Company News

BEAM Diagnostics, Inc. (BEAM), a behavioral health company delivering digital assessments to improve patient-centered healthcare – has been awarded a $1.84 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to commercialize its pioneering technology, improving and increasing proactive assessment of opioid use disorder in outpatient medical clinics. BEAM’s proprietary technology, Beacon-OUD, is a digital …

BIO-CAT, Inc,  | BIO-CAT announced that a newly published study on the probiotic Bacillus subtilis MB40 revealed promising results leading to the reduction of Listeria. The study was designed to determine the effects of Bacillus subtilis MB40 supplementation on innate immunity and Listeria. This study was completed in partnership with the School of Animal Sciences at …

AgroSpheres, Inc., an agricultural biobased solutions developer, is pleased to announce that its proprietary encapsulation technology, AgroSpheres® Microbially-Derived Minicells (also known as the AgriCell), was recently reviewed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), which has determined that it meets the criteria for use under the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). AgroSpheres® Microbially-Derived Minicells is …

The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) announced that Robert Stolle plans to step down from his role as President and CEO. Stolle has been with VIPC and its predecessor – The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) – for 13 years, including serving the last 3 as CEO. Prior to his current role, he was Senior …

CvilleBioHub, an industry-led 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating Charlottesville’s biotechnology industry sector, today announced that it has again received a $200,000 Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) grant from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation. RIF is state-funded program that provides competitive grants to leading Virginia-based entrepreneur support organizations. CvilleBioHub sits at the center of a thriving …

Activation Capital is seeking an anchor tenant for its planned 102,000-square-foot, $53 million innovation center and is looking to Under Armour’s corporate campus in Baltimore and Capital One’s 1717 Michael Wassmer Innovation Center in Richmond for inspiration. The building, to be located in Activation Capital’s VA Bio+Tech Park in Richmond, has been planned for 20 …

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 …