Greater Baltimore Committee Names Four Winners of 2011 Maryland Bioscience Awards

BALTIMORE, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CEOs and companies from Maryland's biotech community were honored today by the Greater Baltimore Committee as winners of the sixth annual Maryland Bioscience Awards.  The awards were presented during a breakfast ceremony at the University of Maryland, Baltimore BioPark.

Winners of the 2011 Bioscience Awards are:

• Best New Product or Progress: Steven J. Kubisen, Ph.D., President and CEO Seguro Surgical, Inc., Columbia.  The core technology for Seguro Surgical's first product was licensed from Johns Hopkins University in September, 2009. In less than one year, Seguro completed the commercial product development, established manufacturing capability, established sales coverage and launched the Lap Pak. The product is a one-piece, silicone "bowel packing" device for use in abdominal surgery, saving operating room time and reducing the risk of complications from the surgery.  
• Leadership in Bioscience Award: Steve Dubin, Esq., CPA, CEO, Martek Bioscience Corporation, Columbia.  Dubin has been with Martek from its beginnings in 1986. The company employs 600 people and generates more than $450 million in annual revenue from its life's DHA™ and other nutritional products. In February 2011 Martek was acquired by the global life sciences and materials sciences company DSM for $1.1 billion.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit Award: Gary Lessing, MBA, President and CEO, Corridor Pharmaceuticals, Lutherville.  Lessing engineered the merger between the company he co-founded, Arginetix, and Immune Control to form Corridor Pharmaceuticals in 2010. Corridor, which seeks to develop inhibitors to an enzyme for pulmonary hypertension and other conditions, has secured more than $27 million in funding, launched a Phase I human clinical trial for its product, and completed technology licenses with Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania.
• President's Award: Carolane Williams, Ph.D., President, Baltimore City Community College (BCCC), Baltimore. The President's Award this year recognizes the importance of workforce training in the bioscience industry. Through a unique partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore Bio Park, BCCC is addressing the need for a pipeline of highly-skilled workers for the growing bioscience industry. The partnership also helps bridge the divide between workforce shortages and unemployed and under-employed adults in Baltimore. Using a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, BCCC has developed the BioScience Connections scholarship program to help students pay for college.

Nurturing development of the region's bioscience industry is a top priority of the GBC, the region's most prominent organization of business and civic leaders.

Winners of the 2011 Bioscience Awards were selected by a panel of judges from among 19 nominees submitted by businesses, bioscience advocates, higher education institutions and government agencies.

Judges for this year's awards were: Stephen Auvil, MBA, vice president, tech transfer

and commercialization, Maryland TEDCO; David Block, M.D., MBA, CEO, Gliknik; Karen Olson, MBA, CEO, BalMed Group, LLC; Howard S. Schwartz, Esq., East Coast chair of life sciences, DLA Piper; and Christy W. Wyskiel, MBA, CEO, Cureveda, LLC.

Program sponsor for the event is DLA Piper. Patron sponsor is University of Maryland, Baltimore. Media sponsor is The Daily Record.

SOURCE Greater Baltimore Committee