About Us | Press Releases | 2007 | June 28

BIO IT COALITION HIGHLIGHTS REGIONAL COMPANIES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY AND HEALTHCARE

The BIO IT Coalition held its June 28 monthly luncheon meeting, the 2nd Annual "Highlighting Regional Companies in Biotechnology and Healthcare," at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute's (UMBI) recently-opened Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (CARB II) in Rockville.  Four Maryland companies that provide promise in the areas of bioscience and information technology were invited to present their organization's history, products, markets and future goals.  The event drew business people and professionals from DC, Maryland and Virginia to learn about ongoing research in the areas of life science and biotechnology.

Jennie Hunter-Cevera, Ph.D., President of UMBI, hosted the meeting and gave a brief overview of UMBI programs.  Part of UMBI's mission is to conduct groundbreaking research in key areas of biotechnology and generate innovative solutions to practical technologies.  She highlighted the blue crab research being conducted jointly with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in an effort to better understand the biology of the blue crab and examine the potential of replenishing its declining fishery.

Chuck Montague, Ph.D., Senior Marketing Strategist, of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (MD DBED), introduced speakers from Biological Mimetics, Inc. (BMI), CCC Diagnostics LLC, Innovative Biosensors, Inc. and SuperArray Bioscience Corporation.  Each of the speakers discussed his company's research and how its mission aligns with the BIO IT Coalition's vision to improve the future of healthcare.

Biological Mimetics, Inc (BMI), based in Frederick, Md., was founded by scientists from the National Cancer Institute in 1996.  Peter Nara, M.Sc., D.V.M., Ph.D., Chairman, President and CEO of BMI, discussed a global responsibility to sustain human and animal health by preventing epidemic and pandemic diseases worldwide.  More than 30 new and highly infectious diseases have been identified in the last 20 years, and many of them are drug-resistant.  BMI uses its proprietary Immune Refocusing Technology to generate vaccines against pathogens for which no effective vaccines exist, including HIV-1, Tuberculosis, SARS, HPV and other STDs.

CCC Diagnostics, LLC, was formed in 2004 by a core group of former Johns Hopkins University researchers whose distinguished careers cover more than 90 years of leadership in biophysics, oncology and imaging.  The company's mission is to aid physicians in setting up a personalized treatment regime for individual cancer patients by establishing drug response guides for selection of effective chemotherapy.  Paul O.P. Ts'O, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Director of CCC Diagnostics, discussed the accuracy of the technology in determining the probability of drug sensitivities or resistance, as well as predicting the duration of effective drug treatment for cancer patients.

Innovative Biosensors, Inc., is the developer of a rapid pathogen detection system.  Joe Hernandez, President and CEO, discussed how existing laboratory tests are labor intensive, time consuming and have low sensitivity and slow results.  However, the BioFlash system is composed of a genetically engineered biosensor that allows for extremely rapid testing of analytes at previously unseen levels of sensitivity and specificity.  The patented, self-contained biosensor system is capable of generating a sensitive and specific result with minimal amount of reagents in less than five minutes, making it a cost-effective alternative to traditional lab testing.

SuperArray Bioscience Corporation, founded in 1998, is a privately held biotechnology company.  It develops and markets a broad range of innovative research tools to biomedical research communities worldwide, and is the market leader in pathway focused microarray tools for gene expression analysis.  Sean X. Yu, Ph.D., VP of SuperArray Bioscience Corp., discussed the company's goal to always to provide practical research tools that accelerate, simplify and improve life science research. The meeting concluded with a brief tour led by Edward Eisentstien, Ph.D., the Director of UMBI's CARB II facility.  The tour included the Good Manufacturing Practices Laboratory (GMP), Insect Transformation Facility (ITF) and Plant Transformation Facility (PTF).

About CARB
The Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology's (carb.umbi.umd.edu) mission is to advance biotechnology by integrating molecular and biological science through research on biomolecular structure and function, biomolecular systems and biometrology, and through the development of new technologies for measurement, analysis, and design.  CARB also provides training and fosters development of the biotech industry.

The BIO IT Coalition bridges the life sciences and information technology industries to promote the growth of the Bio IT industry through interactive, content driven programs which highlight innovation, investment, education, collaboration and partnership.  This industry expansion will result in faster development and delivery of new therapies and diagnostics, better patient care, and other life science related technologies, goods and services.