Hamilton’s Life Science Cluster

Hamilton is one of the most vibrant midsized life science clusters in North America. Bringing together world class research and academic institutions, leading hospital networks, sophisticated private companies, and supporting organizations, the Hamilton life science cluster links innovative research with the business acumen required to get it to market. Hamilton’s life science cluster is the largest in the city, home to 203 organizations who collectively employ 36,649 individuals.

This cluster in Hamilton is flourishing, seeing the formation of 43 new life science companies since 2016, who can draw upon 7,170 STEM students who graduates each years from two of the nation’s top academic institutions. The combination of new company formation and talent generation has put Hamilton on the map as a leading life science cluster in Canada.

Notable organizations within Hamilton’s cluster include Stryker, Fusion Pharmaceuticals and the McMaster Innovation Park. Stryker, one of the top-ten largest medical device companies in the world, recently invested $100 million to build their Canadian headquarters in Hamilton. Fusion Pharmaceuticals, while still in the clinical phase, demonstrated the promising potential of using targeted alpha therapeutics to improve the safety of radiopharmaceuticals by launching the 2nd largest biotech IPO in Canadian history.

In Hamilton, start-up and scaling companies are increasingly successful in accessing public- and private-sector funding to grow and scale their businesses. More than $620 million was raised by Hamilton companies during the past five years. Hamilton is home to investors with specialized knowledge in life sciences, as well as network of organizations that enable investment. For example, Bay Area Health Trust (BAHT) has invested millions of dollars to support growthoriented life science companies. Recent direct investments in Hamilton-based companies include VoxNeuro and Mariner Endosurgery.

McMaster Innovation Park, situated on 55 acres in the heart of Hamilton’s Innovation District, is the fulcrum of a life sciences mega-hub stretching from Toronto to Hamilton. MIP has embarked on a $1.75 billion buildout that will grow its footprint by an additional 2.8 million sq ft of mixed-use facilities focused on life sciences (including 1.3 million sq ft of wet lab space for scaling companies), advanced materials and manufacturing, and ICT. This new space will create an innovation continuum from fundamental research labs to start-up spaces, to early-stage production facilities and full-scale biomanufacturing. This ambitious project will deliver the kind of space and resources that scaling organizations require to succeed, building on MIP’s well-earned reputation as a place of discovery, commercialization, and entrepreneurship.

Hamilton’s success as a life science cluster is truly one-of-a-kind, possessing similar capabilities, capacity, and resources of much larger cities, coupled with a strong spirit of collaboration that comes from being a midsized city. As a result, Hamilton’s ecosystem can move quickly to develop public-private relationships, moving forward on projects at the rapid and demanding speed of business.

The private sector plays the central role in driving the commercialization of life science innovation. In Hamilton there is a strong supporting cast of public-sector and non-profit organizations providing support. These include incubators/ accelerators (e.g., Innovation Factory, The Forge), specialized capital (e.g., Bay Area Health Trust, AngelOne), professional services (e.g., Gowlings, FYELABS), research centres and institutes (e.g., Population Health Research Institute, Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization), post-secondary institutions (e.g., McMaster University, Mohawk College), hospitals/care providers (e.g., Hamilton Health Sciences, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton) as well as government and public service (e.g., Hamilton Economic Development, Hamilton Chamber).

At the centre of every successful life science cluster are hospital and academic institutions directing significant resources towards general and applied research. Home to four nationally recognized leaders in research, Hamilton is no exception. In 2021, McMaster University was once again named Canada’s most research-intensive university for the fourth year running while Mohawk College ranked as Canada’s fourth most research-intensive college. Hamilton is also a regional hub for health care and professional training, possessing hospitals that employ some of the most talented medical professionals in Canada. Hamilton Health Sciences is the second largest and fourth most researchintensive hospital in Canada while St. Josephs Healthcare Hamilton is home to the Research Institute, which oversees the work of over 200 researchers and their teams.

Hamilton’s two globally renowned academic institutions, McMaster University and Mohawk College, enrolled 62,000 students in the past academic year – over 50% of whom are enrolled in a STEM program. In addition to current students, there are 7,172 newly graduated STEM students – 13% of whom earned a graduate degree. McMaster University is one of only four Canadian universities consistently ranked in the world’s top 100, with a proud tradition of academic and research excellence. Pushing the boundaries of knowledge through their ground-breaking teaching and their world-class interdisciplinary research. McMaster’s problem-based and student-centred approach to learning – The McMaster Model – is recognized around the world. Mohawk College’s IDEAWORKS fills the space between research and solutions by delivering customized support to organizations. IDEAWORKS is an active hub of applied research and innovation that enables Mohawk faculty, staff, and students to collaborate with industry partners to complete real-world projects. IDEAWORKS specializes in eHealth/mHealth, Medical Technologies, Energy, Internet of Things (IoT) and Additive Manufacturing. Projects aim to address specific industry needs and to provide small businesses and other organizations with access to Mohawks outstanding resources to become more productive, innovative, and complete. Mohawk College is a recognized leader in health and technology education and consistently ranks among the top 10 colleges in Canada for applied research – ranked #1 in terms of paid student researchers (353). Mohawk is known for developing work-ready students ready to begin their career – 86% of graduates are working within six months of graduating.

The past two years have been difficult for many as the COVID-19 pandemic threatened the stability and continuity of many SMEs in the community. However, in times of crisis, innovation moves us forward. St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton quickly realized this as researchers at the hospital developed novel supplies and methods for high-throughput COVID-19 testing due to the continuous shortage of critical lab supplies caused by the pandemic. With the implementation of advanced robotics the hospital has seen their novel high-throughput molecular test become implemented in labs across Ontario. Meanwhile, Hamilton Health Sciences invested an additional $14.6 million into their health system to aid on their COVID-19 response, which included a significant project worth $2.5 million that saw the addition of 250 stretchers to support the city’s pandemic response. Hamilton also saw a shortage in PPE equipment, leading to local companies Whitebird and Forsythe Lubricants pivoting their existing manufacturing capacity and product offerings to provide PPE equipment to aid in Hamilton’s fight against the virus.

Finally, the Synapse Life Science Consortium acts as strategic broker for the cluster, facilitating collaborations, accelerating commercialization, and promoting the growing sector across Ontario and around the world.