September 29, 2026

The 12th Annual BioHealth Capital Region Forum brought leaders from industry, academia, government, investment, research institutions, economic development, and entrepreneurship together on September 15 and 16 at U.S. Pharmacopeia in Rockville, Maryland.

Under the 2026 theme, “Growing the BioHealth Capital Region of Tomorrow,” the two-day Forum focused on the people, technologies, infrastructure, capital and partnerships needed to strengthen the region and support its next stage of growth.

The Forum was part of BioHealth Capital Region Week, which continued September 17 with the BioHealth Capital Region Investment Conference.

2026 BioHealth Capital Region Week by the Numbers

This year’s participation reflected the strength and reach of the regional ecosystem.

Nearly 1,100 people registered for the BioHealth Capital Region Forum, bringing together leaders from across the region and beyond.

The BioHealth Capital Region Investment Conference drew approximately 350 registrants, creating another opportunity for companies, investors and strategic partners to connect.

The Crab Trap Competition received a record 82 applications, highlighting the depth of the emerging company pipeline.

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), Montgomery County's innovation intermediary, is seeking an experienced life science business analyst to support the NIH SEED Office. The analyst will deliver market landscape, technology, and business intelligence research that helps NIH-funded companies advance product development, corporate strategy, and private investment, working alongside SEED's Entrepreneurs-in-Residence on commercialization activities across all therapy areas and modalities.

Day to day, the analyst will run competitive, intellectual property, and product-development landscape analyses of early-stage NIH-funded companies using BHI's commercial data sources, GlobalData and PitchBook, alongside NIH grant data from RePORTER and QVR. Deliverables range from company background packages that support pitch coaching to commercialization-event tracking, emerging-indication trend overviews, clinical-development landscapes, and multi-region market-opportunity analyses, plus ownership of a regularly refreshed portfolio dashboard reporting metrics and outcomes to SEED and BHI leadership. BHI is looking for a bachelor's degree at minimum (master's or PhD preferred) and at least 10 years of experience as a financial, market, or business intelligence analyst in the life science or biomedical industry.

ARPA-H has opened its 2026 Emerging Health Innovators (EHI) funding opportunity, designed to expand access to ARPA-H funding and give early-career researchers and innovators the opportunity to pursue ambitious, high-impact ideas in health.

The EHI initiative supports early-career investigators across academia, nonprofits, industry, and other research settings, with proposals led by principal investigators generally within eight years of completing their first terminal degree. The 2026 solicitation includes 16 topic areas spanning inflammation, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, organ and tissue preservation, cancer, women’s health, infectious disease, advanced manufacturing, and other emerging health challenges.

ARPA-H will host a virtual EHI Proposers’ Day on October 13, 2026, where prospective applicants can learn more about the opportunity, topic areas, and application process. Solution Summaries are due October 30, 2026, with full proposals due February 10, 2027.

Learn more about the Emerging Health Innovators opportunity, review the 2026 topic areas, eligibility requirements, and application information at the ARPA-H EHI program page

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched the fourth NIA Start-Up Challenge and Accelerator, offering early-stage innovators a combination of funding, entrepreneurial training, mentorship, and networking to help advance new technologies focused on aging and older adults.

The 2027 Challenge will award up to $994,000 in total cash prizes while providing selected entrepreneurs with hands-on support to move research-driven ideas toward commercialization.

The Challenge is seeking innovative tools, technologies, and interventions that address aging-related diseases and conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. NIA is also looking for solutions that promote healthy aging, help older adults age in the place of their choice, improve care delivery, and reduce the burden on caregivers.

The program is designed in particular for individuals and teams that are new to entrepreneurship or are still at an early stage of building a company.

Selected finalists will each receive a $24,000 cash prize and participate in a five-month entrepreneurial accelerator featuring mentorship, education, networking, and business development support.

Participants will also receive guidance on navigating NIH funding opportunities, including NIA’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, commonly known as SBIR and STTR.

TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced that three of its executives have been named to the Washingtonian’s 2026 Tech Titans list. The honorees are Troy LeMaile-Stovall CEO; Tammi Thomas, president; and Jack Miner, chief investment officer. This annual list recognizes entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, government officials, artificial intelligence experts and other influential leaders driving the Washington region’s technology community.

The 2026 list includes 250 honorees across seven categories. LeMaile-Stovall, Thomas and Miner were recognized in the “Money Folks” category, which highlights investors and other leaders supporting the region’s technology economy.

“Being named alongside Tammi and Jack reflects the collaborative leadership that drives TEDCO’s work,” said LeMaile-Stovall. “This recognition belongs to the entire TEDCO team and the entrepreneurs, partners and stakeholders working with us to strengthen Maryland’s technology ecosystem. Together, we are expanding access to resources and creating opportunities for innovative companies to grow.”

ATCC has been awarded a 10-year Department of War (DOW) contract to coordinate lifecycle management of medical countermeasures (MCMs) developed to protect U.S. military personnel from chemical and biological threats.

Under this contract, ATCC supports the mission of the Rapid Access to Products in Development (RAPID) program to enable MCM preparedness against chemical and biological threats, and ensure those countermeasures remain viable and ready for fielding across the Joint Force. These MCMs include vaccines, biologics, and drugs capable of preventing or treating chemical and biological threats.

RAPID is managed by the Joint Project Lead for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Enabling Technologies (JPL CBRN ET) under the Capability Program Executive for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (CPE CBRND).

This award builds on ATCC’s decades of experience aligning scientific, regulatory, and operational stakeholders across complex federal programs. ATCC supports critical military priorities for the DOW, including active programs with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 22, 2026) — For nearly half a century, Bayh-Dole has transformed federally funded research into new companies, products, jobs, and as much as $3.3 trillion in U.S. economic output, according to a new report released today by the Bayh-Dole Coalition.

The report draws on nearly three decades of data from AUTM‘s voluntary licensing survey, analyzed by Vital Transformation. It shows in vivid detail how federally funded research contributes to the American economy through breakthrough products, startup creation, jobs supported, and more.

“For more than 45 years, Bayh-Dole has helped turn American research into American innovation, jobs, companies, and economic growth,” said Joseph P. Allen, Executive Director of the Bayh-Dole Coalition. “These numbers show the enormous economic impact of giving those closest to an invention the incentive and opportunity to bring it from the laboratory to the marketplace.”

VENLO, Netherlands & GERMANTOWN, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced the launch of QIAmini, a compact automated sample preparation system designed to give research laboratories a time-saving and cost-efficient alternative to processing samples by hand.

QIAmini is designed primarily for academic laboratories and other research customers processing smaller sample batches that do not require larger automated systems. QIAGEN estimates the addressable market at more than 100,000 potential instrument placements worldwide. Automation can reduce repetitive manual work and free up skilled laboratory staff, which can be difficult to recruit and retain.

QIAmini is a benchtop system with a footprint about the size of a sheet of printer paper. It processes up to eight samples per run and automates DNA and RNA extraction and purification. Across evaluated workflows, QIAmini reduced hands-on time by over 80%.

The Allotrope Foundation will bring technology partners, industry experts, researchers, and data architects together for the 2026 Fall Allotrope Connect Workshop, October 7–9 at U.S. Pharmacopeia headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. The event will be offered both in person and virtually, with the main workshop taking place October 7–8 and the Allotrope Foundation Board of Directors meeting on October 9.

This year’s workshop will focus on “Scientific Results Need Context: The Value of ASM,” exploring how scientific results can be connected with samples, methods, specifications, experimental conditions, and other information needed to make laboratory data more reusable, interoperable, machine-actionable, and AI-ready. Sessions will examine the Allotrope Simple Model (ASM), digital analytical methods, laboratory and manufacturing interoperability, automation, structured regulatory submissions, and emerging applications of AI.



The two-day program includes presentations and discussions featuring representatives from USP, Allotrope Foundation, Pistoia Alliance, Agilent Technologies, Merck, Genentech, Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Shimadzu, Benchling, and other organizations. Registration is open to the public regardless of Allotrope Foundation membership, with both in-person and virtual participation available.

ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- REGENXBIO Inc. (Nasdaq: RGNX) today announced positive long-term follow-up data from the Phase II ALTITUDE^® study of investigational surabgene lomparvovec (sura-vec, ABBV-RGX-314) in diabetic retinopathy (DR) using suprachoroidal delivery. These new data were presented at the Retina Society 59^th Annual Scientific Meeting in Los Angeles.

"These latest long-term results are highly encouraging and reinforce the potential of sura-vec to change the treatment landscape for the millions of patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy," said Steve Pakola, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of REGENXBIO. "Building on the positive data seen at two and two and a half years after a single treatment, the three-year data continues to show meaningful improvements in DRSS alongside a reduction in disease progression. The durability of these results strengthens our conviction in sura-vec as a potentially transformative, one-time treatment."

"For patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, the goal is to intervene before the disease progresses to vision-threatening complications and irreversible vision loss. However, current preventive treatment requires repeat injections, which is a significant burden for a population that is largely working-age adults," said Nikolas London, M.D., FACS, FASRS, Retina Consultants San Diego, ALTITUDE study investigator.

TEDCO’s 12th Entrepreneur Expo will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, universities, and resource partners from across Maryland on October 27, 2026, at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor.

The full-day event will feature workshops, roundtable discussions, keynote conversations, live pitches, networking, and an exhibitor showcase. Sessions will focus on practical topics such as fundraising, investor expectations, startup financials, AI, leadership, and building a business in Maryland.

With more than 1,100 attendees at last year’s Expo, the event has become one of the state’s largest gatherings for the entrepreneurial and innovation community, offering attendees a chance to make new connections, discover resources, and hear directly from founders, investors, and business leaders.

VirginiaBio is reimagining its premier annual conference for 2026. Women Building Bio is moving to an evening format this year, so attendees can keep their daytime schedules intact and still join a few focused hours of insight, networking, and connection. Save the date for Thursday, October 29th at the Sheraton Suites Old Town Alexandria.

Full programming details are still being finalized and will be announced soon. In the meantime, mark your calendar and watch for updates on speakers and session topics. More information is available on the VirginiaBio event page.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and three other groups have formed a new alliance to devise an economic strategy for the region, the first step toward achieving a goal that has eluded Greater Washington for years.



The Potomac Regional Alliance will be charged with developing the region's first Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, or CEDS, a federally recognized roadmap aligning economic priorities across D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The Greater Washington Partnership, the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area are the other founding members.



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Ten years ago, a group of scientists and entrepreneurs in Charlottesville decided the community needed a way to jump start companies that could improve health.

“Connecting people to one another for everything that they need – talent, capital, infrastructure, attract others to the region, attract attention to all the amazing technologies that are here, says Nikki Hastings, CEO of the CvilleBioHub.

At the outset it identified forty local firms looking for better ways to diagnose and treat disease and to maintain good health. Today, she says, there are more than 250 of them.