Bob Kramer joins BioTalk to discuss his history with Emergent, his vision for the company, and Emergent’s commitment to the BioHealth Capital Region. Listen here

Also available on iTunes, Google, and TuneIn .

Kelly Lyn Warfield, VP, Vaccines and Anti-infectives, discussed the company’s approach in expanding capabilities beyond anthrax.

“Emergent was founded 20 years ago with the goal to improve an available anthrax vaccine.  Since then, we’ve become the largest provider of anthrax countermeasures for the US government and military,” said Kelly.

While BioThrax if often considered to be Emergent’s claim-to-fame, the company isn’t satisfied with stopping there.  “We’re constantly looking for new ways to improve or expand our expertise. For example, we’re currently working on a 2^nd generation anthrax vaccine that promotes a more rapid response, and with our recent acquisition of PaxVax we are working toward adding cholera and typhoid fever vaccines to our portfolio”

Currently, Emergent consists of roughly 1600 employees across 11 sites, with their main headquarters located in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  “I’ve been fortunate to have lived here most of my life, and I can tell you that Emergent is here to grow and here to stay in Maryland,” said Kelly Lyn. Read the full article here via BioBuzz.

BioBuzz Maryland talks to Emergent BioSolutions about creating a positive impact in the community and engaging their workforce. Read about the conversation here.

Dan joins BioTalk host Rich Bendis, to discuss his background, where Emergent is headed, the vaccines and BioHealth industries, and his views on the BioHealth Capital Region. Listen here

Life-saving products are manufactured right here in Maryland as ABC2 news reporter Cassie Carlisle finds out. Learn about Emergent’s Camden facility through her camera lens. Watch the full piece here.

“Honoring visionaries who are driving innovation” was the theme of Maryland Tech Council’s Industry Awards Celebration held on June 1st at the Bethesda Marriott. For the 29th year, the Council recognized individuals and companies who are leading the way in advancing the life sciences, technology, and healthcare industries in Maryland. Winners were to be announced at the celebration.

At a sold out event with ~900 industry professionals in attendance, Bob Kramer and other Emergent executives showed their support for Dan Abdun-Nabi, who was a finalist for CEO of the Year, but unable to attend the ceremony. The CEO of the Year Award is given to a CEO who is an outstanding leader and communicator, an integral part of the firm’s growth and profitability, skilled at taking risks that lead to success, and a leader in the biotechnology community. Dan bested five other CEO finalists in the category each with a distinguished background leading organizations that provided services ranging from government contracting, information management supporting intelligence, cyber and counterterrorism communities, national security software solutions, and cloud computing.

Bob graciously accepted the award on Dan’s behalf stating that “this award represents the passion and dedication of employees across our company” and thanking all of them for their many meaningful contributions to Emergent’s success. Congratulations Dan!

BETHESDA, MD – The International Biomedical Research Alliance today announced that the El-Hibri Biomedical Research Scholarship has been awarded to Michael Fernandopulle, a medical student at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a scholar from the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program. The $10,000 scholarship will support Mr. Fernandopulle’s doctoral research project to be conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Ward at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Prof. Peter St George-Hyslop at the University of Cambridge.

“The Alliance was established to support the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program, which, every year, helps nurture the talent and interest of our most promising biomedical researchers,” said Stephen McLean, Alliance Chairman. “We are pleased to present the El-Hibri Biomedical Research Scholarship to Mr. Fernandopulle, who has been selected from a highly qualified and accomplished group of scholars from the class of 2016. We look forward to hearing more about his work and future successes. We would also like to recognize Mr. and Mrs. Fuad El-Hibri for their generosity and support of the Alliance’s goals.”

“The NIH-Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program has provided a platform for young scientists across the globe to advance scientific discoveries,” said Fuad El-Hibri, Alliance Board Director and founder of vaccine developer Emergent BioSolutions. “I am both proud and humbled to be affiliated with the Alliance, which has been a longtime supporter of the Scholars, and whose dedication to recognizing talent and fostering innovation is unwavering. Thank you for allowing the El-Hibri Scholarship Fund to be part of the Scholars Program, which inspires academic achievement and seeks to impact public health one scholar at a time.”

For his doctoral research, Mr. Fernandopulle is using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to probe the basic cell biology of neurodegeneration in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He is employing a CRISPR-based forward genetics approach to identify modifiers of neuronal toxicity exerted by TDP-43, the hallmark neuropathological protein aggregate present in both ALS and FTD. Interestingly, FTD causes death of neurons almost exclusively in the frontal and temporal cerebral cortex, while ALS affects only neurons that innervate muscle. By modeling disease in both cortical and motor neurons derived from human iPSCs, he hopes to identify the basis of selective neuronal vulnerability in each of these TDP-43-opathies. These studies will improve our basic understanding of neurodegeneration, as well as enable rational therapeutic design for these currently incurable diseases. Mr. Fernandopulle’s goal is to pursue neurology as a physician-scientist, contributing to both novel basic insights and direct patient care.

Scholars are considered for laboratory scholarships based upon their previous achievements, the belief that their research project will have a meaningful impact, and the specific research interests of the organizations, foundations, and individuals sponsoring scholarships.

The NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program is an accelerated, individualized doctoral training program for outstanding science students committed to biomedical research careers. This program offers access to mentors and resources from three collaborating institutions: the NIH, the University of Oxford, and the University of Cambridge. Further information about the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program can be found at http://oxcam.gpp.nih.gov.

About the International Biomedical Research Alliance

The Alliance’s mission is to support the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program and associated global PhD and MD/PhD training programs based in the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, America’s largest biomedical research organization. Its goal is to assure the financial viability and scientific excellence of the scholars’ program by supplementing government funding. The Alliance supports program events and scholarships designed to enrich the program and broaden the perspectives of its highly selective students as they train to become the next leaders in biomedical research. It was created in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For more information, please visit http://biomedalliance.org.

Soligenix, Inc. Announced today that it has extended its development agreement with Emergent BioSolutions to implement a commercially viable, scalable production technology for the RiVax™ drug substance protein antigen.  RiVax™ is a vaccine candidate being developed to protect against ricin exposure.  This specific agreement will build upon process development work conducted to date in support of manufacturing scale-up that will eventually be performed in accordance with current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs) at Emergent’s manufacturing facility located in Baltimore, MD.

Learn more

Emergent BioSolutions, a Gaithersburg-based drug developer, has signed a contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worth up to $911 million over five years to supply more than 29 million doses of its BioThrax anthrax vaccine.

In a notice of intent, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority said it also planned to order another $100 million-worth of BioThrax.

The new BioThrax orders come on the heels of a September contract with BARDA — which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services — worth up to $1.6 billion for NuThrax, Emergent’s next generation anthrax vaccine candidate. The company’s anthrax vaccines are manufactured in Michigan.

Read the full story here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-emergent-biosolutions-contract-20161209-story.html 

Emergent BioSolutions receives the (Maryland) Governor’s Service Award for Service and Volunteerism for the Corporate Business category. This recognition is given to a corporation or business that has made a substantial impact in the community by promoting service to their employees through engaging in volunteer activities and/or by providing paid time for employees to volunteer for local organizations and/or agencies. The Governor’s Service Awards are presented by the Governor’s Office on Service&  Volunteerism each year. These awards recognize Maryland citizens for their significant volunteer contributions to the state and its people, and for working to change Maryland for the better.

Representatives from the eGIVE teams of Bayview, Camden, Montgomery County, and DC attended the awards ceremony in Annapolis last Thursday to receive the award on behalf of all Emergent volunteers. Thank you and congratulations to all Emergent volunteers.