Sally Allain, MSc., MBA, Head of JLABS @ Washington, D.C. joins Rich Bendis on BioTalk to discuss her career, the decision to open a BioHealth Capital Region location, and their new BLUE KNIGHT™ collaboration.

As Head of JLABS @ Washington, DC, Sally sets the strategic direction and oversees all operational activities for JLABS in the greater Washington metro region, including Maryland and Virginia. In this role, Sally is responsible for the process of evaluating and selecting a strong portfolio of innovators for JLABS @ Washington, DC, and building strategic partnerships with corporate, academic, government and industry organizations that aim to strengthen the region’s life sciences innovation network.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 8, 2020-- The CEOs of AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN), BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX), GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), and Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY), today announced a historic pledge, outlining a united commitment to uphold the integrity of the scientific process as they work towards potential global regulatory filings and approvals of the first COVID-19 vaccines.

In business, and in your personal life, the ability to anticipate and overcome criticism is one of the biggest differentiators between leaders, who make things happen, and followers, who may have great ideas but never seem to get things to go their way. In fact, leaders are not remembered for their dreams, aspirations, or intentions – they are remembered because they achieved results.

Perfecting a startup pitch depends on a founder’s ability to move beyond mere product knowledge and talk the investors’ language, said Kathryn Golden.

Image: Kathryn Golden, Pitch Perfect, Enterprise Center in Johnson County  - https://www.startlandnews.com

Working with startups is something many organizations strive to do in order to tap into the innovation and ingenuity such partnerships can bring. For instance, an Accenture study from a few years ago found that large companies are keener on collaborating than their smaller peers. Even with this enthusiasm however, few big firms do it well and struggle with integrating any "skunk works" they have into their core business.

As an entrepreneur, I understand your passion when pitching your solution to investors and customers, but passion alone won’t make one more technology pitch stand out above all the rest. I can tell you from my own experience as an advisor and an investor, what everyone remembers is a good personal story. Thus it behooves you to highlight your message with a bit of storytelling.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria Venture Investments, the strategic venture capital platform of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an urban office REIT and the first, longest-tenured and pioneering owner, operator and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, was recognized by Silicon Valley Bank in its "Mid-Year 2020 Healthcare Investments and Exits Report" as the #1 most active biopharma investor by new deal volume from 2019 to 1H20.

As we approach the final quarter of 2020, we thought it would be helpful to recap one of the significant rule changes of the past few months that is likely to benefit venture capital funds and startup companies.

The Final Volcker Rule, which goes into effect October 1, 2020, makes a number of significant modifications that are encouraging for venture capital funds. Most notably, the rule change permits banks to take stakes in venture capital funds that were previously banned, meaning that Wall Street and other banks will soon be able to boost investments in these funds.

The 90-year-old Radio Flyer factory in Chicago is an exemplar of onsite innovation. Brainstorming takes place in the Engine Room, which is awash in whiteboards and Post-it notes. CNC machines and 3-D printers chug away in the Prototype Shop. In the bright, airy Play Lab, staff members observe children scooting around on the company's newest children's wagons, trikes, and electric cars. "Our products are very physical," says Robert Pasin, CEO of the business his grandfather founded in 1917. "We need to see and touch them. We need to see kids riding them."

Authenticity is such a buzzword it’s almost inauthentic now.

Everywhere you turn you hear about the importance of authenticity. Allowing everyone to see you as you really are. But few people really seem to actually take it to heart. We’re still curating parts of ourselves to put on social media and writing corporate statements that sound like Dunder Mifflin — the paper company from TV comedy “The Office.”

While many businesses continue to grapple with the first ‘response’ phase of the COVID-19 crisis, working through these five actions can provide a roadmap through the second ‘recovery’ stage, and onwards to the third ‘thrive’ phase, according to the professional services network, Deloitte.

A South Korean study of 91 children who tested positive for the new coronavirus found that 22% did not show any symptoms.

Moreover, researchers estimated that a policy of only testing children with symptoms would have missed 93% of those infected.

WASHINGTON — A group of prominent biotech CEOs are calling on their peers and the federal government to hold themselves to the highest standards when it comes to developing and reviewing Covid-19 treatments.

Among their demands: That biotech companies don’t simply release clinical trial data in press releases, and that federal regulators make it clear to the public that any vaccines or treatments will be approved strictly based on science.

Image: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (purple) infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow), isolated from a patient sample. NIAID

Happy Labor Day from Rich Bendis and the Innovation America team!

In 2019, U.S. entrepreneurship rates were the highest they had ever been. And, the country’s gender gap, comparing entrepreneurship rates between men and women, narrowed to a mere two percentage points—an all-time low and one of the smallest in the world.

Fast forward to 2020.

The United States is about eight months into its battle against the global, COVID-19 health crisis. While the pandemic has brought new challenges to entrepreneurship, it seems that those well-equipped to adapt, and eager to capitalize on opportunity, are thriving in light of it all.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Indeed, during the global coronavirus crisis, the world needed to move work, education and play to the digital realm very quickly. One example of an accelerated adjustment is how Slack, the online collaboration hub, has managed to innovate to help companies around the world pivot to remote working (as well as hiring, onboarding and training) within days. Innovation in such times is crucial, but may also increase inequalities among countries, sectors and groups of population.

Image: https://knowledge.insead.edu/

Since May 2020, McKinsey has run a survey of 100 executives from US-based companies to learn when and how their organizations are bringing employees back to their workplaces. The survey asks respondents to indicate the extent to which their organizations are implementing, or plan to implement, five types of safety measures (organized by category below) as well as how they plan on managing the change.

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 27, 2020 - Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC today announced the first companies to be part of its medical countermeasure innovation collaboration called Blue Knight, a joint initiative dedicated to anticipating potential health security threats, activating the global innovation community, and amplifying scientific and technological advancements with the aim to prepare for and respond to our rapidly evolving global health environment. Blue Knight has been developed in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS (JLABS), a global network of life science incubators empowering and enabling innovators to deliver potential life-enhancing health and wellness solutions to people around the globe.

There’s no doubt that crowdfunding is big business and a fantastic way to get your business off the ground on so many levels. Not only will you get the investment you need to get things going, but you’ll also have a loyal fanbase of consumers and interested people ready to interact with your product or service.

The continuing strength of the stock market even as the coronavirus pandemic batters the U.S. economy has baffled many observers. The Dow Jones Industrial Index fell some 30% in the first three weeks of March as COVID-19 began spreading rapidly globally, but it has since gained nearly 60% to current levels above 28,650. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy shrank 31.7% in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department reported last Thursday.