Research And Development

When Gail Folena-Wasserman joined Gaithersburg biotechnology startup MedImmune in 1991, she was its first employee in research and development, and dreamed of what the company might be "when it grew up. " Two decades later, the senior vice president for biopharmaceutical development is helping to test new drugs at a dramatically different MedImmune. Five years since a $15 billion acquisition by British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, the company is funneling a pipeline of potential therapies that has grown three times over and covers a wider spectrum of diseases.

While catching up recently with an old friend, Sezin Palmer talked about her work as a program manager in APL's Research and Exploratory Development Department and her previous stint in the Undersea Warfare Department. “I mentioned that I also do modeling,” she says. The friend's face lit up, revealing her excitement at hearing about this sideline career walking a runway, Palmer says, laughing. She explained to the woman that she works with physics and mathematical models that allow exploration of scientific theories, not high fashion.

Citing a 45.7 percent increase in research and development expenses, Gaithersburg-based Antex Biologics Inc. reported a net loss of $120,872 for the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $157,551 for the same period of 1996.The small biotechnology company said yesterday that it booked third-quarter revenue of $965,331, compared with revenue of $623,646 for the year-ago quarter.Research and development expenses increased to $801,228 in the third quarter of 1997, from $549,762 in the comparable 1996 quarter.

When Gail Folena-Wasserman joined Gaithersburg biotechnology startup MedImmune in 1991, she was its first employee in research and development, and dreamed of what the company might be "when it grew up. " Two decades later, the senior vice president for biopharmaceutical development is helping to test new drugs at a dramatically different MedImmune. Five years since a $15 billion acquisition by British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, the company is funneling a pipeline of potential therapies that has grown three times over and covers a wider spectrum of diseases.

The Carroll County commissioners are considering a tax break next year for businesses doing research and development, at the urging of the Economic Development Commission.Yesterday, the commissioners directed the county attorney's office to draft an ordinance giving businesses a personal property tax credit for equipment and supplies purchased for research and development. The proposal is based on a state law signed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer on May 27, allowing jurisdictions to grant the credit.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer signed into law four bills yesterday that will save research and development companies about $3.75 million in annual sales taxes."

Richard M. Ivey Worldwide vice president of research and development BD Diagnostics (a segment of Becton, Dickinson and Co.), Sparks Salary --$200,000 Age --49 Years on the job --23 How he got started --Ivey holds a bachelor's degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and a master's from George Washington University. An engineer by training, Ivey first worked in the nuclear power industry and later for a large plastics manufacturing firm. He started at BD as a manufacturing engineer, then went on to work as a design engineer and in program management before going into management of research and development.

At the annual shareholders meeting of Nova Pharmaceutical Corp. yesterday, some stockholders wanted to know if the 9-year-old company will ever turn a profit.Nova's response could be paraphrased in three words: Please be patient.The name of Nova's game is research and development. The Baltimore company is working to bring four products at different stages of development to the marketplace. Executives hope to gain Food and Drug Administration approval for all of them by 1994.In the meantime, profits from existing products will continue to be plowed back into testing, according to Nova's vice president of administration, Michael J. Demchuk.

Human Genome Sciences broke ground yesterday on the $250 million first phase of its new headquarters campus in Rockville. The three-building first phase of the headquarters campus will offer nearly 482,000 square feet, a parking garage and landscaping improvements. One building will be for corporate staff, while two others will be for research and development. Eventually, four additional buildings and one more parking garage may be built. The company said it intends to finance the project with the help of the state and its development agency.

David Rakes appointed to HCC boardDavid A. Rakes has been appointed to the board of trustees of Howard Community College by Gov. William Donald Schaefer.Mr. Rakes of Columbia is chief of the program management division of the university center for research and development at the Agency of International Development. A. Scott Carver has joined C.W. Jackson Construction & Development in Jessup as vice president.Mr. Carver has 20 years of experience in estimating and project management as both a contractor and owner representative.

Local lore has it that Elizabeth Beall Banks once chased developers off her Gaithersburg-area farm with a shotgun when they came around asking questions. But even then, the sprawl opponent knew that the same forces that turned parcels around her into housing tracts, business parks and shopping centers would eventually threaten the 138-acre Belward Farm. Rather than sell it to the highest bidder, her heirs said, she sold it to the Johns Hopkins University — a suitor she believed would protect the farm from the development she detested.

Deborah S. Edelman, an author and writer who wrote widely on health issues and established Public Health Media Inc., died Nov. 10 of metastatic breast cancer at her Mount Washington home. She was 51. Dr. Edelman, who kept her maiden name, was born and raised in Garden City, N.Y. After graduating in 1978 from Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn., she earned a bachelor's degree in 1982 in political science from McGill University in Montreal. Dr. Edelman had contemplated a career in law but changed her mind after working as a writer for a medical publisher in New York City for two years, where she covered medical conferences, wrote articles on medical specialties, and was assistant editor of Dermatology News and then editor of Orthopedic News.

The Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program has approved $4.2 million in high-technology and biotechnology grants to 15 area companies. The money will be used on various projects, including the development of drugs to treat breast cancer , staph infections and malaria. Other projects include the creation of a heated flooring system for chicken houses and a plug-in hybrid car. MIPS gives grants to companies with commercially promising technology and products. The companies join with researchers at Maryland's public universities.

Johns Hopkins plans to use a $10 million gift to launch an institute for patient safety, aiming to reduce medical mistakes that have long troubled health care facilities around the nation. The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality will conduct research and develop methods for use at Hopkins and other hospitals around the globe that could prevent infections, misdiagnoses, improper treatments and other errors. It may be the first of its kind in the country, Hopkins and patient advocates say. "Fewer things are more important in health care right now than improving patient safety and the quality of health care," Dr. Edward D. Miller, dean and chief executive of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said in a statement.

The article "Fighting to be Made in the USA" (May 20) is another wakeup call for policymakers who want to create jobs for Marylanders. On the one hand, state and local government leaders work to create jobs, on the other, good-paying jobs in manufacturing get exported as we allow our manufacturing base to erode. The future of Maryland manufacturing is in developing next generation manufacturing with customer-focused innovation. Such innovation is directly tied to research and development.

Lester Marvin Sachs, who retired from the Social Security Administration, died March 28 from dementia at Seasons Hospice at Northwest Hospital Center. He was 82. Dr. Sachs, the son of a carpet salesman and a homemaker, was born and raised in Chicago. He served in the Army as a cook and later a photographer, and attended the Illinois Institute of Technology on the GI Bill, where he earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate in solid state physics in the early 1950s.

25 years ago Howard Research and Development officials announced the intention to hire a full-time president for the Columbia Association. This was in response to concerns expressed by the CA executive committee about problems related to the organization's rapid growth and lack of strength.The Howard County Council acted to block construction of a Holiday Inn at the intersection of Routes 1 and 175. The point of conflict was the developer's plan to expand the temporary sewage treatment plant that was serving the area until the Deep Run Interceptor Sewer was completed.

AS PART of his "America 2000" plan for improving the nation's education system, President Bush proposed a privately funded corporation to help create a "new generation" of schools. That's a worthy idea -- as long as it does not thwart existing experimental efforts to improve schools.Bush has named an 18-member board composed of prominent business, education and political leaders. They hope to raise $200 million in corporate donations for research and development to create 535 new schools by 1996.

The financially troubled developer of a huge business park being built at Aberdeen Proving Ground to serve base restructuring has backed out of the project and handed it off to Baltimore-based St. John Properties. Under plans approved by the Army, Rockville-based Opus East assigned development rights to St. John, which announced the agreement Tuesday and said it plans to start work on three or four research and office buildings. The 400-acre project, Government and Technology Enterprise, or GATE, is being developed as a 2 million- to 3 million-square-foot research and development park in partnership with the Army to handle growth from BRAC - military base restructuring.