PharmAthene is a biodefense company developing and commercializing medical products to counter biological and chemical threats.

A&G is focused on the identification of biomarkers involved in the development of cancer cells and using such biomarkers as targets, developing theranostic (diagnostic and therapeutic combination) products useful in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of cancer. The company is comprised of two divisions, an R&D division focused on theranostic products, and the Precision Antibody division, recognized worldwide as a provider of high-quality, customized antibodies to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as federal laboratories.

A&G has grown from an incubator company with four employees to a 12,000 sq.-ft. facility with 30 employees, of whom >50 percent are Maryland graduates. A&G’s financing is a mix of equity funding and profits from Precision Antibody. Non-dilutive funding has been obtained from NIH and Avon Foundation grants. The MIPS funding of studies at the University of Maryland have been important in the company’s goal of developing diagnostic kits for its theranostic portfolio.

A&G’s lead products in development, based on a unique biomarker called GP88 (progranulin), target both lung and breast cancer, as well as several other cancers. GP88, a glycoprotein, is produced and required by cancer cells for growth, proliferation and survival. In clinical studies, GP88 was detected in >80 percent of breast cancer tumors. High levels of GP88 in such tumors are statistically associated with a five-fold increase in the risk of recurrence, compared with patients with low or no GP88 detected in tumors. GP88 blood levels have been shown to be statistically elevated in breast cancer patients with progressive disease, compared with healthy individuals. Concurrent with the development of GP88 diagnostic kits for detecting GP88 in tumor tissue and blood, A&G is pursuing the development of an associated anti-GP88 monoclonal antibody therapeutic.  In pre-clinical xenograft models, the antibody was demonstrated to inhibit tumor growth and promote tumor regression. Toxicology and safety studies demonstrated anti-GP88 is safe and showed no toxicities in either acute or repeat dose studies. Thanks to an SBIR/NCI grant ($2 million), this therapeutic will enter Phase 1 clinical trials in 2018. The two diagnostic products will be used in this study to identify patients for treatment with the anti-GP88 and subsequently for monitoring patients during and post-treatment.

The mission of AHPharma is to conduct private research for the agriculture industry and reinvest in the core business of the design, development, and commercialization of new technologies for improving animal agriculture production, nutrition, health, energy savings and housing techniques.

AHPharma’s radiant floors are designed to provide heat closer to bird activity via hot-water piping. By only emitting heat where it is needed, growers can reduce propane usage by up to 75 percent.

The company’s LED lighting system for poultry houses, called AviLighting®, reduces energy cost for growers by up to 94 percent per year over incandescent bulbs.

Cellex is a medical device company dedicated to developing innovative technologies that enable assays to be fast, accurate, sensitive, easy-to-use and inexpensive. The company’s current focus includes a homogeneous biochemiluminescent assay (HBA) technology, HBA-based assays and easy-to-use instruments.

Gliknik is a privately held biopharmaceutical company working to ease human suffering by creating new therapies for people living with cancer and immune disorders. Stradomers™ are the company’s first core innovative discovery; this technology was advanced under the MIPS project. MIPS Project Challenge Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is used therapeutically in dozens of autoimmune diseases and is in chronic short supply. This project was designed to identify and advance a recombinant human protein that is one of the most active fractions of IVIG, a blood product that was already known to be safe and effective but which currently comes from the pooled blood of tens of thousands of people. The most active component of this product, the Fc portion of aggregates, had been identified in publications. Gliknik invented the concept of treating autoimmune diseases with recombinant products containing multiple Fc, and selected GL-2045 as its first internally generated drug candidate, which it provided to Strome’s lab for in vitro function testing and confirmation of binding affinity to its cognate receptors. The product was later tested by Gliknik for in vivo activity in mouse models of autoimmunity. The result would be the defining of a lead pre-clinical compound to address autoimmune diseases.

The mission of AHPharma is to conduct private research for the agriculture industry and reinvest in the core business of the design, development, and commercialization of new technologies for improving animal agriculture production, nutrition, health, energy savings and housing techniques.

AHPharma’s radiant floors are designed to provide heat closer to bird activity via hot-water piping. By only emitting heat where it is needed, growers can reduce propane usage by up to 75 percent.

The company’s LED lighting system for poultry houses, called AviLighting®, reduces energy cost for growers by up to 94 percent per year over incandescent bulbs.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a publicly traded clinical stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to commercializing first-in-class and best-in-class therapeutics for cancer and central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Rexahn currently has three drug candidates in Phase II clinical trials, Archexin®, Serdaxin®, and Zoraxel™—all potential best-in-class therapeutics. Rexahn also operates key R&D programs of nanomedicines, 3D-GOLD and TIMES drug discovery platforms.

TRX Systems delivers GPS-denied location software and solutions. TRX is the first company to use sensor fusion and the dynamic mapping of structural, magnetic, and RF features to pinpoint location indoors, underground, and in dense urban areas. The company’s NEON® location solutions use low-cost MEMS sensors, combined with higher level mapping algorithms, to deliver accurate 3D location, including the elevation of personnel within buildings.