From Boston to Mississauga
One life sciences startup made the unusual but smart move from expensive office and lab space in life science-centric Boston to Mississauga, Ontario IN THE COMPETITIVE WORLD of life sciences startups, conventional wisdom has long pointed entrepreneurs toward established hubs such as Boston, a traditional biotech epicentre offering access to venture capital, prestigious research institutions and deep talent pools. However, some life science entrepreneurs are looking to Canada—specifically Mississauga—which has innovative programs and attractive assets, skilled talent, specialized infrastructure and a supportive ecosystem.
Left to right: Andrew Butrus (Associate Director, Drug Discovery & Preclinical Development), Mridul Nair (Director Translation and Clinical Science), Jane Lapon (Board Member), Caitlin Lapon (Scientist)
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Spring | Printemps 2025
BIOTECanada
Jane Lapon, the Canadian co-founder and board chair of Atorvia, a company developing therapeutics for organ failure, launched in Boston after working with Boston University on her initial product. But Atorvia recently moved its operation to Mississauga after discovering the University of Toronto Mississauga’s (UTM) SpinUp, a campus-linked wet lab incubator for early-stage startups. “The Boston life sciences ecosystem is thriving, but it is expensive and highly competitive,” Lapon says. “Although we were close to moving into space there, I came across the website for SpinUp, made an inquiry and every response was absolutely fantastic. Not only are there top-notch facilities and programming, it is subsidized, making it affordable for early-stage startups. At around the same time, I was referred to OBIO® and learned about its Women in Health Initiative, a competitive program that provided support and some funding for women-led companies through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. I applied to both, and within three months, we had lab space at SpinUp, support through the Blue Ticket program at SpinUp, funding from OBIO® and tangible support and programming from both organizations.” She names the opportunity to partner with University of Toronto researchers as well as the funding support, the flourishing community and SpinUp’s world-class facilities as the tipping points for her choice to move to Canada. SPINUP’S MANY BENEFITS SpinUp was established to address a shortage of affordable wet lab space and related supports for startups in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. “At UTM, we want to empower innovators by providing the resources, programming and connections they need to establish and grow their ventures while addressing the key