public benefit.

The session will be moderated by Zarpheen Jinnah, Technology Transfer Manager at NCI/NIH. Attendees will gain insight into how federal, academic, and private-sector partners can collaborate through research parks and innovation districts to move ideas beyond the lab and into real-world use.

Applications are now being accepted for the BioHealth Capital Region Crab Trap Competition, returning as part of the 12th Annual BioHealth Capital Region Week, taking place September 15, 16, and 17, 2026, at US Pharmacopeia in Rockville, Maryland. Apply today at https://bit.ly/CrabTrap2026.

The Crab Trap Competition highlights promising early-stage biohealth companies developing new technologies, products, and solutions across therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, digital health, research tools, and other areas of life sciences innovation. Each year, the competition gives selected entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their companies in front of experienced investors, industry leaders, subject matter experts, and regional ecosystem partners.

Five finalists will be selected to pitch live during BioHealth Capital Region Week. Each finalist will deliver a seven-minute company presentation, followed by a three-minute question-and-answer session with the judges. The format gives entrepreneurs a focused opportunity to explain the problem they are solving, the strength of their technology, market opportunity, commercialization strategy, management team, funding progress, and key milestones.

CvilleBioHub is now accepting applications for BioSpark, a competitive live pitch event for early-stage life sciences startups taking place during the 2026 BioDiscovery Summit on September 17 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Eight companies will be selected to pitch before a panel of judges and an audience of life sciences investors, industry leaders, and summit attendees. Eligible companies should be U.S.-based, pre-seed or seed-stage, have a formal entity, own the rights to their technology, and have raised no more than $10 million to date.

BioSpark is open to companies working across therapeutics, digital health and analytics, medical devices, diagnostics, healthcare delivery, AI healthcare services, and related healthcare technologies. This year’s prize pool includes $20,000 for first place, $10,000 for second place, and a year of access to CvilleBioHub’s Commonwealth BioAccelerator for third place.

Applications close August 15, 2026.

Learn more and apply through CvilleBioHub.

The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) has announced the publication of a set of product-specific emerging standards for biologics, now available for public comment through the Emerging Standards Platform. The initial set of emerging standards includes analytical methods for epoetin, interferon beta 1a, rituximab, and bevacizumab, along with accompanying physical reference standards. USP invites manufacturers, regulators, academia, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders to review the methods, share practical feedback, and submit input, including alternative methods, through the Emerging Standards Platform. Please consider providing your input. Input received during this stage will inform how these concepts evolve.

These emerging standards are being introduced in advance of any formal compendial consideration to enable early stakeholder feedback. The newly released emerging standards for biologics are designed to be flexible by offering multiple methods to assess quality attributes rather than a single approach. These emerging standards do not include product specifications, leaving those determinations to the reviewing regulator. 

COLUMBIA, Md., (July 15, 2026) — TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced a recent $200,000 Pre-Seed Builder Fund (“Builder Fund”) investment in BC3 Technologies, a Baltimore-based, minority-owned medical technology company developing emergency preparedness and hemorrhage control technologies designed to help save lives before professional medical care arrives.

“With more than 200,000 Americans succumbing to trauma-related fatalities each year, it was clear that something needed to be done,” said BC3 Technologies’ CEO Wayne Grube, Jr. “We saw an opportunity to develop technology that helps bridge the gap between injury and professional medical care. With TEDCO’s investment, we will continue our growth, enhance research and product development, and advance our mission of making lifesaving technology more accessible to first responders, workplaces, families, military and communities around the world. I would encourage entrepreneurs in Maryland to explore everything TEDCO has to offer.”

Founded in Baltimore, BC3 Technologies is a medical technology company developing innovation in emergency preparedness, emergency medical response and hemorrhage control. Its SEAL Hemostatic Wound Spray is an FDA-cleared aerosolized hemostatic wound spray, designed to help control severe external bleeding for both trained professionals and everyday citizens.

GERMANTOWN, Md., & VENLO, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today highlighted its portfolio of molecular testing solutions supporting the public health response to the growing number of cyclosporiasis cases reported across the United States.

More than 1,600 U.S. cases of cyclosporiasis have been confirmed since May, along with another 7,000 potential cases, as health authorities investigate multiple outbreaks involving Cyclospora cayetanensis, a foodborne parasite that can cause prolonged diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. The parasite is not detected through routine stool culture and requires specialized diagnostic methods, including molecular testing.

QIAGEN's Sample to Insight portfolio supports laboratories across the molecular testing continuum, from syndromic diagnostics and digital PCR to next-generation sequencing (NGS):

• The FDA-cleared QIAstat-Dx Gastrointestinal Panel 2 includes Cyclospora cayetanensis as a standard target within its 16-target menu for bacterial, viral and parasitic pathogens. The fully integrated syndromic test delivers results in about an hour, enabling laboratories to test for Cyclospora alongside other common causes of gastrointestinal illness from the initial patient sample.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NextCure, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXTC) (“NextCure”) and Avere Therapeutics, Inc. (“Avere”), a privately-held biotechnology company advancing oral therapies for IL-23 driven inflammatory diseases, today announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement (the “Agreement”) for an all-stock transaction. The Agreement brings together Avere’s differentiated oral IL-23 program with NextCure’s public market infrastructure to accelerate development of AVR-001. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the second half of 2026, the combined company is expected to operate as Avere Therapeutics, Inc., and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “AVRX.”

Avere is led by a seasoned executive team that guided Akero Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AKRO) from pre-IPO through its sale to Novo Nordisk for up to $5.2 billion in December 2025. The team is led by Andrew Cheng, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of the Board and includes Kitty Yale, Chief Development Officer; William White, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development; and Brett Pletcher, General Counsel.

SPARK for Innovations in Pediatrics, a BARDA Accelerator Network hub led by Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, is now accepting applications for the SPARK Pediatric Medical Countermeasures Summit Prize Competition 2026. The competition seeks breakthrough technologies that can help protect pediatric populations from health security threats, including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, pandemic influenza, and emerging infectious diseases. Eligible focus areas include diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, medical devices, digital health tools, and enabling technologies that address BARDA mission-relevant pediatric health security threats, as well as tools that support pediatric evidence generation, such as digital twins, organoids, organ-on-chip systems, PK/PD models, and clinical trial simulation platforms.

Up to $50,000 in non-dilutive prize funding is available. Applications are due July 22, 2026, and finalists will be invited to pitch live at the SPARK Pediatric Medical Countermeasures Summit in Washington, DC, on September 22, 2026. A virtual information session will be held on July 1, 2026.

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI), a clinical-stage biotechnology company and a U.S.-based subsidiary of HLB, today announced that the first participant has been dosed in the Phase 1 clinical trial of ITI-5000, its investigational therapeutic cancer vaccine designed to treat triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The participant completed the initial post-dose monitoring, and no significant adverse events or safety concerns have been observed to date.

ITI-5000 was developed using ITI’s proprietary UNITE® platform combined with next-generation saRNA technology. By fusing the target antigens with lysosome-associated membrane protein (LAMP), the vaccine is designed to generate a targeted T cell immune response against tumor-associated antigens with the goal of providing durable therapeutic benefit.

The ISPE Chesapeake Bay Area Women in Pharma Committee invites you to an inspiring evening of conversation, leadership insights, and networking on August 11, 2026, from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at Connect Labs at BioPark. This gathering brings together some of the industry's most innovative leaders for candid discussion about what it takes to move from scientific discovery to executive leadership. Whether you're an emerging professional, an established leader, or simply passionate about advancing the life sciences, the evening promises valuable career insights and meaningful connections.

This year's panel features an exceptional lineup of women shaping the future of biotech, healthcare, innovation, and investment. Attendees will hear from Meron F. Cherenet, VP of Business Operations & Human Capital at Vandstrom, Inc.; Mary Morris, Director of Innovation Initiatives at the University of Maryland, Baltimore; Sarangua Battumur, VP of Investment & Strategic Partnerships at GELECTRIC Medical, Inc. and Founder of Rensena Labs; and Janie Miller, BS, MBA, CEO & Founder of JahvanMed Advisors LLC. Together, they represent a remarkable range of perspectives on the paths that connect the bench to the boardroom.