Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore Inks Business Partnership with BioHealth Innovation to Bring Health and Life Sciences Research to Market

BALTIMORE, June 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore (EAGB) announced today that it has completed a formal agreement to serve as Greater Baltimore's primary business partner with BioHealth Innovation (BHI), Maryland's private-public collaborative that focuses on commercializing market-relevant bio health innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in central Maryland.

BHI is the first regionally focused innovation intermediary created to connect the university and hospital bio health research strengths of Baltimore with the bioscience industry and federal laboratory strengths of Montgomery County.

EAGB, a regional economic development partnership which markets Greater Baltimore as a world-class region in which to live, work, learn and invest, will hold joint project management responsibilities on all initiatives related to BHI's Central Maryland Health-Regional Innovation Cluster (H-RIC).  H-RIC is a national pilot that incorporates the best innovation-based economic development practices in the U.S. and integrates them into one region in central Maryland. EAGB will secure and administer select federal grants for H-RIC, as well as manage its regional branding and marketing.

"No other city in the world matches Baltimore's prowess as a center for hospital and medical R&D facilities where the greatest minds collaborate on technologies to develop new standards of care and improve the quality of life for citizens across the globe," said Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore. "This partnership allows Baltimore to grow valuable job opportunities by marrying its strengths with Montgomery County's equally unique position as a worldwide hub for bringing new innovations to market in the biosciences field."

EAGB will also lead BHI's efforts to establish Entrepreneurs-in-Residence at Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland, Baltimore.

"Our corporate partners and UM Ventures—a commercialization initiative of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and UM College Park—are working with the UMB BioPark and other elements of the University System of Maryland to develop technologies in numerous fields, including genome sciences, advanced bioengineering, and infectious diseases," said William E. "Brit" Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland and a board member of both BHI and EAGB. "Through this coordinated effort and injection of support, we look to accelerate commercialization activity at the University of Maryland."

Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels, also a board member of BHI, commented on the value of the partnership.

"This collaboration will strengthen our ability to attract and create both early stage and mature firms and bring them to the new Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins where they will have direct access to our East Baltimore medical and research complex and the opportunity to work side-by-side with the best medical professionals in the world."

BHI will establish an office at EAGB's headquarters at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Immediate and long-term objectives include collaboration on a Regional Entrepreneurs Innovation and Financing Guide, the creation of a Baltimore-area Health Care IT accelerator, and coordination of a national BioHealth conference and related events to be hosted in the Baltimore-area.

"BHI's experience in successfully managing programs of this kind—paired with EAGB's leading efforts to market Baltimore's wealth of health care and IT assets—is a powerful combination that should result in significant, high-value job creation and overall economic growth for the Baltimore region," said Michael J. Baader, chair of the EAGB board of directors, board member of BioHealth Innovation and partner-in-charge of the Baltimore office of Venable LLP.

Integration efforts between the two organizations are already underway.

"We strongly believe that BHI will soon be a catalyst to transform Baltimore and central Maryland into a leading life sciences entrepreneurial and commercialization region," said Scott Carmer, BHI chair and executive vice president, commercial operations for Medimmune.

EAGB President and CEO Thomas Sadowski said, "This is a partnership that will garner game-changing results in areas where we possess strategic advantages and competitive strengths."

About BioHealth Innovation
BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) is an innovation intermediary that translates market-relevant research into commercial success by connecting management, funding, and markets.  BHI's vision is to transform the Central Maryland region into a leading global bio-health entrepreneurial and commercialization hub.

For more information, visit http://www.biohealthinnovation.org/

About Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore
The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore is a regional economic development partnership comprised of business executives, elected government officials and leaders from higher education focused on marketing Greater Baltimore as a world-class region in which to live, work, learn and invest. 

For more information, visit http://www.GreaterBaltimore.org.    

SOURCE Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore