Biotechnology Focus April 2013

INSIGHTS FOR THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY

APRIL 2013 VOLUME 16, NUMBER 3

ONTARIO ISSUE:

JOHN VAN LEEUWEN

REZA MORIDI

ECOSYNTHETIX CO-FOUNDER AND CEO

ONTARIO MINISTER OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION P.14

INNOVATION

NORTH HOW ONTARIO IS ATTRACTING OUTSTANDING WITH COMPANIES

THE COMPLIMENTS OF

EcoSynthetix: living in a bio-based material world

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contents

April 2013 – VOLUME 16 – NUMBER 3

FEATURES 6

Across Canada

20

Stem cell patents, securing intellectual property for regenerative medicine

BY LAURENCE MACPHIE AND NOEL COURAGE

10

Living in a bio-based material world Through the development of environmentally friendly carbon neutral products, Ontario’s Ecosynthetix is leading the way in the move away from petroleum-based products

BY ALISON FENNEY

24

New Ministry, New Minister, New Approach In February, the Ontario Government made the decision to re-establish the Ministry of Research and Innovation. In this issue we introduce you to Ontario’s new Minister of MRI, Reza Moridi

BY SHAWN LAWRENCE

16

BY LAURA KNOX-WALLAR

26

BY GAIL GARLAND

30

BY ALISON SYMINGTON

31

BY STEVEN LOUNG

Advancing pre clinical radiation oncology research The X-RAD 225Cx pre-clinical IGRT combines clinical techniques with increased precision in the laboratory

Sanofi Pasteur Canada: A Canadian Success Story From humble beginnings almost 100 years ago, Sanofi Pasteur Canada has grown to become a billion dollar vaccine business

Translating research into the marketplace Finding a match between research and receptor

BY LAURA KNOX-WALLAR

18

Ontario’s Bioscience Cluster Tapping the untapped Potential

Local Talent, Global Ambition Why industry powerhouse Hoffman-La Roche chose Ontario for its global pharmaceutical development site

Putting Ontario on the Map LSO has launched two new initiatives, the Ontario Life Sciences Asset Map and the Entrepreneur Mentorship Prograrm to support local industry

BY DANIELA FISHER

14

Adventures in Partnership: The OBI Model Improving health for patients afflicted with brain disorders by uniting clinicians, academics, patient advocacy groups, companies and governments alike

BY PAUL DE JEAN

38

The Last Word Illinois and Ontario benefit from bio-products collaboration

BY GORD SURGEONER

www.biotechnologyfocus.ca

April 2013 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 3

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Message from Ontario Minister caps off night of celebration

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF STAFF WRITERS

Shawn Lawrence

Daniela Fisher

EDITORIAL INTERNS

Steven Loung

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

I recently had the pleasure of attending LSO’s Awards Gala. The well-attended event was a special occasion, honouring excellence in Ontario’s life sciences sector. During the evening, we got the chance to hear from Ontario’s new Minister of Research and Innovation: Reza Moridi. His captivating speech on what we can learn from innovations of the past gave us a glimpse into what he hopes to accomplish in the future.

It was a great introduction for a new era of innovation in Ontario’s biotech sector.

Moridi spoke about his experiences and the values he took from being a scientist, a researcher, an academic and a business leader.

“One thing I have come to value from my various life experiences is the ability to look back at different times and places in history when things seemed to leap forward, when progress seems to happen at a staggering rate.”

Sometimes to succeed in the future, you have to take a look at what came before.

As part of his speech, Minister Moridi discussed one of history’s greatest periods of innovation: the Industrial Revolution. Two great innovations that he highlighted were Joseph Priestley’s discovery of oxygen in 1774 (fun fact: he also invented carbonated water and the rubber eraser) and William Withering’s 1775 discovery of digitalis, a drug made from foxglove that stimulates the heart muscle. Many more innovations produced during this revolution would change the course of medical history.

Moridi’s interest in this time period lies in finding out what drove those innovations, and what lessons can be learned and applied to our approach to innovation today. He emphasized three points or values we could take from that period.

The first was that ideas cross boundaries: “At that time, a person could be a natural philosopher as scientists were called then and an inventor and a designer and a poet.

As a result, people carried ideas from one field to another and this cross fertilization led to new inventions and discoveries.” A second lesson learned was that it was a period of idealism, where leading thinkers of the day believed that anything was possible. That can-do attitude led to a culture of discovery and innovation. Third, and perhaps most important, learning was popular. People formed societies dedicated to building and sharing knowledge resulting in a flow of ideas.

These principles, as well as the culture of learning and enthusiasm for the life sciences, are values that Moridi identified as essentials for research and innovation today.

He also credited the strength of Ontario’s life sciences and its workforce: “This sector touches everyone’s life in Ontario, and the world. Whether you are one of the 38,000 people working in the sector or one of the 15,000 researchers or staff at our hospitals and research institutions; or you or someone you care about has benefited from the contributions to the cancer and neuroscience researchers, our quality of life and the health of our economy are enhanced by new ideas, by intellectual optimism and by our ongoing pursuit of knowledge. These are the values I will promote as your new Minister of Research and Innovation. And I want to thank all of you here who are already leading the way.”

For more information on Minister Moridi, check out our Meet the Minister piece on page 14. Happy April!

Terri Pavelic

Laura Knox-Wallar Alison Fenney

Alison Symington

Gail Garland

Gord Surgeoner

Laurence MacPhie

Noel Courage

Paul De Jean

NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER GRAPHIC DESIGNER CONTROLLER MARKETING MANAGER

Marcello Sukhdeo Elena Pankova John R. Jones Mary Malofy

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR James Watson circulation@promotive.net Tel: 705-812-0611

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Celine Bak, Analytica Advisors; Rob Henderson, BioTalent Canada; Najla Guthrie, KGK Synergize; Pierre Bourassa, IRAP, Montréal; Murray McLaughlin, Sustainable Chemistry Alliance; Carol Reynolds, Wordmark Consulting Group Inc.; Ulli Krull, UTM; John Kelly, Erie Innovation and Commercialization; Peter Pekos, Dalton Pharma Services; Brad Thompson, Oncolytics; Darrell Ethell, CanReg; John Hylton, John H. Hylton & Associates; Robert Foldes, Cognovie Inc.; Randal R.Goodfellow, P.Ag., Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations, Ensyn; Bob H. Sotiriadis, Robic LLP; Dale Patterson, Genome Canada; Darcy Pawlik, Syngenta Seeds Canada Inc; Gail Garland, OBIO; Barry Gee, CDRD; Bonnie Kuehl, Scientific Insights Consulting Group Inc.; Raphael Hofstein, MaRS Innovation Biotechnology Focus is published 10 times per year by Promotive Communications Inc. 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, Ontario L4G 4B6 Phone 905-727-3875 Fax 905-727-4428 www.biotechnologyfocus.ca E-mail: biotechnology_focus@promotive.net Subscription rate in Canada $35/year; USA $60/year; other countries $100/year. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Publications Mail Registration Number: 40052410 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: circulation dept – 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, Ontario L4G 4B6 National Library of Canada ISSN 1486-3138 \ All opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or any person or organization associated with the magazine.

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4 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS April 2013

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ACROSS CANADA

STEM CELL

PATENTS Securing Intellectual Property for Regenerative Medicine

Stem cells are at the centre of research into regenerative medicine.

They are also a valuable tool for drug discovery and development. The transition to successful clinical treatments using stem cells has been slow and difficult.

6 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS April 2013

However, there is still commercial optimism as the use of stem cells becomes more established and therapeutic applications of stem cells start to enter the market. For example, Hemacord™, a cord blood hematopoietic progenitor cell therapy, was recently the first stem cell product approved by the FDA. Also, Prochymal™, a formulation of adult cultured mesenchymal stem cells, recently received regulatory approval in Canada for the treatment of acute graft versus host disease in children.

Since the discovery of stem cells in Toronto by Drs. Ernest McCulloch and James Till in the 1960s, Canadian scientists have been at the forefront of stem cells and regenerative medicine research. More recently, specialized institutions like the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine and the Ontario Stem Cell Initiative have been formed to encourage collaboration and commercial ventures for moving innova-

tions forward towards patient care. Obtaining effective patent protection for inventions related to stem cells is vital as the practical commercial and clinical applications of stem cells start to come of age.

Criteria for Patentability Any invention must meet certain key criteria for patentability in the U.S., Europe and Canada. It must be “patentable subject matter,” meaning that it must be a type of invention that is eligible for patenting.

For example, abstract ideas or scientific principles are not patentable. Methods of surgery are patentable in the U.S., but not in Europe and Canada. The boundaries of what is considered patentable subject matter differ in each patent office.

An eligible invention must also be new, useful and inventive compared to previously known information (called “prior art’). For stem cells, there can be difficult issues in drafting patent claims, since they are a complex living system, unlike pharmaceuticals, proteins or nucleic acid molecules that have a readily describable chemical structure.

Proving to patent offices that an isolated stem cell is new and inventive compared to previously known cells, and therefore patentable, can be a challenge. The new stem cell may produce different cell lineages with variable expression patterns of biological markers depending on the culture conditions. Prior art stem cells are also dynamic and even the same cell type will have some inherent differences if taken from a genetically different tissue source. It can be difficult to compare and reconcile each researcher’s limited data set and make direct comparisons to show that a new cell is a patentably unique stem cell. Inventors should be prepared to provide detailed evidence to patent offices.

Another important criteria for patentability is that the patent application must disclose the invention in sufficient detail to show a skilled person how to make and use the invention (called “enablement” or “support”).

In brief, it is usually readily satisfied for methods of isolating stem cells or using cells for drug screening. Enablement becomes a challenge for patent claims on medical applications of stem cells because stem cells are highly unpredictable and difficult to use successfully in treatment. Patents are also normally filed well in advance of any experimental use in humans. However, the necessary level of data to support a patent claim is generally significantly less than what may be required for regulatory approval for clinical treatment. Demonstrating a particular effect in vitro or in a model organism that

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ACROSS CANADA In Canada, isolated biological material such as cells, nucleic acid molecules or proteins is patentable subject matter. Claims to “higher” life forms including plants or transgenic mice are not considered patentable subject matter. autoimmune disease therapy by measuring levels of the drug’s metabolites in patient blood. The U.S. Supreme Court considered this to be unpatentable, and is going to be considering patentability issues again shortly in a case involving Myriad Genetics. These cases could have future implications for stem cell patentability. provides a correlation to effects in humans can be sufficient to enable claims to therapeutic uses in humans.

Embryonic Stem Cells Embryonic Stem (ES) cells are derived from the inner cell mass of a developing embryo and are characterized by their ability to differentiate into every cell type (i.e. pluripotency). While a number of human ES cell lines are now available, their creation traditionally required the destruction of a human embryo which has generated substantial controversy.

United States In the U.S., ES cells are considered patentable subject matter, as are methods for isolating or producing ES cells, even if the invention requires that a human embryo be destroyed.

A well-known, early stem cell patent portfolio belongs to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) that was granted three related U.S. patents based on pioneering work by Dr. James Thomson.

For example, WARF patent no. 5,843,780 claims a purified preparation of pluripotent primate embryonic stem cells by reference to functional properties of the cells, rather than chemical markers, in order to establish novelty and inventiveness. Subsequently, WARF patented methods of isolating a pluripotent human embryonic stem cell line (see U.S. patent no. 6,200,806) and a replicating in vitro culture of human embryonic stem cells (US patent no. 7,029,913). Protecting the isolated cells, methods of production and methods of use is a common strategy for building an effective patent portfolio.

The claims in the WARF patents have come under third-party scrutiny, resulting in requests for re-examination of the patents at 8 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS April 2013

the U.S. Patent Office. WARF’s first two patents 5,843,780 (1998) and 6,200,806 (2001) were upheld on re-examination with amendments, however the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences eventually invalidated WARF’s patent no. 7,029,913 on stem cell cultures as being obvious in light of prior art.

More recently, U.S. patent no. 7,968,337 “Neural precursor cells, method for the production and use thereof in neural defect therapy” was issued to Brüstle on June 28, 2011 with claims directed to methods for the generation of an isolated, non-tumourigenic cell composition that involve culturing mouse or human embryonic stem cells to produce neural precursor cells. This process is considered patentable even though it could result in the destruction of a human embryo. A different result occurred in Europe where the case was eventually heard by the Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU) and has received considerable attention.

United States – Limits on Patentability and the Mayo Decision No U.S. patent may give rights in a human being or organ, which are considered nonpatentable subject matter. Certain living matter, such as transgenic animals, that is the result of human intervention can be patentable subject matter. Isolated naturally occurring biological material, such as isolated genes, proteins or stem cells, is also considered patentable.

The recent US Supreme Court decision in Mayo v. Prometheus has rekindled the debate regarding whether certain types of inventions are patent eligible. Exceptions to patent eligibility include claims that are considered to be effectively directed to a “law of nature,” a “natural phenomenon,” or an “abstract idea.” The decision in Mayo concerned the patentability of method claims directed towards assessing a suitable drug dosage for

Canada In Canada, isolated biological material such as cells, nucleic acid molecules or proteins is patentable subject matter. Claims to “higher” life forms including plants or transgenic mice are not considered patentable subject matter. This is more restrictive than the U.S. and Europe. Embryonic, multipotent and pluripotent stem cells which do not have the potential to develop into an entire animal are patentable subject matter. Processes or methods that involve embryonic stem cells or the harm or death of an embryo are not excluded from patentability.

Canadian patent no. 2,190,528 is in the same family as WARF’s U.S. patent no.

5,843,780 and was granted in Canada on April 4, 2010. The Canadian patent issued with claims to primate ES cells very similar to those found in the corresponding U.S. patent, reflecting a similarity of practices in the U.S. and Canadian Patent Offices with respect to patentable subject matter for ES cells.

Brüstle’s Canadian patent application no.

2,315,538 directed to methods for turning ES cells into neurons was issued on July 24, 2012.

Adult Stem Cells and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Adult stem cells are found in most tissues and are characterized by their ability for self-renewal and for differentiating into specialized cell types. Patents directed towards adult stem cells have been less controversial than ES cells and accordingly have been greeted with less resistance. Recent advances in the molecular biology surrounding cellular programming have led to the development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs are technically not adult stem cells, but rather cells that

ACROSS CANADA have been reprogrammed, typically using transcription factors, to generate pluripotent cells. Cancer stem cells are cancer cells with the ability to give rise to all cell types found in a particular cancer sample through the processes of self-renewal and differentiation. Cancer stem cells have emerged as a promising research tool and target for the development of cancer therapeutics and screening assays.

Adult stem cells, cancer stem cells and iPSCs are patentable subject matter in the U.S., Europe and Canada. Any claims to compositions or methods that involve adult stem cells, cancer stem cells or iPSCs must still meet the usual criteria for patentability such as novelty and inventiveness. Notably, distinguishing iPSCs from previously known adult stem cells that they may claim to emulate is a challenge that may block some claims from being patented. Such patent applications will have to focus on the methods of making the iPSCs, rather than the cells themselves.

Consistent strategies can be applied in the U.S., Europe and Canada to patent inventions involving adult stem cells and iPSCs. Patents can cover the cells per se as well as

their uses and methods of production. In the next few years, the law should continue to evolve and further clarify the boundaries of patentability. The availability of strong patent protection will remain a key driver of investment into stem cell technology and the development of regenerative medicine.

Petition granted by the U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-398 (Nov. 30, 2012).

5. Harvard College v. Canada (Commissioner of Patents) 2002 SCC 76

References 1. Methods of medical treatment, generally, are excluded from patentability in Europe under Article 53(c) of the EPC and in Canada following the Supreme Court decision in Tennessee Eastman v.

Commissioner of Patents [(1972), 8 C.P.R. (2nd), 202 (S.C.C.)). “Medical use” claims are permitted and can often indirectly provide suitable protection.

2. U.S. BPAI decision dated April 28, 2010.

Control No. 95/000,154 3 Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 566 U.S. ___ (2012).

4. Association for Molecular Pathology et al v. Myriad Genetics Inc et al, 94 USPQ2d 1683 (S.D.N.Y. March 29, 2010); reversed in part by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 2010-1406 (July 29, 2011).

Laurence MacPhie and Noel Courage are patent lawyers at Bereskin & Parr LLP, a leading Canadian intellectual property firm. They can be reached at lmacphie@bereskinparr.com and ncourage@bereskinparr.com, respectively.

This paper is based on a journal article by the authors originally published as “Differentiating stem cell patents” Pharm. Patent Analyst, (2012) 1(4) 407-413.

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April 2013 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 9

INNOVATION NORTH

ONTARIO

HOW ONTARIO IS ATTRACTING OUTSTANDING COMPANIES

By Daniela Fisher

EcoSynthetix: LIVING IN A BIO-BASED MATERIAL WORLD Finding ways to cut down our use of petroleum has become a pressing need in the global community. With a growing world population burning through oil and gas, in the past 150 years alone, we’ve consumed half the world’s known oil supply. Finding an alternative to this raw material is not an option, it’s a must.

You may or may not be surprised to learn that Ontario is home to one of the companies leading the world in the move away from petroleum-based products. With a goal of using renewable resources to create products traditionally made from petroleum, Burlington’s EcoSynthetix is establishing itself as an innovator in the field of green chemistry.

EcoSynthetix specializes in developing and producing environmentally friendly, carbon neutral products. More specifically, the start-up company has developed an eco-friendly coating for paper products such as magazines or business cards. It uses a bio-based polymer to coat paper and paperboard products, making them infinitely more biodegradable and recyclable than their petroleum-containing counterparts.

The company’s work is part of the growing trend of using bio-based materials – materials created from biological matter or renewable resources like crops or plants – to make products currently produced from petroleum.

Based out of Burlington, the cleantech company is an Ontario success story. Not only did the company voluntarily choose to move its R&D and head offices from Michigan to Ontario in 2010, it also built a state-of-the-art Centre of Innovation in Burlington for high tech R&D, attracting top level talent to the province.

Since then, EcoSynthetix has set down

10

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

John van Leeuwen, EcoSynthetix co-founder and CEO. Photo credit for photo and cover image: Jonathan Bielaski, Light Imaging.

successful roots in Ontario and is making a case for why the province can be an attractive place to do business in the cleantech sector.

In 2011, the company completed an IPO to the tune of $100 million, the largest cleantech IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange to date. Additionally, EcoSynthetix was ranked the second fastest growing cleantech company (Tesla Motors took first) in Deloitte’s 2012 Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean tech companies

in North America. In February of this year, the company received Life Sciences Ontario’s Emerging Company of the Year Award. As these accolades suggest, the emerging clean tech company is making a name for itself in Canada, as well as across the globe.

“I’m certainly personally very, very bullish about the future. I think the focus on sustainability is not optional, it’s a must,” says EcoSynthetix co-founder and CEO John van Leeuwen. “If we want our society to continue to thrive, we have to do this. I think we’re showing that a

INNOVATION NORTH

ONTARIO

“Our vision was to become a world leader in this whole bio-based materials space, to not only make these materials but also to create and develop the markets for them.”

— John van Leeuwen Canadian company can be a world leader in this space. Over the last five years to be ranked number two only behind Tesla Motors in terms of growth speaks to that.”

Leading the company as CEO and president, van Leeuwen co-founded the company with his longtime friend Dr. Steven Bloembergen. Both originally from The Netherlands, the two came to Canada to attend the University of Waterloo. After graduating, they joined North America’s petrochemicals industry, with van Leeuwen on the business side and Bloembergen on the science side.

“I was heavily involved in the whole petro-chemical plastics world and I saw a lot of its benefits but also started to become aware of the issues you face – the products you’ve made now out of plastic reach their end of life and how do you recycle them?” says van Leeuwen.

The idea to create the company was initially Bloembergen’s. His concept of creating renewable polymers that could be better recycled or actually biodegradable

caught van Leeuwen’s attention – and his business acumen.

“I thought this potentially is a very important issue for our society at large. If we can come up with at least part of the solution for making biodegradable plastics and polymers, I thought that would be a really novel thing to work on and that would have a huge impact potential on our world,” says van Leeuwen.

Combining their business and research experience, the pair co-founded the company in 1996. As Bloembergen was working at the Michigan Biotechnology Institute (MBI) at the time, they were able to use a business incubator in Lansing, Michigan to help the company get off the ground.

“Our vision was to become a world leader in this whole bio-based materials space,” says van Leeuwen. “To not only make these materials but also to create and develop the markets for them.”

With this goal set, from 1996 to 2000 the company worked on developing the

products in its pipeline. These included the sugar-based monomer called EcoMer®, the first new monomer the chemical industry had seen in 20 years, and EcoStix®, a pressure sensitive adhesive that could be designed to wash-off at a certain temperature, thereby enabling labels to be removed at 50°C so that their adhesive would not interfere with the paper or plastic recycling process.

It was in 2001 with the invention of its breakthrough EcoSphere® biolatex® binder that the company really took off.

This innovation helped EcoSynthetix form collaborations with large industry partners across the world, including the Minneapolis-based Cargill, Suzano in Brazil and the Japan-based Nippon Paper.

EcoSynthetix’s biolatex polymers were the industry’s first eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based Styrene Butadiene (SB) latex binders. These binders, whether SB latex or EcoSphere biolatex, are what allow colourful graphics to stick to the glossy paper used in magazines, books and business cards, or on packaging items like cereal boxes, cartons and paper bags.

As an eco-friendly alternative, the biolatex binder uses starches derived from annually renewable crop resources such as corn, potatoes and tapioca and their proprietary reactive extrusion process transforms them into a new class

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www.lifesciencesontario.ca Biotechnology Focus / April 2013 11

INNOVATION NORTH

of materials having exceptional binder properties.

“If you use raw materials that are cropbased, then that crop will have captured the CO2 in the season it grew in,” explains van Leeuwen. “So, for example, if you grow a field of corn, it captures CO2. The sunlight and the CO2 form the starch, and if you now use the starch you basically have used a raw material that has sequestered CO2. It has captured CO2 which you then use in your product. That in itself is a more sustainable approach to making these industrial materials.”

Up to 2010, as EcoSynthetix worked on developing and patenting its sustainable technology, the company was still based out of Michigan. “While the company had met with some success in attracting state and federal funding for research, it was minimal.” says van Leeuwen. EcoSynthetix needed more to complement the investments it received from traditional VC financing. It was time for the company to turn their attention north.

“Eventually we said you know what, we’re from Canada originally why don’t we see if we can get some funding in Canada.” says van Leeuwen. “We applied at two levels - one was with Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) in Ottawa and the other one was with the Innovation Development Fund (IDF) in Ontario. Both applications were accepted; in both cases we actually got through the whole process which was a tough slog but we got the grants.”

The federal and provincial funding, as well as Ontario’s lower corporate tax

12

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

ONTARIO rates, were strong factors behind the company’s northern trek.

“We found that the corporate tax rates were lower in Ontario than they were in Michigan. The other advantage was quite frankly what we’re trying to do is really very capital intensive. You have to spend a lot of money on R&D to bring these products to market, so the two funds – both SDTC and IDF – were very focused not so much on fundamental R&D but rather to bridge that transition from the developmental stage to bring it successfully to market. They’re willing to fund that piece and that was very helpful for us. That was a big attractor to relocate.”

Also very important was having access to bright minds, says van Leeuwen. Access to university talent was top on the relocation must-have list. By setting up shop in the Golden Horseshoe, EcoSynthetix was able to form partnerships with a variety of local academic institutions, including the University of Toronto, McMaster University, University of Guelph and University of Waterloo.

For a company to be successful in the long term and for it to become a world leader, you need to keep the pipeline of new technologies open, says van Leeuwen.

What better place to look for new technologies than at a university.

“We felt if we could start collaborating with some of these universities and hook up like we did with the University of Waterloo and start a five-year collaborative research program to develop new technologies that would be a great benefit,” says van Leeuwen. “The rules around intellectual property at the University of Waterloo are different from what they are in the States. It’s much easier to do that kind of collaborative research called open innovation almost with a university like Waterloo here in Ontario than it is with almost any university in the U.S.” In addition to being able to team up with universities to develop new technologies, the company benefited from its move to Ontario financially as well. In 2011, it announced a $100 million IPO, one of the largest initial public offerings ever seen for a Canadian clean tech company.

“That was a really important step for us, because we had venture investments for the entire history of the company. Most VCs can only stay with you for about eight years, then usually the fund is closing

down and they need to start liquidating.

So to take it public you basically create liquidity for your shareholders; we raised more capital to build the company out further and, overall, we were able to signal to our customers that we’re here to stay.”

The company has a solid business model: they offer a product that delivers equal or better performance to the products that it displaces while having lower cost and being more sustainable Also, as it’s made from renewable resources instead of petroleum, the price of EcoSynthetix’ products are not constantly fluctuating.

This means they can offer a more stable, lower price which defies the notion that being more eco-friendly means more expensive.

“If you can make these materials less expensive than what you’re replacing, you truly have a disruptive technology,” says van Leeuwen.

On the environmental front, EcoSynthetix has established itself as a leader in the global trend towards sustainable or green chemistry.

“If you can use things that at the end of their lives either are biodegradable or recyclable, for example paper, then the environmental benefit to that is huge,” says van Leeuwen. “We coat paper board and paper which are recycled in a very well-established recycle stream through blue box programs in North America. All of that stuff is recycled and turned back into recycled paper board. The role that our biolatex binder plays in that is that it doesn’t interfere; instead, it enhances the recyclability.”

The environmental benefit is that you can recycle it and then eventually when it is no longer recyclable, it is still biodegradable, says van Leeuwen. The carbon dioxide that gets released from that product is exactly same amount of carbon dioxide captured in the first place, so at the end of the day it is carbon neutral.

It is clear that EcoSynthetix has made its mark on the cleantech sector. With more innovations like these, perhaps in the future we will all be living in a bio-based material world.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ ecosynthetix-living-in-a-biobased-material-world/

MINISTRY OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

ONTARIO

By Shawn Lawrence

NEW MINISTRY, NEW MINISTER, NEW APPROACH

Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation Reza Moridi. Photo: Catherine J Capek Photography

On February 11, 2013, the title of Premier of Ontario officially passed from Dalton McGuinty to Kathleen Wynne, and one of her first acts in office was a renewal of the cabinet serving alongside her.

Among the more noteworthy changes to cabinet was the re-establishment of a Ministry devoted to Innovation. And with that, the Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) is back in the game.

The person heading up this new incarnation of MRI is Reza Moridi, an awardwinning scientist, engineer, educator, business leader and community activist who represents the riding of Richmond Hill. Born in Azerbaijani-populated city of Urmia in Iran, Moridi was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2007, and was re-elected in 2011. He moved to Canada with his family in 1990, and has lived in Richmond Hill since 1991. In his prior life, Moridi was a nuclear energy spe-

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Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

cialist, but before long, the call of public service was too much to ignore.

“I’ve had a passion for politics ever since I was a young boy and that passion has only grown stronger. Coming from a very troubled area of the world, Canada opened its arms to me and to members of my community and for many years I felt as though I owed Canada so much and needed to give, and that’s why I ran for office. Taking on this post is equally important.”

Interestingly, Premier Wynne has chosen a scientist to head up MRI. This is a fact Moridi is fully aware of as he takes the reins of MRI at a critical juncture. Indeed, his appointment is welcome news to scientists and science-based businesses

in Ontario that have long laboured to get themselves heard by government, but have struggled with a communication gap that exists between what the research and business communities want from government and what government can provide.

In some instances, the message of what is wanted can be lost in translation.

As a scientist, Moridi sees himself equipped to understand the message coming from industry and scientists alike. He is also able to understand and appreciate the connection between research, business and the economy. This stems from a long career in academia serving as the Dean of the School of Sciences, Chair of the Physics Department, University Chief Librarian and as member of the Senate at Alzahra University in Tehran. The Minister has co-authored over 150 research papers, technical reports, training manuals and articles. He has also presented at scientific conferences all over the world.

He believes his background in science will give him a leg up on his predecessors in heading up this Ministry. Coupled with his background in business (Moridi has also worked as a CEO and Chair in the electrical industry), his experience will make it easier to engage with the scientific and business communities, to connect the dots so to speak.

“I fully understand the research community and the lab environment because that’s where I worked for a number of years personally as a student, as a professor, as a researcher, and as a supervisor of students. And I’ve never forgotten my scientific roots. I was also a business executive for a few years, and understand how businesses operate. This background gives me a unique opportunity to bridge the divide that exists between industry, the scientific community and also the political decision makers,” he explained.

The Ministry of Research and Innovation like Minister Moridi has also undergone its own sort of evolution, having amalgamated with Ministry of Economic

MINISTRY OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

“Everything starts with imagination, which leads to knowledge, to invention, to pilot scale production and then to full scale production.

Then you need a good salesman to sell it.”

— Reza Moridi Development and Trade in 2011, and now finding itself back on its own. In defining the role of the new Ministry, Moridi believes that the distinction between the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment (MEDTE) is that its focus is on the trade and the economy of today, whereas MRI is about the trade and the economy of tomorrow.

“MEDTE is mainly involved with current trade activities and current products – this includes overseeing the manufacturing industry and facilitating trade with foreign countries. MRI’s mandate is to create the new products tomorrow and bring them to the commercialization stage. Once the product is on the market than it is MEDTE’s job to go out and sell it,” he said.

As such, the responsibility of overseeing the bioscience, biopharma, medical technology and clean tech sectors no longer falls under the umbrella of just one ministry, but rather it falls under multiple ministries.

“Everything starts with imagination, which leads to knowledge, to invention, to pilot scale production and then to full scale production. Then you need a good salesman to sell it. Each ministry has a role to play in that chain. Our role is helping the inventors, supporting innovation and research development and then helping them to commercialize the results of their research. Once it is commercialized on a wider scale, I guess this is where MEDTE enters into the equation.”

The recent investment of $100 million over five years into the Ontario Brain Institute announced in March, is an example of how the government will invest in research and jump start the engine for the economy of tomorrow. The province’s support will help the Ontario Brain Institute expand its research into the areas of neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and depression and continue its important research on cerebral palsy, autism and epilepsy. It will also allow the in-

stitute to leverage additional investments from various partners including industry, philanthropic, federal and international sources.

“These types of investments are going to lead to new inventions and new products, new services, and that’s going to be commercialized in the future hopefully. The goal is to continue building on our local researcher’s achievements and bring good jobs, investment, and the best minds to the province.”

It’s a model that seems to be working in this sector for Ontario and reason enough for the province to continue enabling public/private partnerships going forward. He is also proud of his government’s track record in supporting this type of innovation.

“Whether you look at the history of our government’s performance in the past – almost ten years now – we have invested $3.6 billion dollars in research and innovation since we came to the office leveraged by another $2.5 billion in private sector investments. The fact is, we as a government cannot do everything alone, and neither can the private sector.

I think partnerships between academia, the research community, and of course government in setting the right environment for the public and private sectors to come together is very important. Gone are the days where a researcher sitting in his or her lab, or a business could do it all alone. It’s a more complicated world we live in,” he said.

Likewise Minister Moridi believes Ontario needs to continue to work hard at collaborating with other jurisdictions.

“I would like to see more collaboration between our scientists and scientists in other countries because true innovation is never accomplished working in isolation, nor is it accomplished by ignoring what’s going elsewhere in the world. The work that our scientists may be doing here in Ontario, there could be similar work underway somewhere else like China, Israel

ONTARIO

or Europe. We have to remember that while innovation is a global competition, there are opportunities out there where we can collaborate rather than compete and be further ahead.”

Past examples of these collaborative international efforts include the establishment of OBI, partnerships like the Stem Cell Consortium and past trade missions to Asia.

Likewise, the government of Ontario isn’t afraid to look internationally for business opportunities.

“Our government’s policy is to expand and grow business, to create jobs in Ontario. As such, we are very keen on welcoming businesses not only in the innovation sector but in every sector of business and industry. We want to see investment in Ontario rise, and while we are doing very well, Ontario is the second most favourite jurisdiction in North America after California for foreign investments, but we can do better.”

Initiatives such as reducing capital tax from 33.7 percent in 2009 to 18.7 per cent in 2010 are examples of the measures the Ontario government has taken to create a favourable environment for businesses to come to Ontario he adds.

Ontario is already one of the largest biomedical research centres in North America, with more than 900 biomedical companies employing more than 43,000 Ontarians as well as another 15,000 researchers and research staff working in the health science sector at local hospitals and research institutions. As such, the infrastructure is in place in Ontario to make investing here attractive .

“In Ontario, particularly in the life sciences area, we have great talent and great institutions. Our teaching academic hospitals, our universities, our research clusters like MaRS Discovery District are among the best in the world.”

Minister Moridi believes this is a sound base to build upon and proof that Ontario is one of the best places in the world to innovate.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ whats-old-is-new-again/

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013 15

ROCHE CANADA

ONTARIO

By Laura Knox-Wallar

LOCAL TALENT, GLOBAL AMBITION

WHY ROCHE CHOSE ONTARIO FOR ITS GLOBAL PHARMACEUTICAL DEVELOPMENT SITE In 2011, through the efforts of Roche Canada’s executive team and the Government of Ontario, the Mississauga-based Canadian affiliate won the bid to house one of five global pharmaceutical development sites for Roche, the world’s largest biotechnology company.

In a province where innovation, collaboration and a knowledge-based economy are high priorities, it is no wonder why Swiss healthcare giant Hoffmann–La Roche chose to bring 200 of the brightest biotech minds in the world to its Roche Canada headquarters in Mississauga, ON. Roche Canada president and CEO Ronnie Miller believes Ontario was an ideal location for the site.

“There are certainly advantages for us to house the pharmaceutical development site here. For starters, the company has built strong relationships both in Canada, innovating here since 1931, and within Ontario forging relationships and making connections with the province’s scientific community.”

He also has high praise for the Ontario government, both for its commitment to the biotech and life science sectors in the province, and for supporting the bid to house the site with a financial commitment of $7.79 million from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

“They have reached out, they have been good partners and they have tried to encourage investment in the sector.

Like us they are trying to stimulate business in Ontario, and Ontario’s strategic priority in the life sciences is clear. It’s easy to align ourselves with the Ontario government’s innovation agenda, promot-

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Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

Roche Canada president and CEO, Ronnie Miller

ing excellence in research and investing in global opportunities. It makes Ontario an attractive jurisdiction to invest in as well as an attractive partner. These factors made it easier for us to sell the idea of expanding operations in Ontario to our parent company.”

In terms of its position within the company, Roche Canada is known for punching above its commercial weight.

This coupled with the strong long-term relationship that already exists with the research community in Ontario, beginning with the establishment of its head office here in 1986, were all key reasons that Ontario was chosen to house the site.

According to Miller, with such high stakes in the research and development sector, Roche’s decision to grow its R&D expertise in Ontario correlates with local government’s high strategic priority on the life sciences as well as the province’s reputation for excellence in education and innovation. Moreover, the political climate in Ontario is hospitable for those in the

business of innovation and will aid the five year $190 million dollar expansion project of the pharmaceutical development site for Roche.

“What has been good is the government of Ontario’s intention to develop an innovation based economy and they are trying very hard to do that. We worked very well in partnership with the provincial and federal government. It is one of those areas that is very difficult to align and we were aligned.”

The centre will build on the clinical expertise within the Roche global network focusing on managing clinical trials currently underway in more than 60 countries. At the same time, it provides medical writing and biostatics, and supports other Roche sites around the world. Individuals at the centre manage operations for all stages of global clinical trial research, significantly contributing to the development of highly innovative medicines to benefit patients worldwide.

The site also complements Roche’s current activities in Canada. The company’s strong clinical research base in the province is another factor that propelled Roche Canada to the top of the competitive list of jurisdictions around the world being considered for the newest global pharmaceutical development site.

Miller also pointed to issues of practicality and logistics while discussing the decision to place Roche’s global pharmaceutical development site in Mississauga.

“Travelling is the nature of the beast these days and Toronto is well placed for travel all over the world. With our main headquarters in Switzerland and our main development site in California, Ontario offers a geographic middle ground for Roche, in trying to communicate and operate across time zones. This is a benefit that could apply to many biotechnology companies based in Europe or California,

ROCHE CANADA

making Ontario, if for no other reason, a practical location to do business.”

Already, Roche Canada employs 900 people across the country, including the Diagnostics division of the company with Canadian headquarters in Laval, Quebec.

The availability of talent as such was a key component in selecting Ontario to host the site.

“I think the biggest asset Ontario provides to companies like us is its deep talent pool. We have been very impressed with the quality of the people we have hired locally for the site and I think this reflects the fact that the province does wonderful research – it produces great scientists, and sometimes you need to look locally before you look globally.”

Miller has high hopes for the spin-off effects of the global development site in Ontario and its impact on the local economy.

The new site has not only brought highly specialized jobs to Ontario, but he believes it will also create a myriad of benefits for Ontario’s scientific community. This includes providing new opportunities for collaboration in the discovery and development of medicines.

“The possibility of leveraging local talent is a very real one that benefits a province that produces a high number of highly skilled scientists but struggles to keep them within its borders,” he explains.

The centre may also prove useful in establishing future public/private partnerships between Roche and the province’s researchers in such key areas as the oncology, cardiovascular disease and central nervous system (CNS) spaces.

“There’s a lot of great local research organizations here to work with such as Princess Margaret Hospital, a world class cancer centre,” he said.

Perhaps most important is the impact the pharmaceutical development site and its potential success will have on expanding Ontario as a key biotech market for other companies, and ultimately, bring more jobs to the province.

“I think it will be a real boost for the whole sector in Ontario because it is such a major investment. We’ve made the investment and I hope other companies will follow suit. We view ourselves as an example of why more companies should consider setting up shop in Ontario. When I walk through the cafeteria and I see all these young new faces, coming from the local university systems and other companies,

ONTARIO it’s very exciting and it will be interesting to see that develop over the coming years.

I also think Ontario would like to be at the centre of the world’s research and development for pharmaceuticals and diagnostics and I think it is very well on its way.”

By attracting the brightest minds, developing leading edge therapies and eradicating disease in its own backyard, Ontario’s reputation of excellence, climate

BER BioFocus_Mar2011_OUT.indd 1

for innovation and appetite for growth will launch the province into this century’s biotechnology revolution.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ local-talent-global-ambition/

2/9/11 10:00:13 AM

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013 17

By Steven Loung

SANOFI PASTEUR CANADA

ONTARIO

SANOFI PASTEUR A CANADIAN SUCCESS STORY As the biotech industry grows slowly but steadily in Canada, a select few companies have become a global success story. Sanofi Pasteur Canada is one such rarity.

Part of health-care giant Sanofi, Sanofi Pasteur is the largest human vaccine company in the world. It operates manufacturing facilities in countries such as China, India, France, the U.S. and Canada. As a result of work done at its facility in North Toronto, Sanofi Pasteur Canada is a leader in vaccine manufacturing and R&D.

HISTORY Founded in 1914 by Dr. John Gerald FitzGerald, the company now known as Sanofi Pasteur Canada was originally part of the University of Toronto. Then called the “Anti-Toxin Laboratories,” the labs moved north in 1917 to the facility’s current location, and were renamed the Connaught Anti-Toxin Laboratories and University Farm, honouring Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, who was Canada’s governor general during the First World War. Dr. FitzGerald’s laboratory was dedicated to the production of anti-toxin for diphtheria, then a potent killer of children.

In the 1920s, Connaught Labs, with Eli Lilly, became the first to commercialize insulin, Banting and Best’s groundbreaking discovery.

Mid-century, Connaught scientists helped to commercialize Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine, the world’s first immunization against the disease. In the 1960s, Connaught created new vaccines against influenza and the measles, as well as a freeze-dried smallpox vaccine that would eventually lead to eradication of the disease in the 1970s – making it the only disease to be eliminated from the face of the earth.

Change came in 1972, when the University of Toronto sold Connaught to the Canada Development Corporation, opening the door for the Toronto lab to be scooped up by Institut Mérieux in 1989.

After various acquisitions, Connaught would ultimately become Sanofi Pasteur Canada.

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Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

Over the years, the Connaught facility has taken pioneering steps in vaccine R&D and manufacturing, evidenced by one of the company’s latest products, a fivecomponent acellular pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine – the only one in the world.

The combination of this vaccine with others (e.g., diphtheria, tetanus, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B) into one shot is tangible proof of Sanofi Pasteur Canada’s global success. These pediatric combination vaccines were developed and are currently manufactured at the Connaught site for export around the world, resulting in revenues in the billions.

PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS Throughout the years, a strong relationship with the Ontario government has helped to fuel the success of Sanofi Pasteur Canada.

“We’ve worked closely with the Ontario government over the years, including the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade & Employment, and the Ministry of Research & Innovation,” said Mark Lievonen, President, Sanofi Pasteur Canada.

“We’ve made some major investments

SANOFI PASTEUR CANADA

ONTARIO “At the heart of innovation you need talent, you need the right skills and experience, you need the funding from both the private and government sectors and you need things like an intellectual property regime that is world-class competitive.”

— Mark Lievonen

at this site, which the Ontario government has supported through its Biopharmaceutical Investment Program. In fact, in 2010 we completed a new R&D building – a $100 million research and development facility of which $14 million was funded by the provincial government.”

This new facility helped the site secure the North American mandates for Analytical and Bioprocessing R&D and complements the existing manufacturing activities at the site. As Lievonen explains, what this boils down to is the development of scale-up production processes and tests to release new vaccines for clinical trials.

The facility, and its highly-skilled employees, opens up the opportunity for Sanofi Pasteur Canada to secure future global manufacturing mandates for those same products. This in turns creates jobs in R&D and manufacturing – bringing critical mass to the site in Toronto as well as to Ontario’s life science economy.

To keep up with demand for its products, Sanofi Pasteur Canada also has plans for further investment. “We are looking at

expanding our manufacturing capabilities in the future,” Lievonen said.

The Toronto City Council recently decided to adopt recommendations that would enable the southern portion of the Toronto site to be redesignated and rezoned, a development that bodes well for its growth.

The final steps in the approval process are expected to take place later this year.

NURTURING THE NEXT GENERATION In addition to its manufacturing and R&D activities, Sanofi Pasteur Canada is nurturing the country’s next generation of great minds within the biotech and life sciences sector.

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC) is a national competition among high school students in which participants receive mentoring from academics and professionals in the field as they complete sophisticated research projects.

To date, over 4,500 students have competed in the challenge with the vast majority going on to pursue successful careers in math and science-related fields.

This competition not only cultivates future talent within Ontario and Canada, but globally as well. From the first competition which was held at the 2002 BIO convention in Toronto, the Challenge expanded to the U.S. where it is now known as the International BioGENEius Challenge.

Ontario students have always fared well in the competition; in fact, last year’s national winner was Waterloo’s Janelle Tam. According to Lievonen, the teen put herself on a fast track to success not only for herself but for the future of the life sciences industry in Canada. “Next year she is considering going to Princeton, after

which, she plans to return to Canada. She and her mother said they feel that this country has done so much for them that she will be returning to Canada upon her graduation to give back.”

Keeping talent in Canada is important to Lievonen, and is a key reason for the SBCC’s existence. He sees the SBCC as contributing to help close Canada’s innovation gap.

“Innovation is necessary to drive productivity, to drive global competitiveness, which will in turn raise living standards for all Canadians,” he said. “At the heart of innovation you need talent, you need the right skills and experience, you need the funding from both the private and government sectors and you need things like an intellectual property regime that is world-class competitive. Those are the ingredients that have to come into play to drive innovation, which, in turn, will drive productivity and global competitiveness.”

KEEPING THE TRADITION The success of Sanofi Pasteur Canada lies not only in its world-class manufacturing facilities and R&D acumen. Its achievements are rooted in the purpose for which Dr. John FitzGerald founded the University of Toronto Anti-Toxin Laboratories: To provide life-saving public health products at an affordable price and supporting a vision of a world in which no one suffers or dies from a vaccine-preventable disease.

One hundred years later, the company’s products have saved countless lives, and the site continues to thrive.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ made-in-ontario/

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013 19

By Alison Fenney

THE ONTARIO BRAIN INSTITUTE

ONTARIO

ADVENTURES IN PARTNERSHIP THE OBI MODEL

The Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) was created to address the conclusions of several reports focused on ways to maximize strategic research and economic development opportunities in the province of Ontario. The vision which inspired the OBI was that research excellence already exists in Ontario but must be leveraged to improve the impact of neuroscience research across the province. Strategic partnering is vital to the success of the OBI, with the objective to leverage existing expertise and investment, the OBI’s goal is to grease, not reinvent the wheel.

WHY PARTNERING? Partnership ensures that the focus of OBI programs and platforms are informed by stakeholders. Early participation and contribution of different stakeholders (basic, clinical, and translational researchers, patients and advocacy groups, government and industry) in the development of various OBI programs leads to better design and execution of activities in addition to enhancing the adoption of program outcomes.

Principles of partnership: 1) Common focused goals The first step in creating partnerships is to recognize common goals. For the Ontario Brain Institute, and partners across the province, that goal is improving health for patients afflicted with brain disorders.

This goal is common to all the different stakeholders including clinicians, academics, patient advocacy groups, companies and governments alike.

2) Province-wide vision & impact The OBI’s mandate is to engage the province, east to west

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Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

and north to south. Every program or initiative it supports or develops must have benefits, or impact, for the whole province. The OBI engages regional “champions” to work within their institutions, companies and communities. Regional champions advocate for OBI programs and initiatives within their communities, and also on behalf of their regional strengths and capacity in relation to OBI programs.

3) Leverage existing investment, expertise, research & development capacity The OBI was not created to build a neuroscience initiative from the ground up.

It was created to leverage the extensive investments made in academic institutions, treatment centres, and training programs by past provincial and federal governments with the aim of spurring scientific discovery.

4) Improve efficiency, communication & integration OBI partnerships are designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of research, communications between fields and industries, and the

integration of this knowledge into decision making.

When the OBI was created, two councils were formed to provide advice and support: the Industry Advisory Council (IAC) and Science Advisory Council (SAC).

The IAC includes experts from the pharmaceutical industry, medical devices, high performance computing and commercialization enterprise. This group, committing both financial and human resources, provides advice and strategic direction to the OBI board and senior management, and act as champions within their own organizations to promote and support OBI programs.

The SAC is composed of international research experts, gathered to advise and support the OBI board and senior management on issues of scientific excellence.

This council, along with its industry counterpart, played a major role in the selection of the Integrated Discovery Programs and continues to support these initiatives through participation on Core Innovation and Science Innovation teams within each of the three established and two newly integrated discovery programs.

EXAMPLES OF PARTNERSHIPS: OBI PROGRAMS Integrated Discovery Programs (IDP) The Integrated Discovery programs were designed to improve patient outcomes by fostering research collaborations between basic scientists, clinical scientists, industry partners and patient advocates; by standardizing patient assessments across Ontario; and by engaging patients in every stage of research and develop-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

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Mississauga, Ontario Core Life Sciences Companies 21 BioSyent Inc. Abbot Laboratories Ltd. 22 C M L Healthcare Inc. Agilent Technologies 23 Cameron Stewart Life 3 Akuna Health Products Inc. 21 BioSyent Science Inc.Inc. Abbot Laboratories Ltd.Inc. 4 Alcon Canada Surgical 5 Almirall 22 C M24L CAN-Med Healthcare Inc.Supplies Agilent Technologies 25 Cardiogenics Inc. 6 Alphora Research Inc. 23 Cameron Stewart Life Akuna Health Products Inc. 26 Cetero Research 7 AmerisourceBergen Science Inc. Alcon Canada Inc. 27 Cipher Pharmaceuticals Corporation Canada 24 CAN-Med Surgical Supplies Almirall 8 Amgen Canada Inc. 28 Clearstone Central 25 Inc. Laboratories 9 Amorfix Inc. Alphora Research Life Sciences Ltd. Cardiogenics 29 Cobalt Pharmaceuticals Inc. Research 10 AstraZeneca Canada Inc.26 Cetero AmerisourceBergen 30 Contract Pharmaceuticals Ltd. 11 Auto 27 Cipher Control Medical Inc. Pharmaceuticals Corporation Canada 31 Covalon Technologies Ltd. 12 B A S F Canada 28 Clearstone Central Amgen Canada Inc. 32 Dass Enterprises Inc. 13 Baxter Corporation Laboratories Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. 33 Diteba Research 14 Baylis Medical Company 29 Cobalt Pharmaceuticals Inc. AstraZeneca Canada Inc. Laboratories Inc. 15 Beckman Coulter Canada Inc. 30 Contract Pharmaceuticals 34 Draeger Canada Ltd. Ltd. Auto Control Medical Inc. 16 BELL Lifestyle Products Inc. 35 E MTechnologies 31 Covalon C Scientific Inc.Ltd. B A S F Canada 17 Berna Products Corp.

36 E M D Serono Canada Inc. 18 Biogen Idec Canada Inc.32 Dass Enterprises Inc. Baxter Corporation 37 Eisai Limited 33 Diteba Research 19 Bio-Rad Laboratories Canada Baylis Medical Company 38 Exova Canada Inc. 20 Bio Sci Research Canada Ltd Laboratories Inc. 1 2

Beckman Coulter Canada Inc. BELL Lifestyle Products Inc. Berna Products Corp.

Biogen Idec Canada Inc. Bio-Rad Laboratories Canada Bio Sci Research Canada Ltd

34 35 36 37 38

Draeger Canada Ltd. E M C Scientific Inc. E M D Serono Canada Inc. Eisai Limited Exova Canada Inc.

55 G E Healthcare Gelda Scientific & Industrial 56 Development Corp.

57 3941GGenzyme Canada Inc. E Healthcare 58 GileadScientific Sciences Canada, Inc. 4042Gelda & Industrial 59 43 GlaxoSmithKline Inc. Development Corp.

60 44 Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. 41 Genzyme Canada Inc. 61 45 I N C Research 42 Gilead Sciences Canada, Inc. 62 46 Immunotech 43 GlaxoSmithKline Development Inc. Inc. 4447Hoffmann-La Insception Biosciences Roche Ltd. 63 Cardiology & 4548I KNMCHResearch 64 Diagnostics Centres 46 Immunotech 65 49 Karl Storz Endoscopy Development Canada Ltd. Inc. 66 4750Insception Biosciences Laborie Medical 67 Inc. & 48 KTechnologies 68 M H Cardiology 51 Life Labs Diagnostics Centres 69 52 M U I Scientific 49 Karl Storz Endoscopy 70 53 Maxxam Analytics Inc. 71 Canada Ltd. 54 Medexus Inc. 72 39

40

50

51 52 53 54

73 Ranbaxy Pharmaceutical Medx Health Corp.

Canada Inc. Merge Healthcare 74 S G S Canada Inc. Metagenics Canada Inc. 75 Seaford73 55 Medx Health Pharmaceuticals Inc. Ranbaxy Pharmaceutical Corp.

Millennium Compliance 76 Siemens Healthcare Services Inc.Healthcare Canada Inc. 56 Merge Diagnostics Ltd. Mint Pharmaceuticals Inc. 74 S G S Canada Inc. 57 Metagenics Canada Inc. 77 Silliker Canada Co. NoAb BioDiscoveries 75 Seaford Pharmaceuticals In 58 Millennium Compliance78 Sky Tech Labs Inc. Novadaq Technologies 76 Siemens Healthcare Services Inc. 79 Steri Max Inc. Novartis Animal Health Diagnostics Ltd. 59 Mint 80 Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.Pharmaceuticals Inc. 77 Canada Inc. Silliker Canada Co. 60 Novartis Consumer Health NoAb BioDiscoveries 81 Talecris78 BioSky Therapeutics Ltd.Inc. Canada Inc. Tech Labs 61 Novadaq Technologies 82 Theramed Corp.

Novo Nordisk Canada Inc. 79 Steri Max Inc. 62 Novartis Animal Health 83 Therapure Biopharma Inc. Nutreco Canada Inc. 80 Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. 84 Thermo Fisher Scientific Nuvo Research Inc. Canada Inc. 63 Novartis Consumer Health 85 Vita Health Products Inc. Patheon Inc. 81 Talecris Bio Therapeutics Lt Canada Inc. 86 Viventia Biotech Inc. Pfizer Consumer Healthcare 64 Novo Nordisk Canada Inc. 82 Theramed Corp.

Canada Ltd. Pharma Medica Research Inc. 87 Welch Allyn 65 Nutreco 83 Therapure Group, TheBiopharma Inc. Canada Inc. 88 Woodbridge Pharmax Limited Inc.Fisher Scientific Process Research Ortech Inc. 89 Y M BioSciences 66 Nuvo 84 Thermo Research Inc. 90 Yes Biotech Laboratories Qiagen Inc. 67 Patheon Inc. 85 Vita Health Products Inc. Limited

Laborie Medical Technologies Inc. 68 Pfizer Consumer Healthcare 86 Viventia Biotech Inc. Life Labs 69 Pharma Medica Research Inc. Welch Allyn Canada Ltd. 2013 Booth 3631 - Hall B 87 - Canada Pavilion M U I Scientific Visit us at BIO 70 Pharmax Limited 88 Woodbridge Group, The 1-800-456-2181 mississauga.ca/business Maxxam Analytics Inc. 71 Process Research Ortech Inc. 89 Y M BioSciences Inc. Medexus Inc. MISSISSAUGA. LET 72 Qiagen 90 YesBUSINESS. Biotech Laboratories Inc.US ADVANCE YOUR Limited 13105

THE ONTARIO BRAIN INSTITUTE

ONTARIO large application to the FedDev Ontario Technology Development Program (TDP).

The OBI plays the role of ‘honest broker’ between the funding agency and the projects, providing administrative support and strategic decision making. FedDev Ontario provides approximately $11 million in funding, which is then matched by for profit partners through cash or in-kind contributions. These projects span the province from Windsor to Kingston covering products related to brain sensing, brain training and brain device interface.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 ment. The first three ID programs involve epilepsy, cerebral palsy and neurodevelopment which includes autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and intellectual disability. Each program is made up of 20 to 25 researchers and clinicians, four to nine clinical sites, eight to 17 industrial partners, and six to seven patient advisory groups.

The Neurodevelopment Integrated Discovery Program, named the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders Network (POND), leverages existing investment in the basic and clinical research labs across institutions in order to advance our understanding of individual variability observed within these disorders. For example, by leveraging a Genome Canada grant to Dr. Stephen Scherer (an internationally-recognized geneticist for autism spectrum disorders), the group is able to link genetic information from their patients to specific behaviours or changes in brain structure and function. By leveraging the existing capacity and excellence in mouse-imaging (SickKids, funded by CFI, OIT and ORF), the group can compare findings in human studies and animal models. This partnership between clinicians and basic researchers will also speed up the development of new treatments by creating a screening tool for testing new potential treatments and predicting which patients may benefit most.

Brain-CODE Brain-CODE is a secure, virtual resource to advance understanding of brain disorders. This informatics platform will allow researchers to collect, share and analyze “big data” across multiple technologies, data sources and disorders. The program leverages millions of dollars, primarily through a partnership with the InDOC Consortium. The InDoc consortium is a cross- provincial team made up of the following expert groups: High Performance Computing Virtual Laboratory (high performance computing and large scale data storage), Ontario Cancer Biomarker Network (molecular biomarker management), Applied Health Research Centre (clinical data management), Rotman Research Institute (neuroinformat-

22

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

Brain-CODE not only integrates and makes accessible data across programs and disease, but is a valuable tool to attract industry engagement through clinical trials by characterizing patient populations. ics), and Electronic Health Information Laboratory (security and de-identification).

OBI provides the strategic direction and governance, as well as the incoming data resulting from the Integrated Discovery Programs. Brain-CODE not only integrates and makes accessible data across programs and disease, but is a valuable tool to attract industry engagement through clinical trials by characterizing patient populations.

Commercialization The commercialization program at the OBI invites industry engagement across OBI programs to support and foster the growth and ongoing development of a neuroscience cluster in Ontario. One of the main commercialization initiatives spearheaded by the OBI, aptly named NeuroTech Ontario, engages 13 individual non-profit and private company partnerships, under one

The Experiential Education Initiative (EEI) The Experiential Education Initiative bridges commercialization and training, and is composed of three distinct offerings: OBI Entrepreneurs, Graduate Opportunity Internships and Graduate Opportunity Fellowships. The first to launch, OBI Entrepreneurs, provides $50,000 in cash, expert mentorship, networking opportunities, links to follow on funding, incubation space and publicity to young graduate researchers exploring the commercial potential of their innovations in neuroscience.

The awards were funded in part through a strategic partnership with the Ontario Centres of Excellence, an organization dedicated to co-investment in commercialization, technology transfer and talent development projects that will drive Ontario’s future prosperity and global competitiveness. The success of the OBI-OCE funding partnership has led to expansion of the co-funding arrangement from three selected entrepreneurs candidates in year one, to up to 10 in year two.

The training component of the program was made possible through a partnership with the TECHNO program administered through the Institute for Optical Sciences, at the University of Toronto, led

by Professor Cynthia Goh and her team.

This program is an intensive, hands-on, month long program dedicated to the development and support of entrepreneurial ventures.

Mentorship in this program was provided by a myriad of OBI partners, from members of our Ontario Brain Innovation Council, to seasoned entrepreneurs and business people from companies across Ontario. Incubation space was provided

CONTINUED ON PAGE 33

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2013 CANADA GAIRDNER AWARD RECIPIENTS

CANADA GAIRDNER INTERNATIONAL AWARD HARVEY J. ALTER MD

CANADA GAIRDNER INTERNATIONAL AWARD DANIEL W. BRADLEY MD PhD

CANADA GAIRDNER INTERNATIONAL AWARD STEPHEN JOSEPH ELLEDGE PhD

Distinguished NIH Investigator, Chief, Clinical Studies and Associate Director of Research, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Centre for Disease Control (ret); Consultant in I.D., Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

For critical contributions to the discovery and isolation of the hepatitis C virus, which has led to the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic agents

For elucidation of the DNA damage response as a signaling network that controls DNA repair and genomic stability with profound implications for cancer and other diseases

CANADA GAIRDNER INTERNATIONAL AWARD SIR GREGORY WINTER CBE FRS

CANADA GAIRDNER GLOBAL HEALTH AWARD KING K. HOLMES MD PhD

CANADA GAIRDNER WIGHTMAN AWARD JAMES C. HOGG MD PhD

Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK

University of Washington, Department of Global Health and Center for AIDS & STD, Seattle, Washington, USA

Professor Emeritus, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

For the engineering of humanized monoclonal antibodies and their widespread use in medical therapy in cancer and infectious disease

For global scientific contributions to the field of sexually transmitted disease and their effective treatment and prevention

For leadership in the understanding and treatment of chronic respiratory disease and for a visionary career as a national research builder

With DR. MICHAEL HOUGHTON PhD University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (Declined the award)

G airdner r e cogni z e s t he w or l d’s m o s t c re a ti v e a n d a c c o m p l i s h e d b i o m e d i c a l s c i e n ti s ts .

Jo in o ur gr ow i ng com m uni t y at w w w. g ai rdn e r. o rg

By Laura Knox-Wallar

LIFE SCIENCES ONTARIO

ONTARIO

PUTTING ONTARIO ON THE MAP When it comes to bridging the gap between veterans and newcomers in Ontario’s life sciences industry, Life Sciences Ontario (LSO) provides the bricks and mortar.

Through two new initiatives, the Ontario Life Sciences Asset Map and the Entrepreneur Mentorship Program, LSO is reinforcing its mission to represent and promote the benefits of life sciences technologies and encourage their commercial success through advocacy, facilitation of economic development and local national, and international promotion.

ONTARIO’S LIFE SCIENCES ASSET MAP Along with a new and progressive website, LSO has launched an ‘asset map’ - an interactive directory and information platform targeting every life sciences organization in the province. The goal of the database is to add value and visibility for stakeholders and to act as an easy access tool for those looking to learn more about Ontario’s biotech environment.

“When we were building the new web-

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Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

site we wanted to focus on where we could add value to our stakeholders and the asset map was one area that stood out for us,” says LSO’s executive director Jason Field. “Not only does it profile Ontario companies on an international platform but it also serves as a portal for people wanting to learn more about, and connect with, life sciences organizations in Ontario.”

Organizations from across disciplines such as health sciences, industrial bio-

technology, agriculture and food can log into the asset map and create a profile of their organization for free. The profile covers everything from basic contact information and website links, to more comprehensive items such as how many people you employ, what products you have and at what stage they are at, as well as potential licensing opportunities.

The benefit of this information is twofold: “As we build the quantity and quality of data in the asset map we’ll be

LIFE SCIENCES ONTARIO

ONTARIO

“It was important for our entrepreneurs to know that they are not alone, that others similar to them did get results even though it may have taken a while. It provides an opportunity to learn best practices and approaches from others who have successfully navigated this course.” — Doreen D’Souza able to extract statistical data which is something that is very difficult to do in the life sciences because of the diversity of the industry,” notes Field. “This will be a way where we can use the statistical information to raise awareness of how big and diverse our life sciences sector really is; and the significant socioeconomic contributions we make within the province.”

The asset map provides another major benefit to Ontario stakeholders: national and international marketing and promotion. LSO uses the same platform as the BIOTECanada Canadian Life Sciences Database, which is part of an international database used by leading biotech clusters around the world. Therefore, companies who make a profile on the LSO website have the potential to gain market exposure not just in Canada, but internationally as well. In this way, LSO is providing far-reaching access to wellestablished and start-up life sciences companies in Ontario while keeping its focus on the local community and encouraging regional participation and networking within the sector.

ENTREPRENEUR MENTORSHIP PROGRAM Developing and commercializing a product in the life sciences industry is a high stakes and difficult process. The industry has unique challenges with delicate IP considerations, long product development cycles and high costs. To meet these challenges and support the entrepreneurs who are facing them head on, LSO has created its Entrepreneurship Mentorship Program including a peer-to-peer round table series aimed solely at life sciences entrepreneurs.

The program is chaired by entrepreneur and life sciences veteran Doreen D’Souza.

This program provides new entrepreneurs support from experienced entrepreneurs and specific topic experts in life sciences.

“There are intricate complexities in the life sciences, so our aim is to bring the life sciences entrepreneurs together so that they can share their experiences and ensure that their issues are being addressed so that they can drive towards and ultimately achieve their business goals. ” says D’Souza.

The peer-to-peer round table sessions are for small groups of life sciences entrepreneurs to discuss a specific topic with their peers who are all in different stages of the business development cycle.

LSO chooses the topics based on feedback they receive from entrepreneurs who sign up for the discussions. This way, they can select speakers accordingly and focus their discussions on the real needs of their attendees.

There have been three round table sessions held so far. The first in November 2012 focused on access to capital.

Commenting on the response from the initial event D’Souza concluded, “It was important for our entrepreneurs to know that they are not alone, that others similar to them did get results even though it may have taken a while. It provides an opportunity to learn best practices and approaches from others who have successfully navigated this course.” This spirit of encouragement and shared experience is the essence of this program.

The second event was held in January 2013 and targeted physician and healthcare entrepreneurs. There was a panel of sector experts speaking on the challenges

and opportunities for accessing capital for emerging life sciences companies. In addition, there were speakers from regional organizations that provide support services for entrepreneurs, as well as a successful physician entrepreneur who shared his story of how he overcame the many challenges of building a successful life sciences company.

The third event was held in March 2013 and was led by Dr. Scott Tanner from DVS Sciences Inc. The topic was relationship management with regards to investors both domestically and internationally, and how to communicate with and facilitate those relationships across industry and culture.

LSO’s strategic plan for the program is to work in collaboration with other mentorship programs and events to strengthen the network and community of life science entrepreneurs. “We want the life sciences economy to be strong so there is a lot of merit for us to be working together in partnership.”

Its goal is to pair experienced life sciences entrepreneurs with those entering the field to provide guidance through waters they have already mastered.

D’Souza acknowledges that finding successful entrepreneurs with extra time on their hands to engage in one-to-one mentoring is a challenge, but is hopeful that this model of peer-to-peer interaction will provide many benefits to life sciences entrepreneurs in Ontario.

With two new initiatives at the forefront for 2013, LSO is implementing and growing its vision for Ontario’s life sciences industry. By providing its members with networking opportunities and mentorship on a highly personal level, while expanding that network globally with the life sciences asset map, LSO is unifying the life sciences sector of Ontario and building a strong foundation for commercial success and further economic development.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ putting-ontario-on-the-map/

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013 25

ONTARIO BIOSCIENCE INNOVATION ORGANIZATION

ONTARIO

By Gail Garland, CEO OBIO

ONTARIO’S BIOSCIENCE CLUSTER: TAPPING THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL The OBIO® 2012 industry consultation and survey built on knowledge gained from OBIO’s previous three years of consultations. The financial health of Ontario’s industry hasn’t changed significantly from prior years.

Most companies are pre-revenue (50 per cent) and 47 per cent have annual revenues of less than $10 million. Companies report their financial runway is approximately 14 months and the majority (82 per cent) of those who have raised capital (61 per cent) in the last year have raised less than $2 million. Research and development consumes 46 per cent of working capital followed by marketing and sales which accounts for 34 per cent. Patent costs, clinical trial costs and costs to raise capital consume the balance.

Rather than purely provide a ‘state of the industry’ update, this year’s consultation undertook to explore the sector’s potential in healthier conditions brought about through the reduction of uncertainty largely related to insufficient financial resources. With a nod to professor Michael Porter’s (Harvard University) work on cluster strength (Figure 1), OBIO asked industry leaders to weigh in on the quality of the business environment, access to specialized risk capital and depth within the domestic human health sciences private sector.

Specifically, the survey sought to gauge companies’ progress and expansion through the creation of new jobs and the impact on key projects’ time to commercialization. Additionally, the 2012 consultation survey set out to demonstrate the potential impact of the adoption of policies by the provincial government aimed

26

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

at improving the quality of the business environment.

Survey results confirmed that most roadblocks and challenges facing biotech companies are related to uncertainty and insufficient funding. Industry’s feedback from 56 of 150 invitees was presented by David J. Pye, Ph.D at OBIO’s Annual General Meeting in November, 2012.

Stable funding and hiring: 38 per cent of responding companies reported that hiring and retaining key personnel had become increasingly expensive in the last five years. This resulted in delayed company growth for a third of responders and 20 per cent reported it had a negative impact on acquiring funding. Looking forward to 2013, 50 per cent of companies reported that filling planned new positions would depend on their ability to secure adequate funding. However, given an environment of reduced uncertainty, companies would increase planned hiring by more than 20 per cent (Figure 2).

Respondents noted that even if hiring positions were created, numerous essential skills remain difficult to find in Ontario.

The skill gap includes: • Scientists with corporate experience • Regulatory and Clinical Specialists • RF Engineers • Industry experience / drug developers • US health IT experience • Depth of biotech experience • Regulatory skills • Special skills / experienced professionals with adaptive industry (non-academic) roles • Device commercialization background • Financial expertise for small company fundraising • Biologics manufacturing skill set (i.e. research and development) • C-level talent/Senior Managers • Successful serial entrepreneurs Acting on this data and the work of OBEST™ (Ontario Bioscience Economic Strategy Team), OBIO will survey industry stakeholders to understand explicitly what misalignment exists between talents coming out of Ontario’s educational institutions and what skills industry needs. It is OBIO’s intent to not only create awareness

TABLE 1:

Obtaining stable financing would be less of an obstacle (to growth)

37%

Local policy that is supportive of the industry and its ecosystem

29%

Finding and retaining key personnel would be easier

11%

The time to commercialization of new products would be significantly shorter

6%

Other Reasons

17% 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

ONTARIO BIOSCIENCE INNOVATION ORGANIZATION

about opportunities in industry and existing training programs catered for them, but also how education needs to reformat to better promote industry and prepare future industry leaders. Ontario benefits as more positions are available to skilled graduates and companies don’t need to spend scarce funding on training that educational institutions could provide.

Stable funding and Commercialization: In 2012, companies with no marketready projects estimated an average 26.8 months to commercialization for projects

ONTARIO

with the greatest commercial potential.

However, respondents indicated that this time could be reduced by almost four months if they were operating with secure, sustainable funding. Stable and sustainable funding will expedite commercialization efforts for Ontario’s bioscience industry.

In response to industry’s persistent unmet need for access to capital, OBIO together with the investment community has launched an initiative to help biotech companies improve their chances of ac-

quiring funding. The OBIO Capital Access Advisory Program (OBIO CAAP™) works to provide promising health technology and bioscience companies with access to the necessary capital in order to fully exploit their commercial potential.

Partnerships with Academia: Industry remains well engaged with academia to wit, 71 per cent have partnerships and/or collaborations with academic institutions in Ontario.

Market Receptivity: 66 per cent of responding companies are currently en-

FIGURE 1: WHAT DETERMINES COMPETITIVENESS?

What Determines Competitiveness?

Microeconomic Competitiveness Quality of the Business Environment

State of Cluster Development

Sophistication of Company Operations and Strategy

Macroeconomic Competitiveness Human Development and Political Institutions

Macroeconomic Policies

Endowments Productivity ultimately depends on improving the microeconomic capability of the economy and the sophistication of local competition • Macroeconomic competitiveness sets the potential for high productivity, but is not sufficient • Endowments create a foundation for prosperity, but true prosperity is created by productivity in the use of endowments •

20120329 – Toronto Region Economic Summit – FINAL

3

Copyright © 2012 Professor Michael E. Porter

Professor Porter states that cluster strength directly affects regional economic performance and competitiveness. He argues that productivity relies on the microeconomic capability of the economy and the sophistication of local competition. These, together with the quality of the business environment and the sophistication of company operations and strategy, drive competitiveness at the microeconomic level, building on macroeconomic foundations. Many essential drivers of competitiveness reside at the regional (as opposed to national) level. According to Porter, each region specializing in different sets of clusters needs its own competitiveness strategy and action agenda to achieve job growth, higher wages, higher patenting rates and greater new business formation.

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013 27

ONTARIO BIOSCIENCE INNOVATION ORGANIZATION

ONTARIO

FIGURE 2: REDUCED UNCERTAINTY SEES MORE FIRMS FILLING MORE POSITIONS The reduction of uncertainty related to securing sustainable funding would improve the health of the business environment resulting in:

In the Current Year –

•

83% of companies would have planned to hire

•

The number of planned new positions would have been 31% greater

In the Next Fiscal Year -A significant and immediate increase in the number of new positions created --- over 90% located in Ontario. New jobs would result from an increase in the number of companies planning to increase the size of their workforce and increases in the number of new positions created by those companies who were already planning to expand.

A reduction on the time-to-commercialization of companies’ projects deemed to have the greatest commercial potential.

The adoption of supportive policies by the Provincial Government has the potential to significantly improve the quality of the Ontario business environment. Changes to procurement policies can have the potential to boost Ontario customers’ receptivity to regional vendors and facilitate companies’ ability to secure investment funding: 55% would expect to see a boost in their Ontario customers’ receptivity to marketing and sales efforts 47% agree that the policy change would facilitate their company’s ability to secure investment funding

28

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

•

93% of companies would be planning to hire

•

The number of new positions would be 23% greater than currently planned

Current Year

Next Fiscal Year

100%

93%

90% 80% 70%

83%

83%

69%

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

gaged in marketing and sales efforts. However, most noted more receptivity to their sales and marketing efforts in the USA (34 per cent) versus Ontario at 17 per cent and negligible receptivity elsewhere in Canada.

The Stabilizing Effect of Favourable Procurement Policies: Survey respondents believe adoption of one or more favourable provincial policies would boost Ontario customers’ receptivity to regional vendors and in turn improve company’s ability to secure investment funding. 55 per cent expect more receptive action from Ontarians if, for example, the province reimbursed hospitals and other Ontario buyers up to 10 per cent of their purchases made from Ontario-based suppliers and 47 per cent agree such a policy would facilitate acquisition of secure investment funding.

Over the coming months, OBIO together with industry stakeholders will present a new model to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies to government.

This model will be based on an open and transparent system for evaluating health system priorities and a clear understanding of how adoption of technologies for health will benefit patients and Ontario’s economy.

Staying Here and Growing Here: Over the next 12 months, 28 per cent of compa-

Planned to Would Have Hire Hired

Planning to Would Be Hire Hiring

nies reported that they expect to consider moving their office. The primary reasons for considering a move are related to obtaining stable financing (37 per cent) in an area with policy supportive of the industry (29 per cent) (Table 1).

In summary, OBIO’s 2012 industry consultation addresses key challenges facing Ontario human health and bioscience companies. It reveals potential improvements if companies operated in a cluster environment with more sustainable funding and favourable policies thereby encouraging companies to create more jobs, increase industry/academic partnerships and advance health products to the global market faster.

This data paints a picture of a more prosperous Ontario cluster and highlights a path forward. Industry and government will together reap the rewards of a strong Ontario bioscience cluster benefiting from increased foreign direct investment producing products and technologies for export.

REFERENCES: 1. Professor Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School, “Regional Competitiveness: The Role of Clusters”, presentation at the Toronto Region Economic Summit, Toronto, March 29, 2012

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ontarios-bioscience-cluster-tappingthe-untapped-

Read it here first.

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ONTARIO GENOMICS INSTITUTE

ONTARIO

By Alison Symington, Ph.D.

TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO THE MARKETPLACE FINDING A MATCH BETWEEN RESEARCH AND RECEPTOR Much has been made over the last several years about the lack of translation from research to market in the life science sector in Canada.

The Council of Canadian Academies reported last year that Canada produces almost five per cent of the world’s most cited papers despite only having 0.5 per cent of the world’s population and a research capacity that is growing with 50 per cent more research papers published from 1999 to 2004 than the five years previous.1 Despite this wealth of scientific output, there is a general belief that this research is not being translated into an economic advantage for Canada. One reason for this apparent lack of translation is a supplydriven model of research and translation.

While the research is excellent, in many cases the knowledge or product can’t be used in its current form, or industry doesn’t know it exists. New business and research models are needed to bring these discoveries into the marketplace, to sustain basic science and the discovery pipeline for these applications.

One way to address this gap in translation is to determine what industry needs and look for potential solutions in the scientific community – in essence, to assess the demand and then look at the supply. In an era of convergent technology where the life and physical sciences are coming together, life sciences can be applied in non-traditional sectors, where it may not be the obvious answer. In many cases, it is possible that solutions already exist in the lab or other sectors and could be adapted. For example, could a point-of-care microbial identification system used at a hospital bedside also be used to look for contamination within a food processing facility or water treatment plant? Currently, activated sludge is used to promote growth of biological

30

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

organisms that remove organic material from waste water, but the design of such systems is considered within the realm of engineering. An understanding of the microbial makeup of the sludge could allow engineers and microbiologists to improve the current technology, maximizing the efficiency of the sludge ponds by optimizing conditions for the active microbes.

The Ontario Genomics Institute has been reaching out to a variety of non-traditional life science sectors, such as mining and water remediation, to assess whether research or technologies that could meet their needs already exist. Many of these organizations have knowledge of methods that are established within their industry and OGI’s expertise can help find new and innovative solutions to challenges companies didn’t realize could be solved through life sciences. While still early in the process, there are already indicators that this approach will be fruitful.

In the pharmaceutical sector, another successful approach brings industry together in the pre-competitive space to form public-private partnerships. In such alliances, pharma is brought in at the beginning of the research stage to provide funding and insight into projects that would benefit their business. Public funding is leveraged through this industry partnership and the potential for industrial application is increased. In return, the industrial partners define terms and sign agreements allowing them to use the technology that is developed.

Canadian examples of these types of consortia include the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) and the Québec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM).

In the case of the CQDM, while it appears to be a more traditional supply (academic) push, industry is a vital part of the selection process for projects that get funded and therefore demand is an important consideration. In the U.S., Enlight Biosciences out of Boston, MA has developed

this model into a viable business without direct public funding. Instead, public money flows through grants that are awarded to academics doing the research. These types of arrangements are fairly new, but involving industry in the pre-competitive development process should allow for faster translation to market.

There is already a trend among granting agencies to ask for translation or commercialization opportunities when grants are submitted. Although there is some apprehension that the focus on industry demand will decrease funding for basic research, it is more likely that these new approaches will increase the flow of money to research because the public’s return on investment of this public funding can be measured in job and wealth creation in addition to scientific publications. Basic science drives innovation and Canada’s excellence in academic research can be turned into commercial success through new models of industry engagement.

REFERENCE: 1. Council of Canadian Academies “The State of Science and Technology in Canada, 2012” [http://www. scienceadvice.ca/uploads/eng/assessments%20and%20publications%20 and%20news%20releases/sandt_ii/ stateofst2012_fullreporten.pdf] Dr. Alison Symington is VP, Corporate Development and Communications at the Ontario Genomics Institute where she is responsible for OGI’s relationships with external stakeholders, corporate communications and educational outreach programs.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ translating-research-into-themarketplace

MADE IN CANADA

ONTARIO

By Paul De Jean

X-RAD 225Cx PRECLINICAL IGRT COMBINES CLINICAL TECHNIQUES WITH INCREASED PRECISION IN THE LABORATORY Radiation therapy is a time-tested technique for controlling solid tumours in patients. Intensitymodulated radiation therapy was a huge leap forward for radiation oncology, allowing for the precise delivery of radiation to tumour targets, sparing healthy tissue.

A linear accelerator (linac) delivers a carefully calibrated beam of radiation from one position, rotates around the patient, and delivers another beam, repeating the process hundreds of time to build up a dose distribution that converges on the tumour, while spreading out the burden to healthy tissue. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy is now the standard of care within Ontario. However, the tumour can change shape between radiation fractions, or move between imaging and treatment, so some healthy tissue must be sacrificed to create margins-of-safety.

Adding imaging capabilities in the form of a cone beam CT (CBCT) to create imageguided radiation therapy (IGRT) allows the treatment team to identify the tumour in its exact position while the patient lies

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on the treatment bed. Therapy can be made even more conformal, ensuring that no tumour is missed and minimizing the damage to healthy tissue. The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre has been a leader in the research, development, and clinical adoption of IGRT. Researchers there have been optimizing this technique for clinical use for over a decade.

For research purposes, it would be ideal to mimic the clinical situation—including IGRT techniques—as closely as possible

in preclinical models, to get the best results in understanding the mechanism of cancer control and to test novel therapies.

However, preclinical radiation therapy simulation was limited to large box irradiators that delivered whole-body radiation fields to test specimens. This limited the scope of radiation therapy experiments.

That all changed in 2006, when Dr. David Jaffray and Dr. Dick Hill at The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and The Techna Institute in Toronto combined with Preci-

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MADE IN CANADA

ONTARIO

“I think it’s a sign that this government is serious about innovation and wants to see business development activities on the rise in this sector,” — Brad Duguid

A treatment plan evaluated on the new SmART Plan Treatment Planning System.

sion X-Ray Inc. (PXI) of North Branford, CT to design a system that could deliver IGRT in preclinical experiments. Combining the expertise at Princess Margaret in IGRT, radiobiological basic research, and preclinical research with PXI’s vast experience in designing and manufacturing cabinet irradiators for preclinical studies allowed the team to design the X-RAD 225Cx. The X-RAD 225Cx employs a dual focal spot X-ray tube, capable of both imaging and delivering ionizing radiation for treatment scenarios. With a flat panel detector the system can image a 10x10x10 cm volume with a maximum resolution of 0.1 mm3. A robust gantry system, capable of a full 360° rotation, provides consistent geometry thanks to a reinforcing gantry ring. A stage with three axes of translation can place a sample in 3 dimensions with positional accuracy of 0.25 mm. The system’s collimators can modulate the irradiation from large 20 x 20 cm fields down to precise 1 mm beams. This allows for a large variation in possible dose patterns, including irradiating multiple targets within one specimen, with fractionated treatments over many days; just as patients would experience in the clinical IGRT situation. The system cabinet is leadlined and fully self-shielded, allowing it to be installed anywhere without the need for a specific shielded room. This also enables users to quickly make small changes to their experiments, as they can operate it within the same room as the operating PC and experimental preparation work.

32

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

Techna and PXI enjoy a synergistic relationship, where the hardware is designed, manufactured and assembled by PXI, while the software is developed by research staff at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. The software is licensed to PXI by the Techna team, who in turn use the funds obtained from sales royalties to further develop the software and add new features. The first X-RAD 225Cx unit was installed at The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in 2008, and since then 13 more units have been installed worldwide. The most recent was installed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Researchers at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre are not just involved in the development of the system, but are also frequent users. There are two systems installed at facilities in Toronto (one at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and another at the STTARR laboratory), which have been involved in a multitude of radiobiological studies. “At the STTARR Innovation Centre (www.sttarr.ca), this is a powerful tool for over 35 research projects ranging from dose calibration in phantoms to analyzing radiation sensitizers in cells to evaluating new treatment plans in tumour-bearing models,” says Dr. Justin Grant, facility manager. “Researchers come from hospitals, universities and industry. With minimal training and support, they can operate the system themselves to achieve their research goals.”

New features are constantly being add-

ed to the X-RAD 225Cx IGRT platform, and the platform’s flexible design allows for easy upgrades to existing systems.

Last year, in collaboration with the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), a special version of their X-Ray Volume Imaging software (XVI) was integrated to allow for multi-modality image guidance. Additionally, a new option is available enabling the on-board acquisition of bioluminescent images on the system, delivering functional imaging that supplements the already available anatomical information given by CBCT. Current research is ongoing into the development of dose painting techniques using the system, where a specific target volume is determined using functional imaging, then precisely targeted using conformal irradition.

More recently, a robust Monte-Carlo based treatment planning system (SmART-Plan) was developed at Maastro Radiotherapy Clinic in the Netherlands, and is also integrated into the software.

This software enables the user to plan a complex, multi beam/arc treatment on a scanned specimen and calculate the dose distribution in under five minutes.

This tool effectively grants the preclinical researchers the same treatment planning capabilities as the clinical physicists enjoy in the hospital setting. “Smart-Plan renders planning pre-clinical irradiation studies easy;” says Dr. Frank Verhaegen, whose group developed the treatment planning software, “it offers unprecedented accuracy and an intuitive workflow.”

This Canadian success story is a valuable advancement for preclinical radiation oncology research, closely simulating clinical IGRT. As of this writing, 10 peerreviewed articles have been published in scientific journals on research conducted using the X-RAD 225Cx, and many more ongoing studies have presented preliminary data at conferences. The system’s ability to deliver precise IGRT to a variety of preclinical models in a research setting has provided a solid platform for the future of radiobiological research.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ x-rad-225cx/

THE ONTARIO BRAIN INSTITUTE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22 to OBI Entrepreneurs by local innovation centres and accelerators including INVEST Ottawa, Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute, the McMaster Innovation Park and TECHNOLabs. Follow on funding opportunities were made possible through relationships with other provincial and federal sources of funding, with information sessions and personal feedback from the business development officers at OCE, IRAP, HTX and VentureStart. The OBI works closely with these programs to bridge the gap between funding opportunities and support company and product development.

Knowledge Translation Knowledge Translation is taking what we know and making it what we do, with the objective of improving care and quality of life through new products and processes born out of the excellent research and development occurring in Ontario. A focus of the OBI is to partner with existing patient advocacy groups to help share valuable information stemming from the research activities for the benefit of patients and the general public. As an example, the OBI recently partnered with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and advocacy group Autism Speaks Canada to host a workshop and public lecture about current basic and translational science in the field of autism research. This event leveraged funds, expertise, patient access, sharing current knowledge about the state of autism research, and bringing the community together to engage in crosspollination and the exchange of ideas.

Converge, Discover, Deliver Each OBI program and partnership has been integrated within and across initiatives to maximize the impact of funds invested and to engage experts from disparate backgrounds. OBI entrepreneurs find mentorship among the industry partners in the NeuroTech Ontario program. Integrated Discovery programs have incorporated the products and innovations from Entrepreneur and NeuroTech Ontario companies in their research programs.

Brain-CODE is set to be a receptacle and databank accessible to all participating programs, and will engage a whole new sphere of partners in the computing and analytics space. Finally, uniting the information and discovery in each of

ONTARIO these programs is the knowledge translation initiative, which shares information across audiences and engages the public to support and benefit from the outcomes of these programs.

Partnerships are the basis of OBI’s early successes, and the leveraging that results from these relationships was a driving influence in the Ontario government’s recent decision to renew and enhance funding to the OBI. As OBI and its partners work towards the common goal of improving patient health by leveraging existing resources and capacity across the

province to build and support a cluster of neuroscience excellence, everyone in Ontario will have a lot to celebrate in the coming years.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ adventures-in-partnership-theobi-model

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Biotechnology Focus / April 2013 33

THE ONTARIO NETWORK OF EXCELLENCE (ONE)

MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS SPARK CENTRE

ONTARIO

Spark Centre is a not-for-profit Regional Innovation Centre that helps to start and grow innovative technology-based companies in Durham Region and Northumberland County. By envisioning a thriving entrepreneurial community that creates jobs and wealth within our community, we are helping grow a culture of innovation one successful company at a time.

Spark Centre is a one-stop-shop that helps innovative start-up companies find the best path to market. We work with clients to develop individualized plans for success by connecting start-ups to business and research networks, learning tools, business coaching, mentorship and access to funding and investment. We also help existing companies develop strategies to drive growth.

Spark Centre is one of 14 Regional Innovation Centres (RICs) that are part of the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE). Together, we support the commercialization of ideas right across Ontario. Spark Centre’s services are provided thanks to the generous financial support of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, Durham Region, the Durham Strategic Energy Alliance (DSEA) and the Northumberland Manufacturer’s Association (NMA).

WEtech Alliance

Website: www.sparkcentre.org

Twitter: @WEtechAlliance

Twitter: @spark_centre

Facebook: facebook.com/WEtechalliance

INVEST OTTAWA

MaRS Discovery District

Invest Ottawa provides a one-stop-shop for clients to access all available commercialization programs and services in the region.

Invest Ottawa focuses on accelerating emerging knowledge based companies, assisting with innovation processes, nurturing the partnerships that support commercialization and connecting its clients with information, advice and funding opportunities to help them grow.

Invest Ottawa also helps drive investment into start up and growing companies across knowledge-based industries by working to strategically expand the investment network. It strives to enhance the network of angel and other investors to foster co-investment and larger syndication into high potential companies in the region.

Invest Ottawa is an access point into the Ontario Network of Excellence where companies have access to best practices from around the world, programs linking them to researchers and successful entrepreneurs and assistance in accessing the funding and advice they need to take their ideas to market.

MaRS Discovery District is a large-scale, mission-driven innovation centre located in Toronto, focused on building Canada’s next generation of growth companies. MaRS works with Ontario entrepreneurs to help them launch, grow and scale their ventures into market leaders, focusing on companies in life sciences and health care; IT, communications and entertainment; clean-tech; advanced materials and engineering; as well as innovative social purpose businesses.

MaRS opened in 2005 and will double in size in 2013 with the completion of its Phase 2 development, making it one of the largest urban innovation hubs in the world.

MaRS anchors a vibrant innovation community, supporting thousands of entrepreneurs through education, advisory services, skills development, market research and access to customer talent and capital networks. MaRS has advised over 2,000 startups - the leading cohort of which rose over $275 million in capital and directly created over 1,500 new Canadian jobs in 2011.

Website: http://investottawa.ca

Website: www.marsdd.com

Twitter: @ioacceleration

Twitter: @MaRSDD

WEtech Alliance is Windsor-Essex’s Technology Accelerator; an industry-led non-profit organization focused on driving the growth and success of Windsor-Essex’s technology and innovation centric companies and entrepreneurs through leadership, connections and promotion.

WEtech strives to identify, find solutions for and foster the development of the technology and innovation sectors, as well as companies who utilize technology. WEtech also acts as a liaison between academia and industry in bringing research to commercialization, as well as developing a regional talent pool.

WEtech’s mission is to nurture innovation and technology by providing the tools, programs, resources and support that entrepreneurs and technology-centric companies require for sustaining growth, development and success. WEtech assists entrepreneurs in launching new ventures, providing education and networking opportunities to accelerate business growth for small-to-medium enterprises, and serves its members as advocates for the region’s thriving technology and innovation companies.

Website: www.wetech-alliance.com

Facebook: facebook.com/MaRSCentre

VentureLAB

VentureLAB is the York Region partner in Ontario’s Network of Excellence located in Markham – Ontario’s high tech capital. We exist to help high technology entrepreneurs bring their technology to market quickly.

VentureLAB deploys a team of experienced strategic advisors who will help roadmap your enterprise through mentoring advice, financing and funding strategy, practical business training and education, market research and insight, strategic connections to government funding and export programs, and academic partnering and resource access.

We offer a comprehensive range of business services for ICT and Life Science entrepreneurs at the start-up, growth and financing stages of development.

Website: www.venturelab.ca Twitter: @ventureLAB_

34

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

Innovation Guelph

Innovation Guelph is a destination for innovative thinkers looking for the most cutting-edge ideas and approaches to transforming enterprises and promoting community well-being and prosperity in Canada.

We help ideas start, grow and thrive by cultivating entrepreneurs, developing powerful partnerships and supporting innovative initiatives.

We help clients to understand and access funding available through provincial, federal or other sources; provide strategic, expert business advice; and organize and host events focused on business training, networking and community initiatives.

Our client focus is shaped by the character of our local industry sectors: cleantech; health and wellness; food and agriculture; social entrepreneurship; creative and digital media; and advanced manufacturing. Since opening its doors, IG has mentored over 300 companies, maintaining approximately 100 active clients in any given month.

We have helped to create more than 100 new jobs for our client com-

panies and secure investments from provincial, federal and private sources totaling close to $8 million.

More than 60 educational and networking events were held in the last fiscal year alone, providing business growth opportunities, workshops, networking events and training services to more than 3,000 individuals.

Website: http://www.innovationguelph.ca/ Twitter: @ONEGuelph Facebook: facebook.com/innovationguelph

Communitech

Founded by a group of dedicated entrepreneurs in 1997, Communitech is the Waterloo regional hub for the commercialization of innovative technologies supporting and building a tech cluster of nearly 1,000 businesses that now generate more than $30 billion in revenue.

Communitech supports tech companies at all stages of their growth and development, from startups, to rapidly-growing SMEs, as well as mid-size companies and large global players, to create greater numbers of successful global businesses for Ontario and Canada.

Website: www.communitech.ca Twitter: @communitech

HalTech

HalTech is Halton’s Regional Innovation Centre. HalTech assists Halton’s entrepreneurs and technology companies to develop their ideas, commercialize their products and to establish and expand their businesses.

HalTech provides its clients with comprehensive business advisory services, access to capital, assistance navigating government funding, entrepreneurship training and networking opportunities.

Halton has a strong and innovative business community with demonstrated strengths in information technology, life sciences, cleantech, advanced manufacturing, digital imaging and animation. HalTech is an integral part of Halton’s technology development success.

Website: www.halton.ca Twitter: @HalTechRIC

Innovate Niagara

Innovate Niagara is a Regional Innovation Centre (RIC) and a hub for biosciences and applied health, interactive digital media and business development projects in the Niagara Region. As a member of ONE, Innovate Niagara provides support to the emerging industry clusters as identified in Niagara’s economic growth strategy including: bioproducts, health and wellness, green energy and digital media.

BioLinc and The Generator are the two incubation facilities that are available for residency through Innovate Niagara.

BioLinc is Brock University’s bioscience and biomanufacturing business incubator that is housed in the new Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex. Through BioLinc’s physical incubation space, access to business support services, plus Innovate Niagara’s dynamic web portal, BioLinc can provide support to entrepreneurs, from in and off campus, to establish and develop new health and bioscience ventures.

The Generator is a state-of-the-art interactive media generator incubation facility, located in downtown St.Catharines, Ontario.

As part of the ONE network, Innovate Niagara can align bioscience companies and entrepreneurs with valuable resources and services available at Brock, in the Niagara Region and across Ontario. Its main activities focus on mentorship, access to technology projects, seminars, networking and residency at the incubation facilities.

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SCHOOL OF CONTINUING STUDIES

Achieve more.

Certificate in Life Science Enterprise This certificate will enhance your business communication, ensure accurate application of good laboratory and manufacturing practices, and show you how and where to apply your skills in this sector.

For more information please visit us at learn.utoronto.ca/lifesci

or call 416 978 2400.

Website: www.innovateniagara.com Website: www.brocku.ca/biolinc Biotechnology Focus / April 2013 35

THE ONTARIO NETWORK OF EXCELLENCE (ONE)

ONTARIO

Website: www.thegeneratoratone.com Twitter: @InnovateNiagara Twitter: @BioLinc

TechAlliance

TechAlliance has been helping tech-based companies grow since 2002, offering advisory services, programs and events to a robust community of start-up and established companies.

We prepare today’s entrepreneurs to launch new ventures, provide education and networking opportunities to accelerate business growth for small-to-medium enterprises, and serve the community as advocates for thriving technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing companies.

Whether you have an existing company or just an idea, our in-house team of experienced analysts, advisers and entrepreneurs-in-residence will work with you to understand your tech business and the challenges you face, and to help you access all the resources available in the region.

TechAlliance also plays a major role in the Southwestern Ontario Regional Alliance, a gathering of organizations striving to enhance our entrepreneurial community. Members include TechAlliance, WORLDisocoveries, The Research Park (London, Sarnia-Lambton), Ontario Centres of Excellence, National Research Council of Canada, WEtech Alliance (Windsor-Essex) and CONII (College Ontario Network for Industry Innovation).

In February 2013, one of RIC’s founding members; UTM’s Prof. Ulli Krull was recognized by Life Sciences Ontario (LSO) and was awarded the Community Service Award for demonstrating true leadership through his dedication and tireless contributions to raising the profile of life sciences in Ontario.

RIC is helping foster a fast-growing sector of Information Technology companies developing products and services aimed towards the advanced health and life sciences sectors. These startups are poised to become global players and place Ontario at the forefront of these key sectors in Canada and around the world.

Website: www.riccentre.com Twitter: @RICCentre

The Northern Technology Alliance

Facebook: facebook.com/TechAlliance

The Northern Technology Alliance (NTA) is a collaborative network of Regional Innovation Centres from across Northern Ontario that includes NORCAT (Sudbury), the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (Sault Ste. Marie), the North Western Ontario Innovation Centre (Thunder Bay), and Innovation Initiatives Ontario North (North Bay). These centres focus on helping entrepreneurs and innovative companies successfully commercialize their ideas and ultimately generate jobs and wealth for the Canadian economy.

To meet this objective, each centre offers an array of programs and services that entrepreneurs and small businesses can leverage.

These services include mentorship, educational programming, market research, and access to capital, talent, and customers.

Youtube: youtube.com/TechAllianceLondon

Website: http://iion.ca/

Website: www.techalliance.ca Twitter: @TechAlliance

Website: www.nwoinnovation.ca

Innovation Factory

Innovation Factory is Hamilton’s Regional Innovation Centre, working tirelessly to create the Hamilton Innovation Community by pulling together the city’s private sector and important institutions in support of our core mandate: providing commercialization support and organizational development resources to Hamilton’s start-ups and small and medium enterprises.

Our mission is to strengthen Greater Hamilton’s next generation of job and wealth creators by helping entrepreneurs bring new ideas to life and to market. We can help SMEs get to the next level in an increasingly competitive market by sharing the culture of start-ups and the principles of innovation.

With phenomenal support from this tight-knit community, we are part of the new Hamilton, drawing inspiration from its historic past to build a dynamic culture in which creative professionals can live, start a career or business and raise a family.

Website: www.innovationfactory.ca Twitter: @itbeginswithiF Facebook: facebook.com/innovationfactory.ca

Peel Region RIC

RIC helps technology entrepreneurs in Peel Region take their new idea to market. By partnering with business leaders, government and educators, we support and promote innovation in the fields of advanced manufacturing, aerospace, life sciences and emerging technologies – including supporting Mississauga, the third largest life sciences cluster in Canada.

The Mississauga Academy of Medicine, founded in 2011, looks forward to graduating its first undergraduate cohort in 2014. The Academy is a partnership among University of Toronto Mississauga, U of T’s Faculty of Medicine, Trillium Health Centre and Credit Valley Hospital.

The Academy aims to enrich Ontario’s talent development in the clinical and research areas of medicine.

36

Biotechnology Focus / April 2013

Website: www.ssmic.com Website: www.norcat.org Twitter: @iiON__ (North Bay) Twitter: @noic_innovate (Thunder Bay) Twitter: @SSMICnews (Sault Ste Marie) Twitter: @norcat (Sudbury)

Launch Lab

Launch Lab promotes the continued growth and prosperity of eastern Ontario. We work with multiple partners to foster a supportive, innovative and entrepreneurial environment for start-ups, SMEs and large businesses. Several of our current clients are life science, biotechnology and medical device companies, ICT-related businesses, or in the advanced manufacturing sector.

With a primary focus to create a sustainable ecosystem developed through entrepreneurship and innovation, Launch Lab leverages: the expertise of its Board of Directors; a strong regional nucleus of universities and colleges; research hospitals; publicly traded member companies; and small & medium enterprises. We are a catalyst that engages the region’s business “Captains” to work together. The Launch Lab region in Eastern Ontario boasts a diverse ecosystem that offers exciting opportunities in both rural communities and urban areas.

Launch Lab also fulfills a visible advocacy role through the provincial Ministry of Research and Innovation’s Regional Innovation Centre mandate; and through the new Ontario Network of Excellence.

Website: www.launchlab.ca Twitter: @launch_lab

CALENDAR APRIL 2013

May 22

Bloom Burton & co. Healthcare Investor Conference Experimental Biology 2013 Venue: Toronto, ON Venue: Boston, MA Tel: 416.640.7580 Tel: 301-634-7075 Email: bbloom@bloomburton.com Fax: 301-634-7008 new card:Layout 1 1/31/2013 9:09 AM Page 1 Web: www.bloomburton.com/conference/ Email: eb@faseb.org index.php

April 20-24

April 22-25 2013 Bio International Convention Venue: Chicago, IL Web: www.convention.bio.org/

April 22-26 12th International Symposium on Mutation in the Genome Venue: Lake Louise, AB Tel: +61 (0) 3 8344 1831 Fax: +61 (0) 3 9347 6842 Email: rania@variome.org Web: wired.ivvy.com/event/MPZ4L2/

JUNE 2013 June 5-7

June 10-12 International Animal Health & Nutrition Business Conference Venue: Charlottetown, PEI Tel: (902) 367-4403 Email: rose@peibioalliance.com Web: www.vethealthglobal.com/

June 16-19

Sustainable Chemistry Summit Venue: Montreal, QC Tel: (613) 539-2482.

World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology Montreal, Canada

SRC101

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April 26-27 11th Annual Global Biomarker Conference Venue: Toronto, ON Email: info@globalbiomarkerconference.org Web: www.globalbiomarkerconference.org

Email: summit2013@ldcomm.ca Web: www.greencentrecanada.com/summit

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MAY 2013

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Wave Conference 2013 Venue: Lake Louise, AB Tel: (780) 468-2443 Email: kbrizel@acamp.ca Twitter: @acampmnt Web: www.wave2013.com

City:_____________________________Prov: __________Postal Code: ____________________

May 8 12th Annual MedTech Investing Conference Venue: Minneapolis, MN Tel: (516) 765-9005 x 210 Email: cathy@ibfconferences.com Web: www.medtechinvestingconference.com/

May 11-13 Labcon 2013 Venue: Victoria, BC Tel: 905-667-8688 Fax: 905-528-4968 Email: labcon@csmls.org Web: labcon.csmls.org

May 13-15 17th IFHIMA Congress Venue: Montreal, QC Tel.: 1-450-550-3488 ext. 114 Fax: 1-514-227-5083 E-mail: info@ifhimacongress2013.com Web: www.ifhimacongress2013.com

Telephone: ___________________________Fax: ______________________________________ E-mail: ________________________________________________________________________ On occasion, BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS will send third-party information on products & services related to the lab and life science industries. These may be cancelled at any time. Please check here if you do NOT wish to receive these.

JOB FUNCTION 50 C Level Management 50a Engineer 51b Principal Investigator / Research Scientist 51c Professor / Faculty 53a Group / Project Leader 53b Procurement / Supply Chain 53c R&D Director / Manager 54 Legal / Financial / Administration / Regulatory / Communications

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Post Doc / PhD Student Professional Services / Consulting Lab Technician / Research Assistant Sales / Marketing IT Management Nurse / Practitioner Pharmacist Physician Other (Specify):

Academic Biotech Organization Clean Tech organization Contract Research / Manufacturing Organization 50d Diagnostics Organization 50f Food processing / manufacturing 50g Instrument Manufacturer / Distributor

50h Packaging / Distribution 50i Pharmaceutical Organization 50j Professional Services (legal, financial, consulting, recruiting, regulatory, communications) 52 Clinical Research / Hospital 53 Research Institute 55 Government Agency 99 Other (specify):

C86 Buying Influence A Authorize

B Recommend

A B C D E F G

Analysis Instruments Basic Lab Equipment Chemicals/Biochemicals Chromatography – Gas Chromatography – Liquid Filtration, Water Purification LIMS

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Liquid Handling & Sample Prep Microscopes, Optics, Cameras Safety & Hygiene Spectroscopy Testing Systems/Equipment Vacuum Equipment None of the Above

C88 Product Development Stage (check all that apply)

COMPANYs PRIMARY BUSINESS ACTIVITY 50 50a 50b 50c

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C Production/Manufacturing D Tech Transfer E Not applicable

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THE LAST WORD

By Gord Surgeoner, Ph.D.

ILLINOIS & ONTARIO Benefit from Bio-products Collaboration

Gord Surgeoner, Ph.D. President Ontario Agri-Food Technologies

The global economy is evolving; making investments and strategic research partnerships to support innovative technologies essential.

Seven years ago at BIO 2006 in Chicago, the Province of Ontario and the State of Illinois signed a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Cooperation focused on bio-products. This MOU was designed to enhance economic relations between the two jurisdictions, encourage industrial innovation and foster research and collaborations around emerging technologies.

Seven years later, both Ontario and Illinois continue to collaborate on the development of bio-product networks and meet to exchange information and technology to advance research and commercialization, all of which help to create highpaying, high-tech jobs. These collaborations are both business and academic, and both offer strength to this relationship. As well as the respective governments, organizations like Ontario Agri-Food Technologies and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity continue to forge this relationship.

Our agriculture research collaborations have been focused between the University of Guelph and the University of Illinois. Miscanthus is an important biomass crop that can be used in biomaterial pellets and feedstock for biochemicals. The University of Illinois willingly shared their knowledge on this new crop.

The agronomy of the crop, life cycle analysis of crop production, development of customers for the product and economics of production have been key areas of collaboration. Today, New Energy Farms Ltd. of Leamington, ON is a global supplier of plant material for the production of biomass from miscanthus.

Similarly, the Ontario BioAuto Council and Woodbridge Foam (the largest foam producer in the world for the auto sector) based here in Ontario, have commercialized soy-based polyols produced in Illinois for automotive foam seating and headliners. The Ontario BioAuto Council has also met with State officials, lead-

38 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS MAY 2012

ing companies and research organizations in Illinois to explore how Ontario and Illinois can further promote the bio-economy in the Great Lakes Region.

Today, our two jurisdictions average $6 billion of commerce annually; with $88 million in food and agriculture and more than $5 billion in manufacturing. We also have very strong medical research centres anchored by the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto and the Illinois Medical District Commission in Chicago.

Our two jurisdictions have seen great value in this cooperation, and to that end are reaffirming our collaborations on innovation. This is seen as an affirmation of the strength of the linkage, recognizing we have both benefited. Further, Ontario and Illinois will be attending the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Montréal, June 16 to 19, 2013, and this is seen as a great venue to enhance this agreement.

@

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