May 12, 2026

Rich Bendis, Founder, President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), was recently featured in PharmaBoardroom for a conversation on the growth of the BioHealth Capital Region and the role BHI plays in helping life sciences companies move from promising ideas to real commercial opportunities.

In the interview, Rich reflects on the early need that led to the creation of BHI. The region already had world-class research, major federal assets, leading academic institutions, and a strong base of life sciences companies. What was missing was a stronger bridge between science, entrepreneurs, investors, industry, and the market. BHI was built to help fill that gap.

The conversation also looks at how the BioHealth Capital Region became a more connected and recognized life sciences cluster across Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia. Rich discusses why regional collaboration matters and how a shared identity has helped strengthen the area’s national and global position.

BALTIMORE, Md., May 12, 2026 — The Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) hosted its 3rd Annual Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Tech Showcase on April 30, 2026, at City Garage in Baltimore, bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders, including a keynote by Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, to highlight Maryland’s growing leadership in regenerative medicine. The event showcased companies such as Nanochon, Theradaptive, and Seraxis, and drew investors and advisors from J.P. Morgan, Anzu Partners, SOSV, and Newpath Partners, among others.

Hosted in collaboration with the Maryland Department of Commerce and Blackbird Laboratories, the full-day event welcomed more than 160 attendees and featured pitch presentations, keynote remarks, an Oxford-style debate, and a networking and poster reception. The program centered on advancing Maryland’s regenerative medicine ecosystem by connecting innovators with investors, industry experts, and partners who can help move promising technologies toward commercialization and patient impact.

An innovative startup company from Cape Town, South Africa has joined Maryland’s medtech community.

Impulse Biomed is a multi-medical device development company, focusing on providing affordable and reliable medical solutions. The company’s products include an accessible device for asthma inhalers called Easy Squeezy, and the ZiBiPen, a patented reloadable autoinjector that can be used for anaphylaxis.

The company will be located at Baltimore’s LaunchPort as part of the state’s Global Gateway Soft Landing Program, which gives international companies the opportunity to test out the U.S. market while mitigating some of the risk.

“We believe that Maryland is the ideal launchpad for the ZiBiPen in particular,” said Impulse Biomed Co-Founder Gokul Nair. “The ecosystem offers a direct line to regulatory expertise, manufacturing infrastructure, and commercial partners essential for market disruption and, of course, impact.”

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.

This no-pressure happy hour is a great opportunity to connect with innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and resource leaders across the Baltimore region.

This month’s gathering will also celebrate 4MLK’s “Development Project of the Year” award from the Maryland Economic Development Association, recognizing the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Wexford Science & Technology’s commitment to inclusive innovation and community-rooted growth in Baltimore’s innovation ecosystem.

For anyone working in life sciences, tech, commercialization, economic development, or startup support, this is a strong chance to meet others helping shape the next chapter of Baltimore’s innovation community.

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.

COLUMBIA, Md. – May 7, 2026 – Welldoc®, an AI-powered health technology leader, today announced that it has been named winner of the “Best Overall Digital Health Company” award for the fourth consecutive year in the MedTech Breakthrough Awards. The annual awards program is conducted by MedTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the most innovative companies, technologies and products in the global digital health and medical technology market. This is the fifth year overall that MedTech Breakthrough has recognized Welldoc for its leadership and innovation in the digital health industry.

Welldoc has continued to demonstrate its clinical rigor and the ongoing evolution of its healthcare-ready AI. The company surpassed 100 peer-reviewed clinical publications, including 43 focused specifically on AI, and formally launched...

Roanoke regional and state leaders gathered Wednesday to celebrate the opening of RoVa Labs at Carilion Clinic, a $26 million biotechnology incubator.

The 40,000-square-foot building features private and open wet lab space, shared equipment, offices and huddling spaces.

Located at 1030 S. Jefferson St. in a building that previously housed Carilion’s sleep lab and diabetes nutrition program, RoVa Labs is expected to create 250 jobs within five years.

The facility is one piece of a broader strategy to strengthen the region as a hub for biotech and life sciences.

“RoVa Labs is more than lab space,” Roanoke Mayor Joe Cobb said Wednesday. “It’s a place that will attract biotechnology innovators, who, in turn, will develop ideas into real solutions that make a real difference in people’s lives. It’s a place that will support the growth of startup companies as they work to commercialize groundbreaking research.”

Save the date for Bench, Bedside & Breakthrough: Health Tech Innovation from Silicon Valley to BioHealth Capital Region. On Tuesday, May 26, MedStar-Georgetown's AI CoLab brings clinicians, scientists, founders, and investors together for a one-day symposium tracing how a domain-expert insight becomes a regulated, funded, market-ready product.


May 26, 2026 · 9:00 AM – 7:30 PM 


MedStar-Georgetown AI CoLab, Washington, DC

At I-270 Innovation Labs in Frederick County, the room filled past capacity—an audience standing shoulder to shoulder to unpack what, on paper, looks like a simple story: a $2 billion investment into Maryland’s life sciences ecosystem.

But as the conversation unfolded, it became clear that the number itself is almost beside the point.

“We see headlines all the time… $2 billion investment in Maryland. That’s a great headline,” said BioBuzz CEO Chris Frew as he opened the evening. “But a lot of times we don’t really know what goes on behind it.”

COLUMBIA, Md., May 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- TEDCO, Maryland's economic engine for technology companies, announces the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The signing included Her Excellency Ambassador Dina Kawar, Jordanian Ambassador to the U.S.; His Excellency Sami Smeirat, Jordanian Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship; Maryland Governor Wes Moore; TEDCO CEO Troy LeMaile-Stovall; and Tammi Thomas, president, TEDCO.

"This MOU represents more than an international collaboration; it showcases the continued development of both innovation ecosystems and a commitment to promoting this growth," said LeMaile-Stovall. "Through this agreement, we are enabling opportunities for cross-border investments, promoting startup exchange and inspiring joint initiatives that will lay the groundwork for mutually beneficial opportunities."

The W. P. Carey Foundation has made a $50 million gift to the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, the university announced today.

According to the announcement, the donation represents one of the ten largest private gifts ever made to a U.S. graduate business school. It will be used to expand entrepreneurship programs for students, provide additional funding for startup accelerators, recruit more MBA students, increase faculty professorships, and strengthen the school’s contributions to Baltimore area’s economy and various industry partners.

“The Carey Foundation has always been focused not only on student excellence and getting them well-prepared for their future, but also has been really interested in the ability of our students to be successful in business and to drive the economy, in particular in Baltimore,” Carey Business School Dean Alex Triantis said in the news release.

PRINCETON, N.J. and FREDERICK, M.D., May 5, 2026 – Made Scientific, Inc., a U.S.-based clinical and commercial cell therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), and RoosterBio, Inc., a leading supplier of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), engineered bioprocess media, and bioprocess development services, today announced a strategic partnership integrating RoosterBio’s mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and extracellular vesicle (EV) manufacturing platforms into Made Scientific’s end-to-end CDMO offering, which spans from initial process development through commercial-scale GMP manufacturing.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 11, 2026) — Today, the Bayh-Dole Coalition released its 2026 Faces of American Innovation report highlighting eight innovators who transformed early-stage research into breakthrough technologies that are improving lives globally.

“Each year, the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s Faces of American Innovation report spotlights the journey of federally funded discoveries from lab to real-world impact,” said Joseph P. Allen, executive director of the Bayh-Dole Coalition. “This year’s honorees exemplify the vision, grit, and tenacity that process requires — and why the Bayh-Dole Act remains essential in driving American innovation, economic growth, and making lives better here and around the world.”

VIENNA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE American: CVM) today announced it has signed a strategic partnership, distribution, and revenue sharing agreement with Amarox for regulatory affairs, marketing and potential commercialization of *Multikine® (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) in the treatment of head and neck cancer in Saudi Arabia, with an optional extension for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Amarox will support and coordinate the local regulatory process with SFDA, including seeking the SFDA’s Breakthrough Medicine Designation which, upon granting, would make Multikine rapidly available to patients in Saudia Arabia, representing a pivotal shift in CEL-SCI’s commercial trajectory.

The companies will share net revenue from sales of Multikine in Saudi Arabia on a 50%/50% basis.

Johns Hopkins will host Frontiers in Clinical Infectious Diseases from June 1–3, 2026, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., with a virtual registration option available. The three-day CME/CE course will bring together clinicians and healthcare professionals for practical updates on emerging and persistent infectious disease challenges.

The program will cover topics including antimicrobial resistance, HIV care, PrEP and doxyPEP, Candida auris, fungal pathogens, STIs, UTIs, endocarditis, C. difficile, vaccines, AI in infectious disease, tuberculosis guidance, and nontuberculous mycobacteria. The course is designed for infectious disease specialists, hospitalists, primary care providers, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, and other professionals working across patient care.

ROCKVILLE, MD, May 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MacroGenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, and Bora Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (TWSE: 6472; OTCQX: BORAY), a global leader in pharmaceutical manufacturing, today announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement in which MacroGenics will sell its good manufacturing practice (GMP) drug substance manufacturing operations to Bora, subject to customary closing conditions.

“When MacroGenics articulated its strategic priorities last year, we committed to building a more focused company centered on advancing our innovative pipeline and delivering long-term shareholder value. This transaction supports that strategy by providing additional non-dilutive capital to accelerate our pipeline to key value inflection points in 2026 and beyond,” said Eric Risser, President and Chief Executive Officer of MacroGenics. “This transaction will also allow the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) operation to expand under Bora’s ownership, while enabling MacroGenics to maintain access to an expanded array of development and manufacturing capabilities to support our current and future pipeline.”