Facet Wealth Tops List of Most Promising Startups in Baltimore
Joining the fintech company Technical.ly’s realLIST for 2019 were BurnAlong (No. 5), ClearMask (No. 6) and Atana (honorable mention). The realLIST “identifies the startups that have already made moves to gain early traction.”
b.well Named Top Innovator at Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge
b.well Connected Health was honored during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference’s Startup Health Festival in San Francisco. The digital health company beat out 1,100 other startups from around the world for the honor. b.well grew its customer base by 125 percent in 2018 and is hoping to add its first hospital as a client in the first quarter of 2019.
BurnAlong Featured in Inc. Magazine
The widespread adoption of the video and social motivation platform “is a reflection of BurnAlong’s remarkable engagement,” states the article, titled “How BurnAlong Is Pioneering a New Approach to Wellness (That Actually Sticks).” BurnAlong distinguishes itself “by offering unparalleled choice” and “a unique component in the form of socialization.”
ClearMask Selected for Startup Grind’s Accelerate Program
The company is one of just 250 joining the Silicon Valley-founded organization’s global startup program out of 5,000 applicants. In addition to access to resources during and after a two-day conference this month, ClearMask will take part in educational programming and networking opportunities throughout the year.
emocha, Johns Hopkins Win Federal Funding for Addiction Recovery Study
The $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will investigate whether financial incentives improve the likelihood that patients recovering from opioid addition stick to their medication plan. emocha Mobile Health “has developed a platform designed to increase this so-called ‘medication adherence’ among patients with certain diseases or conditions that require strict or specific drug regimes.”
PGDx Signs a Pair of Partnerships as It Looks to Expand ‘Kitted’ Cancer Tests
“The Canton-based company entered a strategic partnership with China-based laboratory services company KingMed Diagnostics, which will allow the companies to provide clinical trial needs at testing sites in China and Hong Kong. …Separately, the company said the elio test will be used by pharmaceutical company Merck in a trial that will involve more than 70 clinical sites around the globe.”
emocha to Make Push into Chronic Disease
The health IT startup is working with University of Maryland Health Partners to ensure Type 2 diabetes patients stick to medication plans. The company is looking to prove its telemedicine platform can work across a broad spectrum of diseases.
Astellas Acquires Potenza Therapeutics
The Johns Hopkins startup founded by Drew Pardoll had a collaboration agreement with Astellas since 2015 to build a portfolio of novel immuno-oncology therapies.
Drew Pardoll Named 2018 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
Pardoll, director of the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, will be inducted during the NAI’s annual meeting in Houston in April. “Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.”
Johns Hopkins University Remains No. 1 in Federal Research Spending
“The $2.56 billion total combines the work being done at the university’s Baltimore-based campuses and Laurel-based Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the latter of which reported $1.47 billion. Johns Hopkins’ figure was $1 billion more than second-place University of Michigan, which recorded $1.53 billion.
Money Comes for Maryland Tech Startups
“Maryland companies raised more money than they had in more than two decades, fueling hopes that the state has begun to attract the interest of investors for the talent and the companies it is producing. …The hope is that a year with heavy deal activity for Maryland firms, whether they are raising $1 million or $100 million, has helped stabilize and set a new standard for the area.”
