Business

If approved by the FDA, NARCAN Nasal Spray will be the first 4 mg naloxone nasal spray switched from prescription status to over-the-counter use

Gaithersburg-based Emergent BioSolutions announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committeehave unanimously voted in favor (a total of 19 votes) that the benefit-risk profile of NARCAN^®(naloxone HCl) Nasal Spray is supportive of its use as a nonprescription opioid overdose reversal agent. Emergent presented an overview of its over-the-counter (OTC) development program, the medical need, Human Factors study data and seven years of post-marketing safety data. The FDA is not bound by the committees’ guidance but will take its advice into consideration.

Vector BioMed, a Gaithersburg-based (910 Clopper Rd Suite 200S) biomanufacturing company specializing in the manufacture of lentiviral vectors, today announced its launch and first financing round led by Viking Global Investors and Casdin Capital. The funds will support the acceleration of commercial operations to provide rapid access to high-quality lentiviral vectors for pre-clinical development, clinical trials, and commercialization. Viral vectors are engineered viruses used to deliver gene therapies and gene-modified cell therapies as well as certain vaccines. In contrast to traditional contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), “Vector BioMed is a solution provider that will provide partners with the capabilities to take their lentiviral vector-based medicinal concepts into the clinic and accelerate their path to commercialization. Vector BioMed will help address the industry’s current vector supply bottleneck by providing lentiviral vectors at scale, while also offering turnkey solutions for vector design and optimization, pre-clinical manufacturing, GMP manufacturing, and other support services.”

Per the press release: In conjunction with the funding and launch, co-founder Boro Dropulić, Ph.D., MBA has been named Chief Executive Officer of Vector BioMed. Dr. Dropulić brings more than 30 years of leadership and experience in the design, development, manufacturing, clinical translation, regulatory, clinical implementation, and commercialization of Lentiviral vector technology. Among his career accomplishments, Dr. Dropulić led the team that first demonstrated the safety of lentiviral vectors in humans with his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania. Later he founded Lentigen, which developed the lentiviral vector used to produce Kymriah™, the first FDA-approved gene therapy product. He implemented and directed the company’s highly profitable CDMO business model and therapeutic pipeline of gene therapy products. Dr. Dropulić is also a co-founder and Executive Director of Caring Cross, a non-profit dedicated to accelerating the development of advanced medicines and enabling access to cures for all patients.

Seneca Village Apartments is a 58-building, 684-unit affordable multifamily property located at 750 Clopper Rd. in Gaithersburg. It was originally constructed in 1973 and sits on 40 acres of land. With funding from the Green Bank, in partnership with Virginia Community Capital and NYCEEC, Seneca Village Apartments will install new energy-efficient roofs with reflective coating and a 2.18 MW rooftop solar array by Patuxent and Solar Energy Services.  The $11.4 million project is the largest rooftop solar project on a multifamily property in the Montgomery County. The property will save 2,583,535 kWh in energy savings and over $300,000 in annual savings.

“A fundamental part of our mission is to support the County’s climate goals of equitable access to clean energy. This project situated in an Equity Emphasis Area and on an affordable housing property is such an example,” says Tom Deyo, CEO of Montgomery County Green Bank. “Further, this collaboration with Virginia Community Capital and NYCEEC is the perfect depiction of how the Montgomery County Green Bank leverages capital and innovative partnerships to facilitate clean energy projects in the County.”