bUSINESS cORNER

Health canada authorizes Adynovate for Hemophilia A patients under 12 years old

Ipsen canada Appoints Ed Dybka as General Manager

On November 21, 2018 Health Canada authorized the use of ADYNOVATE®, an antihemophilic factor (recombinant), PEGylated for the treatment of hemophilia A in children under 12, announced Shire Pharma Canada ULC (Shire Canada), a leading global biotech company focused on rare diseases. The drug was previously approved in November 2016 for use in patients 12 and older.

Eric Tse, General Manager of Shire Canada said, “As a leader in developing innovative therapies to improve care for hemophilia patients, Shire is pleased to now offer a treatment option that can help Canadians manage hemophilia A from early childhood through to adulthood”.

Hemophilia A affects one in 10,000 people and 25 to 30 per cent of people with severe hemophilia will develop inhibitors, a rare but serious response to treatment with clotting factor concentrates. ADYNOVATE® is the first extended half-life PEGylated (recombinant) factor VIII treatment for perioperative management, the control and prevention of bleeding and the prevention or reduction of frequency of bleeding episodes.

“ADYNOVATE®’s unique PEGylation technology allows patients to achieve their treatment goals by providing bleed protection and extending time between treatments, allowing patients to spend more time leading active lives, doing what they love,” said Tse. Health Canada’s approval was based on the results of a multi-centre, open-label, prospective, uncontrolled Phase 3 clinical study of patients under 12. Of the 66 subjects receiving ADYNOVATE®, 73 per cent experienced no joint bleeding, 67 per cent had no spontaneous bleeding, and 38 per cent had no bleeding at all during the study.

Paul Wilton, President of the Canadian Hemophilia Society expressed the society’s enthusiasm. “It is an exciting time in hemophilia care, with many promising products in the pipeline and coming to market.”

Ed Dybka took over as General Manager for Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals Canada Inc. effective Oct. 15, 2018. “I am honored to be joining Ipsen Canada at such a transformational time in the company’s history and look forward to working on achieving its mission of improving patients’ lives. Throughout my career, I have taken great pride in knowing that the work our industry does directly improves the lives of millions of patients across Canada,” said Dybka.

With over 30 years of involvement in the Canadian pharmaceutical industry, Dybka’s most recent experience includes leading the development of an early stage biotech company, a joint venture between MaRS Innovation and The Centre for Drug Research and Development. Prior to this, Dybka served as President and CEO of AstraZeneca Canada Inc. and led the biopharmaceutical start-up Almirall in getting established in Canada.

Ipsen North America CEO Richard Paulson expressed his enthusiasm for Dybka’s appointment. “We are delighted to welcome Ed to Ipsen Canada as we establish new milestones on our path to maintaining strong growth and further expanding our relationships with researchers and organizations across the Canadian healthcare ecosystem. Ed brings a wealth of leadership expertise, a track record of fostering innovation, and an in-depth understanding of our industry garnered from his extensive work within the Canadian pharmaceutical market. He is a valuable addition to the Ipsen Canada team.”

Paulson also thanked outgoing General Manager Paul Reider who left Ipsen to pursue other opportunities. “Paul has been an instrumental team member and I’d like to thank him for his many contributions and unwavering commitment to the business over the last few years. I wish him well in his new endeavors.”

Headquartered in Mississauga, Ont., Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals Canada Inc. is the Canadian affiliate of Ipsen, focusing on innovation and specialty care.

Douglas A. Hamilton appointed as vasomune Therapeutics President and cEO

In October, Vasomune Therapeutics announced that they’ve appointed Douglas A. Hamilton, former President and CEO of MetaStat Inc., as their President and CEO. Hamilton will also sit on the board of directors and succeeds Parimal Nathwani who remains on the board.

Michael Yonge, Director and Executive Vice President and Chief Administration Officer of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, offered the following sentiments to outgoing president Nathwani. “On behalf of the board and shareholders, I would like to thank Parimal Nathwani for his leadership in creating and guiding Vasomune Therapeutics to its current stage of development, including raising seed financing and orchestrating the co-development deal with Japan-based AnGes Inc.”

Hamilton expressed his enthusiasm in joining Vasomune and its team of founders, dedicated scientists, consultants and highprofile institutional investors. In addition to his experience at MetaStat, a precision medicine company discovering and developing novel anti-metastic drugs to treat aggressive cancer, Hamilton, an honours B.Sc. graduate from the University of Toronto department of medical genetics and MBA recipient from Ivey Business School at Western University, has experience at companies like Javelin Pharmaceuticals and PolaRx Biopharmaceuticals.

“We are thrilled to welcome Doug to the leadership role at Vasomune during this exciting time in the company’s history - he has the management expertise required to transition the company from a preclinical to clinical stage,” says Rafi Hofstein, President and CEO of MaRS Innovation, the founding investor of Vasomune. “Attracting an accomplished leader like Doug to Toronto is part of our efforts to entice expats to return to Canada where there is a need for highly trained executives to become involved in steering start-up companies to success.”

Vasomune Therapeutics, a privatelyowned Toronto-based company, is a leader in developing treatments for diseases associated with blood vessel (vascular) dysfunction and destabilization. “By selectively targeting the host response, Vasomune’s therapeutic approach focuses on a single, non-redundant pathway that inhibits multiple factors responsible for driving run-away inflammatory processes,” said Hamilton.

Left untreated, run-away inflammation can lead to or worsen conditions such as respiratory infections, acute kidney injury and diabetic nephropathy.

Hamilton Thorne completes $10-million cdn bought deal private placement

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) giant Hamilton Thorne announced the completion of a common share deal that provides them with gross proceeds of $10,000,001 Cdn (the Offering). As a result, the company issued 9,090, 910 common shares at $1.10 Cdn per share.

In addition, the Underwriters Bloom Burton Securities Inc. on behalf of a syndicate including Beacon Securities Limited and Cormark Securities Inc. received 545,454 non-transferable broker warrants and a cash commission of approximately $600,000. Each warrant may be exercised into one common share of Hamilton Thorne at a price of $1.10 Cdn within 12 months.

Net proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund future acquisitions and general working capital expenditures for Hamilton Thorne, the leading global provider of precision instruments, consumables, software and services related to ART and biology research markets.