Sign In
Free Newsletter
U.Va. hires AstraZeneca exec to lead Manning biotech institute
Mark T. Esser, vice president for vaccines and immune therapies at pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, will be the inaugural chief scientific officer and leader of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Virginia, U.Va. announced Thursday. Esser, who will join U.Va. May 1, earned a Ph.D. in microbiology in 1998 from […]
U.Va. breaks ground on Manning biotech institute
The University of Virginia began construction Friday on the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology. Paul and Diane Manning launched the institute with a $100 million donation in January. Paul Manning founded PBM Products, which became the world’s largest privately owned infant formula and baby food business, and sold it to Perrigo […]
Agtech startup to invest $25M in Albemarle expansion
Agricultural biotech startup AgroSpheres will invest $25 million to expand in Albemarle County, creating an estimated 50 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. The company will increase production at its facility at 1180 Seminole Trail and build a research and development and demonstration facility for new products, which will be a pilot plant for a […]
Betting on biotech
Virginians have often sought experimental medical treatments outside the state — traveling to North Carolina, Boston or one of the Mayo Clinic’s locations. However, the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Virginia aims to change that. “We intend to tackle the biggest challenges in health care and to empower our […]
$100M donor gift to launch U.Va. biotech institute
The University of Virginia will build a biotechnology institute funded with a $100 million donation from Charlottesville investor Paul Manning and his wife, Diane, the university announced Friday. Along with the Mannings’ gift, U.Va. will contribute $150 million, and the state has allocated $50 million in initial investments for the institute in its 2022-24 budget, […]
‘Brainy’ couture: Biomed grad designs high-tech fashion
Leah Thomas became a fashion designer to cap off her undergraduate degree in Virginia Tech’s biomedical engineering program. A member of the university’s first cohort of 40 undergraduate biomedical engineering students who graduated in spring 2022, Thomas designed a dress and headpiece fitted with biosensors for a biotech couture fashion show. She collaborated with another […]
Biotech industry seeks push forward
With more than $25 million, nearly all taxpayer money, a collaborative partnership of government, business and nonprofit organizations plans to build an accelerator for biotech startups in the Roanoke Valley. Supporters say the initiative will create 250 jobs through 25 new startups over five years, generating $20 million in annual salaries as 30,000 square feet […]
DNA lab capacity expansion to bring 70 more jobs to Fairfax
Lorton-based forensic DNA testing company Bode Technology will invest $2 million to expand its DNA testing lab capacity in Fairfax County, a project expected to create more than 70 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday. The company will reconfigure about 5,000 square feet of its lab and add laboratory benches and robotics to support increased […]
Smithfield Foods division makes new medical device
Smithfield Foods Inc.’s Cincinnati-based porcine-derived medical products unit, Smithfield BioScience, and Atlanta-based medical device company BioCircuit Technologies announced Wednesday that the two will produce a medical device for nerve repair after traumatic injuries. The device, called Nerve Tape, will allow nerve repair without stitches. It is an implantable device made from pig small[...]
Va. Biotechnology Association elects new directors
The Virginia Biotechnology Association (Virginia Bio), a Richmond-based trade association representing 230 member organizations in the life sciences industry, has elected six new directors, expanding its board from 24 to 30 directors. Joining the board are: Gerry Brunk, managing director of Lumina Ventures, based in Boston, but involved in many life sciences organizations in Virginia […]
Health care
NANCY HOWELL AGEE PRESIDENT AND CEO, CARILION CLINIC, ROANOKE Agee leads Carilion Clinic, a nonprofit integrated health system that serves more than 1 million people in Virginia and West Virginia and is the Roanoke Valley’s largest employer. Agee began her career in health care as a nurse, then moved into leadership roles at Carilion. As […]
Aditxt to produce 300 jobs in Richmond
A biotech company is setting up shop in Richmond and is expected to produce 300 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday. California-based Aditx Therapeutics Inc. (Aditxt) has pledged to invest $31.5 million over the next three years in its first AditxtScore Center, a facility that will monitor patients’ immune systems. The company plans to open […]
