ROCKVILLE, MD– June 18, 2012 — The Montgomery County Department of Economic Development (MCDED) – located in Montgomery County, Maryland, which is just outside of Washington, D.C. and home to the nation’s ONLY local biotech investment incentive program and is one of the top 5 bio clusters in the U.S. – today announces the dynamic presence of County federal and company representatives at this year’s BIO International Convention.
Montgomery County, home to 18 federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Standards and Technology, among others, and more than 300 private-sector biotech companies, will be well represented at next week’s 2012 BIO International Convention. Some highlights include:
County companies participating in BIO panels:
June 20 - “Biotech and Big Pharma — What’s Next?” panel: H. Thomas Watkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of Human Genome Sciences, Rockville, Maryland and Rachel King, CEO of GlycoMimetics, Gaithersburg, Maryland.
June 21 - “Beyond Antibodies: Developing Next Generation Biologics” panel: Peter Kiener, President & CEO of Zyngenia.
John Trizzino, Chief Executive Officer, and Marc Mansour, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer with Immunovaccine, Inc., located in the County’s Shady Grove Innovation Center incubator facility, will each give a variety of presentations, including:
• June 18, 1:00 – 1:15 p.m. ET, Room 105 (Bruins Room) corporate presentation by Mr. Trizzino;
• June 18, 3:45 – 5:00 p.m. ET, Room 208 “Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines: Renewed Optimism for the Product Pipeline” panel participation by Dr. Mansour;
• BIO Business Forum One-on-One Partnering meetings with current and potential partners to discuss the company’s novel DepoVax™ adjuvanting delivery platform and ongoing development programs.
• June 19, 3:00-4:30 p.m. Montgomery County DED Press Conference, Maryland Pavilion - Serial Biotech Entrepreneur panel, Mr. Trizzino is one of five panel participants.
MCDED will also host a press event highlighting key initiatives and successes within the County’s burgeoning biotech community on Tuesday, June 19, 3:00-4:30pm EDT, in the Maryland Pavilion.
The press event will feature a panel discussion, moderated by MedImmune CEO Peter Greenleaf, with five local, serial biotech entrepreneurs including; Mark Rampy, CEO of CohBar, Inc.; John Trizzino, CEO of Immunovaccine; Ken Carter, President & CEO of NexImmune, Inc.; Peter Kiener, President & CEO of Zyngenia; and Rahul Singhvi, Co-Founder of BioCycive.
Other Montgomery County companies and entities participating in the 2012 BIO International Convention include Maryland Pavilion exhibitors Aeras, Amarex Clinical Research, LLC, Human Genome Sciences, Immunovaccine, JG Business Link International, Lentigen Corporation, MaxCyte, MdBio Foundation and Tech Council of Maryland, Montgomery College, Rockville Economic Development Inc., Scheer Partners, and Venable. Representatives from nearly 70 County organizations, companies, and federal agencies will be at the 2012 BIO International Convention, including the following companies all located in one of the five Montgomery County Business Innovation Network (BIN) incubator facilities: Clarassance, Inc., Creatv Microtech, Inc. - a BIN graduate, current virtual BIN tenant and one of the ten County companies receiving investments spurred by the County’s local biotech investment incentive program, Daewoong America, HeMemics, Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and SuperNova Diagnostics.
In particular, Maryland Pavilion exhibitor Lentigen Corporation, a biotechnology company specializing in the development and manufacture of biotherapeutics and vaccines using its proprietary lentiviral gene delivery technologies, will showcase the opening of its 5,000 sq. ft. GMP Manufacturing Facility located at the company’s Montgomery County headquarters in Gaithersburg, MD. The facility, which meets both FDA and EMEA standards, consists of two independent ISO 7 (Class 10,000) Suites and one ISO 8 (Class 100,000) Suite. The suites are designed for production of clinical grade lentiviral vector products for Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. The suites will initially be dedicated to production of lentiviral vectors, but the company will also be building the capability to process human T-cells and stem cells for clinical trials and will manufacture products under contract for third parties as well for its own programs.
In addition, at the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development booth (#753) in the Maryland Pavilion, BIO Convention attendees will also have a chance to enter for a chance to win 6-months FREE lab space with a one-year lease agreement at one of Montgomery County’s leading Business Innovation Network’s incubator facilities, plus $500 towards airfare for a C-level company representative to fly to the County.
BIO attendees will also have a chance to enter in person at the booth from Monday, June 18 through Thursday, June 21, for a chance to win 2 tickets to the AT&T National June 28-July 1 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. One winner of two tickets will be selected and announced at 4:00 pm each day.
About Montgomery County Department of Economic Development (MCDED) The Montgomery County Department of Economic Development is charged with implementing the County’s economic development vision of being a globally-competitive, highly-diversified and knowledge-based economy that provides for the retention and growth of existing companies, stimulates new job creation and enhances entrepreneurial opportunities for all businesses. The Department offers a broad range of programs, services, partnering opportunities and strategic financing resources to stimulate and expand the County’s business, job and tax base. To learn more, visit www.choosemontgomerymd.com
