Maryland Community Newspapers Online
More than 120 stem cell researchers from Maryland and California met in Baltimore last week as the two states took the next step in a development collaboration announced at the 2009 World Stem Cell Summit in September.
The all-day "Workshop on Tools & Technologies for Bottlenecks in Stem Cell Research" on March 12 featured presentations mostly by university scientists, plus three from Maryland businesses. Researchers shared strategies for overcoming common hurdles in stem cell research and developing novel therapeutic approaches for using stem cells.
Linking up with California researchers is likely to pay dividends, said one of the presenters, Jonathan M. Auerbach. Auerbach is founder and president of GlobalStem, a Rockville company that provides services and products such as growth media to researchers.
The focus of both states' initiatives is to develop products and not focus solely on research, so "there's a benefit to having companies involved, not just academic groups," he said Monday. "We offer a commercial aspect."
The collaboration plans to issue a request for applications for joint projects, perhaps by the end of this month, Auerbach said. But he questioned how much money Maryland will commit to these endeavors, given the ongoing legislative debate over appropriations for the state's stem cell research fund in the fiscal 2011 budget.
While state funding for stem cell research in Maryland has fallen in recent years, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) proposes spending $12.4 million next year, the same as this year. Legislative analysts have suggested slicing that in half in fiscal '11.
"Does Maryland have the budget to fund any of these projects?" Auerbach asked. "California does."
GlobalStem is a direct and indirect beneficiary of this state funding. The company last year won a two-year, $230,000 grant and has applied for project funding this year, Auerbach said. Plus, recipients of other state grants may turn to his company for products and services.
GlobalStem focuses on growth media for embryonic stem cells and is also branching into adult cells, he said.
"We're experts in the growing cell cultures," he said. "That's our niche."
The new collaboration with California researchers is "expanding the market, in a sense," Auerbach said.
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was formed in 2005 after a ballot measure established a $3 billion stem cell research fund for universities and researchers. Since then, the institute has approved 328 research and facility grants totaling more than $1.02 billion.
The following year, the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission was formed as a unit of the Maryland Technology Development Corp. About $56 million has been invested in research since 2007.
Both state agencies were behind last week's conference, as were the MdBio Foundation, the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Maryland Biotechnology Center.
"Today's gathering of Maryland and California stem cell researchers marks the beginning of an important and rewarding relationship for both states," O'Malley said in a statement. "Critical innovations and advancements in science and medicine must go beyond state borders to be successful. This workshop demonstrates the dedication of Maryland and California to the promise and potential of stem cell research."
"This revolutionary science has the potential to save millions of lives from debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis," said California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in the statement. "This collaborative workshop will unite some of the best minds in the field from California and Maryland to collaborate and advance stem cell research. I look forward to seeing the successes and solutions that develop from this partnership to help treat some of today's most life-threatening diseases."
In other Maryland bioscience industry news:
OriGene Technologies reported completing a $16 million Series B financing round led by IDG-Accel, SBI & TH Venture Capital Enterprise and Zero2IPO.
Previous investors Morningside Venture Investments and President International Development also participated in this round. OriGene said it plans to spend the proceeds to continue building its monoclonal antibody collection.
"We are delighted by this vote of confidence from our existing and new investors and share their enthusiasm for our growth strategy and execution. The funding will propel us closer to meeting our goal of building the largest monoclonal antibody collection in the world covering the entire human genome of approximately 20,000 genes," CEO Wei-Wu He said in a statement.
The collection has enabled OriGene to manufacture human full-length proteins directly from human cells for producing monoclonal antibodies, according to company information.
OriGene also said it plans to work with Essen Instruments of Ann Arbor, Mich., to develop ion channel cell lines.
Human Genome Sciences this week reported disappointing results of a phase 2 trial of mapatumumab in non-small cell lung cancer.
While the compound was well-tolerated, results showed no difference in disease response or progression-free survival for mapatumumab when it was combined with chemotherapy versus the control group, according to information from the Rockville company.
HGS also announced a collaboration with a Swedish company to develop and commercialize therapeutic monoclonal antibodies to target antigens discovered by HGS.
BioInvent of Lund will apply its antibody discovery technology to generate and develop monoclonal antibody candidates. The work will initially focus on developing antibodies targeting inflammation. BioInvent and HGS will each be able to participate in development and global commercialization of each candidate, and will share research, development, manufacturing and commercialization costs, plus any revenues.
"Access to commercially attractive targets to which we can apply our antibody discovery engine is an important part of BioInvent's strategy," said Svein Mathisen, CEO of BioInvent, in a statement. "We believe this collaborative agreement is a strong and valuable way of building our pipeline of innovative drugs as BioInvent and HGS's research strengths are both complementary and synergistic."
Rockville vaccine-developer Novavax reported that more than 3,500 healthy subjects, ages 18 to 64, have been enrolled in Mexico in Stage B of its 2009 H1N1 virus-like-particle pandemic flu vaccine study. Enrollment is complete, with 1,000 subjects previously enrolled in Stage A.
The purpose of Stage B was to evaluate safety.
"Novavax has now completed enrollment of the largest clinical trial in the Company's history," CEO Rahul Singhvi said in a statement. "This was an ambitious program from the start and we now have realized a remarkable milestone in less than five months. ... I am confident that the quality of the data from this part of the study together with the encouraging results to date from Stage A of the trial will enable Novavax to move closer to ultimate product registration."
Novavax also reported that Raymond J. Hage Jr., senior vice president, commercial operations, left the company on Wednesday. The company did not provide reasons for Hage's departure and offered him a severance of $128,866, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He held the position since October 2006.
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals has begun the second of two phase 3 clinical trials of NicVax vaccine candidate to help smokers quit and stay off cigarettes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has agreed with the Rockville company on the study design, protocol and end points through a special protocol assessment, a foundation to support approval of a new drug application, according to Nabi information. The company said it also received scientific advice from the European Medicines Agency that confirms and supports the trial protocol.
Results of the trial are expected in early 2012.
"With the initiation of this study, we are now fully engaged in the pivotal clinical program that we believe will lead to the successful licensure of NicVAX," CEO Raafat Fahim said in a statement.
This month, Nabi closed on its option and license agreement for NicVax with GlaxoSmithKlineBiologicals, a deal announced in November. Nabi is now entitled to receive an upfront payment of $40 million and GlaxoSmithKline has the option to exclusively in-license NicVax globally and a license to develop next-generation nicotine vaccines using Nabi's intellectual property.
Nabi also is eligible for up to $460 million in option fees and regulatory, development and sales milestones for NicVax and follow-on nicotine vaccines.
"The closing of this agreement marks the culmination of our strategic alternatives process. We, along with our strategic partner, GSK, are fully focused on realizing the significant value of NicVAX through the successful development and commercialization of this product," Fahim said.
Micromet of Bethesda, which focuses on developing antibody therapies to treat cancer, reported closing its public stock offering for $80.5 million.
Micromet plans to spend the net proceeds of $75.3 million primarily on general corporate purposes.
Centauri Labs of Frederick has won a $270,000 contract from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to conduct radiochemical analysis in and around the state's nuclear power plants, according to a company statement.
Centauri will provide analysis to detect radiation in milk, air particulates, charcoal cartridges, soil, fish, vegetation and aquatic sediment.
"This contract will allow Centauri Labs to leverage our experience in radiochemistry and our recently established Center of Excellence for Radiochemistry Facility in our Montgomery, Alabama, location," Joe Hernandez, chairman, said in the statement. "Additionally, this contract will extend Centauri's reach into radiochemical monitoring of nuclear power plants and allow for growth in this segment moving forward."
Advanced BioNutrition of Columbia has raised $910,275 of its $1.2 million mixed-securities offering, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company, founded in 2001, develops nutritional ingredients for animals and the aquaculture industry. Past investors include the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.
BioElectronics of Frederick announced it has launched a direct response television marketing campaign in Latin America for its electronic healing patch for menstrual pain.
The program targeted Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Mexico, with an expansion planned into Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in the coming weeks.
"We strongly believe this positive reaction from the women of Latin America can be successfully replicated in the other geographic regions we will be targeting over the short term," said CEO Andrew Whelan in a statement.