Business

Gaithersburg’s Novavax Terminates Supply Agreement With Manufacturing Partner; May Have to Pay as Much as $185 Million

By MCS Staff

Gaithersburg-based Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine was approved a few months back, but is not receiving the demand the company expected, according to a report from FiercePharma. Due to the low demand for the vaccine, which has been approved for first and second doses, but not as a booster, Novavax is terminating its supply agreement with manufacturing partner Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. Novavax may have to pay early termination fees up to $185 million. According to BizJournals, “The Gaithersburg company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday that the contract, which dates to June 2020, was terminated on Sept. 30. Under an agreement struck in August 2021, Fujifilm was to continue manufacturing the antigen component of Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine through 2025, according to SEC filings.”

The security filing can be seen here: “On September 30, 2022, Novavax, Inc. (the “Company”), FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies UK Limited (“FDBK”), FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies Texas, LLC (“FDBT”) and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies USA, Inc. (“FDBU” and together with FDBK and FDBT, “Fujifilm”) entered into a Confidential Settlement Agreement and Release (the “Settlement Agreement”) regarding amounts due to Fujifilm in connection with the termination of manufacturing activity at FDBT under the Commercial Supply Agreement (the “CSA”) dated August 20, 2021 and Master Services Agreement dated June 30, 2020 and associated statements of work (the “MSA”) by and between the Company and Fujifilm.

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Rockville

Rockville: Shape the Future of the Swim and Fitness Center’s Outdoor Recreation Pool

By MCS Staff

Want to help shape the future of the outdoor Recreation Pool at the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center? Community members are invited to drop in anytime from 5:30-8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17 at the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center to learn about and share input on the upcoming outdoor Recreation Pool renovations. Let the design team know your preferences with the current facility and ideas for the future. Families are welcome and encouraged to attend. A survey will also be available at rockvillemd.gov/swimcenter from Monday, Oct. 10 – Friday, Nov. 4.

The newly renovated and expanded locker rooms and lobby area at the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center re-opened in January 2020. Based on community recommendations and an architectural audit, we completed a major renovation that focused on upgrading the locker rooms and lobby. View the Invitation for Bid, posted on October 30, 2018. Key elements of the project included:

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Gaithersburg

Gaithersburg: Headwaters Drainage Study Survey is Now Complete

By MCS Staff

The City of Gaithersburg’s Headwaters Drainage Study survey is now complete and responses have been analyzed. View the survey response data here. With several point of interest areas, the consultant will begin field assessment data collection this week and conclude mid-November. Following field assessment data collection, the City and Consultant plan to schedule a Community Meeting sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The City will send meeting notifications via postcards, the inGaithersburg Weekly eNewsletter, social media and this project page when a specific date is confirmed.

The objective of the Headwaters Drainage Study project is to conduct a drainage study of the headwaters of the Muddy Branch, Lower Seneca Creek, and the Middle Seneca Creek watersheds to identify, evaluate, and prioritize opportunities for improving neighborhood level stormwater management (SWM) systems. The study will seek to:

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Crime

Montgomery County Man Sentenced to Over Nine Years in Federal Prison for Distribution of Fentanyl That Led to an Overdose Death

By MCS Staff

Per the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maryland: U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Enitan Mouroukeji Agbi, a/k/a “Anton Agbi” and “Tone,” age 38, of Germantown, Maryland to 114 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for distribution of fentanyl.  A victim died from using drugs that Agbi distributed.  Judge Grimm also ordered Agbi to pay restitution of at least $1,125.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration – Washington Division; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief Darryl McSwain of the Maryland National Capital Park Police; Chief Robert J. Contee III of the Metropolitan Police Department; and Chief Victor Brito of the City of Rockville Police Department.

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Montgomery Planning

Gwen Wright Removed as Planning Director and Deputy Director Tanya Stern Made Acting Planning Director

By MCS Staff

Per Montgomery Planning: The Montgomery County Planning Board voted to name Deputy Planning Director Tanya Stern as Acting Montgomery Planning Director on October 7, 2022. The Planning Board voted to remove Gwen Wright as Planning Director. The Planning Director position is an at-will position that is appointed by the Planning Board. Tanya Stern has been a Montgomery Planning Deputy Director since August 2018.

Gwen Wright served as Planning Director since July 2013. She began her tenure with M-NCPPC in 1987 and was due to retire at the end of December 2022. “We thank and appreciate Gwen Wright’s many years of service to M-NCPPC and Montgomery Planning and the legacy of excellence in planning and urban design by Montgomery Planning during that time,” said Acting Planning Director Tanya Stern. “During this time of transition, I will be working very closely with senior leadership to help ensure Montgomery Planning can continue to focus on its excellent work that is highly respected in this region and across the country.”

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Maryland

Maryland Listed as One of the “10 Least Popular States to Move to in 2022” According to Report

By MCS Staff

A recent report from moveBuddha, a relocation tech company, ranked the least popular states to move to in 2022. According to the article, “Roughly 13% of Americans moved each year before the pandemic. So, it makes sense that Americans have attacked COVID-19 as they’ve resolved so many other challenges: by hitting the road. Since the pandemic, 22% of Americans have moved in response to the virus or know someone who has.” Maryland came in as the 7th least popular state to move to in 2022.

moveBuddha uses proprietary data collected from 2020, 2021, and 2022 (Jan 1 through July 5th) to analyze moves trends. The data comes directly from the moveBuddha Moving Cost Calculator. In-to-out ratio: “We rely primarily on the in-to-out ratio equation in our analysis to see which cities are earning more residents by moves in than losing them via moves out: [Number of queries for moves in] ÷ [Number of queries for moves out] = [in-to-out ratio].”

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Montgomery Village

Montgomery Village Center Update

By Patrick Herron

SafeSplash typically offers learn-to-swim lessons to children as young as six months of age. No prior swimming experience is needed. Adult and adaptive lessons are typically offered as well. Various class levels are offered to suit different swimming abilities. Per SafeSplash, “Students are taught in small classes (no larger than 4 students to 1 instructor), by experienced and passionate instructors. SafeSplash uses a proven, proprietary instruction method that has been tested and refined over the company’s history, across 10 years and over 4 million swim lessons.”

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Crime

40 Year Sentence for Rockville Medical Worker Who Sexually Abused Psych Patients

By MCS Staff

Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, Judge David Boynton sentenced, defendant, Macdoff Oghenejabo Okah,46, of Silver Spring, to 60 years suspend all but 40 years in prison and 5 years of supervised probation upon release. The sentence was for six counts of criminal charges related to a guilty plea entered by Okah on charges of sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult and sexual offense in the third degree and Okah’s conviction in a separate case where a jury found him guilty of one count of sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult and three counts of sexual offense in the third degree.

There were two victims involved and the incidents occurred in 2018 and 2019 while Okah was employed as a Psychiatric Tech at Adventist Healthcare Behavioral Health located in the 14900 block of Broschart Rd. in Rockville. He was in a position where he was entrusted with the care of these women and took advantaged of that, targeting them while they were in psychiatric crisis and had no way to defend themselves. Judge Boynton also ruled that Okah will be on the sex offender registry for life and can never work in the health care profession again or have unsupervised contact with vulnerable adults

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MoCo Government

Montgomery County Councilmember Navarro and Council President Albornoz to Host Council’s Hispanic Heritage Month Commemoration

By Patrick Herron

Councilmember Navarro initiated the creation of the Council’s multicultural commemorations and has led the Council’s Hispanic Heritage Month commemoration throughout her tenure on the Council to honor local leaders and celebrate important initiatives that affect the County’s Latino community. The theme of this year’s commemoration is “Latinas: Leadership Without Borders,” and will include a special video program and Council proclamation.

The video program will feature community leaders Carmen Hernandez, Monica Braden, and Angelica Zaragoza.

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Cloverly

Dunkin’ Next Generation Restaurant to Celebrate Grand Opening with Free Coffee for a Year Giveaway First 100 Guests on Saturday, October 8

By Patrick Herron

At 11:00 AM, local Dunkin’ franchisee Jesse Luis of the Luis Group will host the store’s official ribbon cutting alongside the local community. The new Next Gen restaurant offers Silver Spring a first-hand look at Dunkin’s enhanced store experience, with a modern look that provides a fresh, friendly, vibrant, and engaging environment.  

  Exciting elements of the new restaurant experience at the Silver Spring, MD location include: 

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