Company News

With funding from Virginia Catalyst, also known as the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corp., Virginia Tech is engaged in three collaborative bioscience projects to address unmet health care needs in Virginia, according to Michael Friedlander, vice president for health sciences and technology at Virginia Tech. The Catalyst awards, which range from $350,000 to $800,000, support joint research projects between industry and Virginia universities …

ReAlta Life Sciences (“ReAlta”), Inc., a clinical mid-stage biotech company dedicated to addressing life-threatening rare diseases by harnessing the power of the immune system,  announced dosing of the first patient in a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of RLS-0071 for the treatment of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in newborns. RLS-0071, an …

RIVANNA®, developers of imaging-based medical solutions, announced that they have received funding totaling $30.5 million over 39 months from early execution of an option by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The funding …

Virginia Bio and its member companies Ampel BioSolution, Canon Virginia Inc., City of Virginia Beach, CytoRicovery, LifeNet Health, Marsh McLennan Agency, PAK Biosolutions, and ReAlta Life Sciences, are recognized as the 2023 Top Virginia Employers for Interns! Read more about this award that recognizes companies and organizations that foster talent development in Virginia in the article below.   …

Tympanogen, a medical device company based in the Biotech Park of Richmond, VA, was awarded a $3.23 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). This Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) Program grant, a continuation of a prior Direct-to-Phase II grant, will support the pivotal clinical …

Innovative antimicrobial solutions provider Cupron®, doing business as Cupron Performance Additives, announces expanded functionality for its recently introduced antimicrobial platform technology Cupron Sinerji™.  Initially engineered as a copper-based formulation, Cupron® has now extended Cupron Sinerji’s  performance, cost, and color advantage to all metal ion chemistries commonly used for antimicrobial purposes.  Specifically, Cupron’s new platform technology …

The Greater Richmond Partnership (“GRP”) has hired Kiryako Sharikas to join the team as Business Development Manager – Life Sciences. Sharikas will focus on targeting life science and pharmaceutical companies interested in expanding to the Richmond Region. “Kiryako’s experience in marketing will translate well as he markets the region as the #1 mid-sized location in …

Kaléo, a privately-held U.S. pharmaceutical company, today announced their selection by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense’s (JPEO-CBRND) Joint Project Manager for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Medical (JPM CBRN Medical) to develop a reconstitution auto-injector device that delivers atropine, the Reconstitution Auto-Injector Device …

NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has awarded WynnVision a Phase IIB Grant “Toward urinary catheterization with long-term resistance to bacterial colonization” (R44DK103398).(1) Work supported by this grant will focus on development of novel coatings that reduce bacterial biofilm formation on silicone medical devices.  Research will include addressing FDA concerns (510k …

Symrise AG has signed a minority investment agreement with Bonumose. The early-stage food ingredient manufacturer specializes in the affordable production of delicious, good-for-you rare monosaccharides (alternatives to sucrose) such as tagatose and allulose. With this strategic transaction, Symrise will accelerate growth in its sugar reduction initiatives. The area represents a high-priority focus for the North …

Thomas Barker says his seed-stage startup wants to find “modern, modular, functional lab space” to allow the company he co-founded, Vasarya Therapeutics, to be “very efficient and optimal on our research enterprise.” But good lab space is hard to come by in Charlottesville, and what exists is spread around, “so you don’t necessarily get the …

Cerillo, a biotechnology company at the forefront of developing advanced research platforms for the study of the microbiome, hosted demonstrations of the company’s new co-culture duet system at ASM Microbe 2023. Cerillo’s co-culture system will enable researchers to observe and study individual microbial populations in real time and measure the growth of one microbial population alongside …

TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced a Seed Funds investment of $250,000 into Astek Diagnostics, a life sciences company fighting antibiotic resistance through innovative technology. In addition to this investment through the Life Sciences Investment Fund – a funding opportunity under the umbrella of TEDCO’s Seed Funds – Astek Diagnostics has received an …

Euclid Vision Corporation (Euclid), a global leader in advanced orthokeratology (Ortho-K) lenses and proactive myopia management initiatives, is pleased to announce ABB Optical Group as a licensed manufacturer and distributor of the company’s Ortho-K lenses. ABB, known as the largest distributor of soft lenses in the United States, supplies nearly two-thirds of eye care professionals (ECPs) …

Cupron®, a renowned antimicrobial solutions provider – doing business as Cupron Performance Additives – is excited to announce the significant expansion of its offerings with the introduction of Cupron Sinerji™. This new adjuvant-enhanced platform offers superior antimicrobial efficacy across multiple substrates, all while maintaining an economical cost structure. Cupron Sinerji incorporates adjuvants into the copper-based …

Children’s National Hospital announced a $96 million investment from an anonymous donor family that strengthens its globally recognized leadership to transform rare childhood brain tumor research and care. It is one of the largest donations in the hospital’s history. It allows Children’s National to recruit more top talent and advance the most promising research for …

Charlottesville medical device company Luminoah Inc. has closed a $6 million Series A round it says it will use to complete the development of its mobile feeding tube device that collects data. The round was led by Charlottesville’s Fry’s Path Capital and included participation from Arlington’s Sands Capital, Charlottesville’s CAV Angels, Virginia Beach’s 757 Angels …

CELLF BIO achieved a major milestone with the world’s first human implantation of BioSphincter™, an autologous bioengineered sphincter made of smooth muscle and differentiated neural stem cells. The Phase 1 clinical trial is being conducted to treat patients with fecal incontinence (FI), a condition that affects millions of people worldwide. The implantation surgery was performed …

Activation Capital, an innovation ecosystem development organization, announced plans to develop the 102,000-square foot Innovation Center in the Bio+Tech Park in Richmond, Virginia. The 34-acre Bio+Tech Park is a commercial life sciences hub in downtown Richmond adjacent to the VCU Medical Center at Virginia Commonwealth University, and is home to over 70 companies, research institutes, …

ReAlta Life Sciences (“ReAlta”), Inc., a company addressing life-threatening rare diseases through harnessing the power of the immune system, today announced exciting new proof-of-mechanism data from the company’s Phase 1b Inhaled LPS clinical trial of RLS-0071 presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23, 2023. RLS-0071 is the Company’s lead dual action …

Consumers are increasingly in pursuit of healthier diets, including plant-based diets, Mediterranean style diets and ones high in fiber. Along with these diet changes, though, can come digestive distress from specific dietary elements called FODMAPs (fermentable oligo-, di-, monosaccharides and polyols). FODMAPs can include lactose, found in dairy products; galactans, found in legumes; and fructans, …

The Virginia Catalyst, also known as the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation (VBHRC), today announced that it has awarded $2 million in grants to four life and bioscience projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia, pending execution of the grant agreements. These grants, which will be met with significant matching funds from partner companies, were awarded …

Nancy Agee remains CEO of Roanoke health care system Roanoke, VA /Virginia Business/ Carilion Clinic has promoted its executive vice president and chief operating officer, Steve Arner, to president of the Roanoke-based nonprofit health system. He will remain COO while taking on new duties as president, Carilion said in its announcement Tuesday. Nancy Howell Agee, …

The company behind a pig-to-human heart transplant in 2022 is building a new research and development hub in Southwest Virginia to raise pigs for their hearts and kidneys, for transplantation into people. In March 2022, the first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig died, two months after the groundbreaking surgery at the …