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INVESTMENT/INESTISSEMENT A thriving life sciences sector in Canada needs to be nurtured and supported if we are to leverage and build on its recent successes
A thriving life sciences sector in Canada needs to be nurtured and supported if we are to leverage and build on its recent successes Le secteur florissant des sciences de la vie au Canada doit être nourri et soutenu si nous voulons tirer parti de ses récents succès.
by Peter van der Velden, co-founder and the Managing General Partner, Lumira Ventures par Peter van der Velden, cofondateur et associé directeur principal de Lumira Ventures
GLOBALLY, THE LIFE SCIENCES SECTOR HAS BEEN PARTOUT DANS LE MONDE, LES SCIENCES DE LA VIE MAKING HEADLINES SINCE THE OUTBREAK OF COVID-19. FONT LES MANCHETTES DEPUIS LE DÉBUT DE LA The interest of virtually everyone in their health and PANDÉMIE. L’intérêt porté par la grande majorité des gens à well-being has, rightfully, increased exponentially resulting leur santé et leur bien-être s’est accru, à juste titre, de façon in increased investments in healthcare innovation, both exponentielle, ce qui a entraîné une hausse des from the government and private investors. In 2020, life investissements dans l’innovation en santé, tant de la part des sciences was one of the only growth sectors within gouvernements que d’investisseurs privés. En 2020, les Canada’s burgeoning innovation and venture capital sciences de la vie ont constitué l’un des seuls secteurs ayant a ecosystems. Financing activity in the sector reached a connu une croissance au sein des écosystèmes d’innovation multi-decade high of $1.1 billion (via 89 deals), representing et de capital-risque en plein essor au Canada. Les activités de 26% of all venture capital deployed in Canada. At the financement du secteur ont atteint un sommet des dernières same time, public market support for Canada’s biotech décennies, soit 1,1 milliard de dollars (89 ententes), ce qui ecosystem was unparalleled. In early 2020, British représente 26 % de tout le capital-risque investi au Canada. Columbia-based companies Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and Au même moment, le marché public a accordé un appui Zymeworks Inc., both achieved multi-billion dollar public inégalé à l’écosystème de biotechnologie du Canada. Au market valuations, helping pave the way début de 2020, les sociétés Aurinia for the successful mid-year IPOs of two Pharmaceuticals et Zymeworks de Colombiemore VC-backed companies, Ontario- Britannique ont toutes deux atteint des based Fusion Pharmaceuticals and valorisations de plusieurs milliards de dollars Quebec-based Repare Therapeutics, and sur le marché public, ce qui a contribué à the year-end IPO of British Columbia- ouvrir la voie aux introductions en bourse based AbCellera. These three IPOs were réussies, en milieu d’année, de deux autres not just the largest in Canadian biotech sociétés financées par capital-risque – Fusion history, but they also led the IPO activity Pharmaceuticals de l’Ontario et Repare for the entire ecosystem of Canadian Therapeutics du Québec – ainsi qu’à celle venture-backed companies across all d’AbCellera de Colombie-Britannique en fin sectors. d’année. Ces trois introductions en bourse
But sector milestones over the past 18 n’ont pas seulement été les plus importantes months have been about so much more de l’histoire de la biotechnologie au Canada, than financings. Perhaps most mais elles ont aussi présidé aux activités importantly many of these companies d’introduction en bourse de l’ensemble de fulfilled the promise of delivering l’écosystème des entreprises canadiennes innovative medical products with the financées par capital-risque, tous secteurs potential to markedly transform patient confondus. lives, not just in Canada, but also around Or, les jalons franchis par le secteur au cours des 18 derniers mois ne sont pas
Peter van der Velden, co-founder and Managing General Partner, Lumira Ventures/cofondateur et associé directeur principal de Lumira Ventures
the world. mRNA COVID-19 vaccines that are the backbone of our drive back to a normal life were enabled by delivery technology from Precision NanoSystems. AbCellera’s product bamlanivimab was authorized under emergency/special use pathways in multiple countries to treat high-risk COVID-19 patients. In January, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals’ Lupkynis became the first FDA-approved oral therapy for lupus nephritis. These products are the result of years of work and investment, and they lay an incredible foundation for the rapidly emerging next generation of innovations, innovators and entrepreneurs from Canada’s world-class academic research institutions, hospitals and existing biotech enterprises.
COVID-19 also engaged our entire community. It should not come as a surprise that life science VCs, entrepreneurs, academics and clinicians responded to the crisis quickly as these are deeply engaged people who are passionate about protecting and improving the health of Canadians. But what made this response so impactful was that it happened truly in partnership with governments. VCs, entrepreneurs, academics and clinicians responded to the call from governments by volunteering thousands of hours of their time to help the governments make better, more informed decisions with respect to vaccine acquisition, biomanufacturing and how to best leverage Canada’s expanding biotech ecosystem to provide accelerated pathways to products for patients. Examples of this collaboration included the Vaccines Task Force, the COVID-19 Joint Biomanufacturing Subcommittee and the allocation of capital from Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund to promising COVID-focused innovations, including those from Lumira portfolio companies such as Edesa Biotech and IMV Inc., and other Canadian companies including AbCellera, Medicago, Precision NanoSystems, VBI Vaccines, and VIDO InterVac.
For Lumira Ventures, the past 18 or so months have been equally transformative. In virtually every dimension of our business, this period built on, and reflected, the strength of the platform we have been developing for the past decade. Some of the highlights include: • Back-to-back wins of the CVCA’s Western Region
Canadian impact Deal of the Year Award for our investment and successful exits from Aurinia
Therapeutics and Zymeworks which both achieved multi-billion dollar public market valuations thus allowing us to deliver $100+M in returns to our investors. • Securing FDA approvals for two products: Lupkynis™ by
Aurinia and Cosela™ by G1 Therapeutics. Lupkynis™ is the first FDA-approved oral therapy for lupus nephritis, a condition that causes irreversible kidney damage and even death. Cosela is a first-in-class drug to reduce chemotherapy-induced bone marrow suppression in adults receiving certain types of chemotherapy for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
seulement liés au financement. Il est sans doute encore plus important que nombre de ces sociétés aient réussi à offrir des produits médicaux novateurs ayant le potentiel de nettement transformer la vie des patients, non seulement du Canada, mais du monde entier. Les vaccins à ARNm contre la COVID-19, desquels dépend notre retour à une vie normale, ont été rendus possibles par la technologie d’administration de Precision NanoSystems. Le bamlanivimab, un produit d’AbCellera, a été autorisé à des fins d’urgence ou des fins spéciales dans plusieurs pays pour traiter les patients à haut risque atteints de la COVID-19. En janvier, le médicament par voie orale Lupkynis d’Aurinia Pharmaceuticals a été le premier à être autorisé par la FDA pour traiter la néphropathie lupique. Ces produits sont le fruit d’années de travail et d’investissements, et ils servent d’assises fantastiques pour la prochaine génération d’innovations, d’innovateurs et d’entrepreneurs qui émergent rapidement des établissements universitaires de recherche, des hôpitaux et des entreprises de biotechnologie de classe mondiale au Canada.
La COVID-19 a aussi eu pour effet de mobiliser toute notre communauté. Il n’est sans doute pas étonnant que les investisseurs de capital-risque, les entrepreneurs, les universitaires et les cliniciens du secteur des sciences de la vie aient réagi rapidement à la crise, car ils sont profondément engagés et ont à cœur la protection et l’amélioration de la santé de la population canadienne. Mais leur réponse a porté autant de fruits parce qu’elle a pu compter sur un véritable partenariat avec les gouvernements. Les investisseurs de capital-risque, les entrepreneurs, les universitaires et les cliniciens ont répondu à l’appel des gouvernements en donnant bénévolement des milliers d’heures pour aider les autorités à prendre des décisions justes et éclairées en matière d’acquisition de vaccins, de bioproduction et de stratégies pour tirer parti de l’écosystème biotechnologique du Canada en pleine expansion afin que la population ait accès rapidement à des produits. Cette collaboration a notamment mené au Groupe de travail sur les vaccins, au Sous-comité conjoint de la bioproduction et à l’allocation de capitaux du Fonds stratégique du Canada pour l’innovation à des innovations prometteuses contre la COVID-19, y compris celles d’entreprises du portefeuille de Lumira, telle Edesa Biotech et IMV, et d’autres sociétés canadiennes, dont AbCellera, Medicago, Precision NanoSystems, VBI Vaccines et VIDO InterVac.
Pour Lumira Ventures, les 18 derniers mois ont été tout aussi transformateurs. Dans presque toutes les facettes de nos activités, cette période a permis d’amplifier et de montrer la puissance de la plateforme sur laquelle nous travaillons depuis dix ans, comme le montrent les exemples suivants : • Nous avons remporté deux fois de suite le prix Deal of the Year pour la région de l’Ouest du Canada remis par la
Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) pour notre investissement et nos sorties réussies d’Aurinia Therapeutics et Zymeworks, qui ont mené à la
• Completing 28 new and follow-on investments. Q1 of 2021 was a record period for financing activity in our portfolio, with ten of our companies (including 7
Canadian companies) raising over US$575M. • Completing three highly successful strategic trade sale exits and five public market realizations including – the
IPO of our first Canadian digital health investment.
With all that investment and exit activity and a pandemic in full swing, you might think that fund raising was far from a priority, but not so. In July of 2021 we closed on an oversubscribed Fund IV and a new fund partnered with Angelini Pharma to focus on CNS and Rare Disease. In aggregate, US$256M/C322M of new capital. Fund IV was meaningfully over-subscribed making it, to
valorisation de plusieurs milliards de dollars des deux entreprises sur le marché public, ce qui nous a permis d’obtenir des rendements de plus de 100 millions de dollars pour nos investisseurs. • Nous avons obtenu l’approbation de la FDA pour deux produits, à savoir le LupkynisMD d’Aurinia et le CoselaMD de G1 Therapeutics. Le Lupkynis est le premier médicament par voie orale à obtenir une homologation de la FDA pour traiter la néphropathie lupique, une maladie qui cause une atteinte rénale irréversible et même la mort. Le Cosela est le premier médicament de sa catégorie à réduire la myélodépression induite par la chimiothérapie chez des adultes atteints d’un cancer du poumon à petites cellules au stade étendu. • Nous avons réalisé 28 nouveaux investissements et investissements de suivi. Le premier trimestre de 2021 a été une période record pour les activités de financement de notre portefeuille, puisque dix de nos entreprises (dont sept canadiennes) ont amassé plus de 575 millions de dollars américains. • Nous avons réalisé trois sorties très réussies et cinq ventes sur le marché public, y compris l’introduction en bourse de la première société canadienne dans laquelle nous avons investi en santé numérique. Avec toutes ces activités d’investissement et de sorties et avec une pandémie qui bat son plein, il serait facile de croire que la collecte de fonds a été reléguée au second plan, mais ce n’est pas le cas. En juillet 2021, nous avons clôturé le Fonds IV sursouscrit et avons créé un nouveau fonds en partenariat avec Angelini Pharma qui se concentrera sur le système nerveux central et les maladies rares. Au total, cela représente 256 millions de dollars américains (322 M$ CA) de nouveaux capitaux. Le Fonds IV a été largement sursouscrit, ce qui en fait, à notre connaissance, le plus grand fonds institutionnel de capital-risque en sciences de la vie jamais amassé au Canada. Le fait que le Fonds IV ait la base d’investisseurs partenaires la plus équilibrée et la plus large de l’histoire de Lumira illustre sans doute très bien l’intérêt mondial accru pour l’investissement dans l’innovation biomédicale. Nos investisseurs proviennent de sept pays et comprennent
the best of our knowledge, the largest institutional life sciences venture capital fund ever raised in Canada. The heightened global interest for investing in biomedical innovation is perhaps best evidenced by the fact that Fund IV has the most balanced and broadest limited partner investor base in Lumira’s history. Our investors come from 7 countries and include: family offices and family office foundations, funds-of-funds, governments, pension plans and strategic investors.
Despite these successes, there is still much more to do if we are to leverage the current momentum to build a truly new generation economy that includes a strong life sciences component, if we are to ensure healthcare sovereignty, and finally, if we are to ensure that Canadians, and not foreign entities are the primary beneficiaries of the government’s substantial investment in basic healthcare-related science. Entrepreneurs and existing sources of capital cannot do this on their own. To achieve this, the chronic underfunding of Canadian life sciences innovation needs to be addressed with sustainable sources of domestic capital. Canadian pension plans, particularly those outside Quebec, need to truly be “Investing for Generations” and recognize that not only is the innovative life sciences sector a source for domestic economic prosperity but also that it is a high impact, high performance asset class that for the past decade has materially out-performed virtually all the other asset classes they have been investing in. Domestic governments need to view our healthcare ecosystem as an asset, rather than an obligation and a cost-centre, as this will be the key to leveraging it as an engine for economic growth and prosperity. The translation of healthcare innovation from Canada’s academic and hospital research centres needs to be nurtured and fostered. With this latter objective in mind we are proud to be the only VC manager in Canada to have donated part of their carried interest profits to 12 leading Canadian healthcare foundations.
Finally, we need to continue to build on our successes by opening the window of opportunity and helping the next generation of Canada’s best and brightest healthcare innovators understand that their opportunity, and that of our country to be a leader in delivering impactful healthcare impact innovation, is not limited to the traditional career routes of “being a doctor, working in a lab or being an entrepreneur who starts a company”. To help with this objective, in 2021, we launched our Venture Innovation Partners (“VIP”) program. The VIP is an up to 12 month, fully immersive, internship with Lumira Ventures for students in the final year of their academic education. We believe that there are countless ways to contribute to our sector and as such the goal of the VIP program is simple – open doors, eyes and minds; create unparalleled access and connectivity; and encourage our best and brightest to find their own road forward in our sector.
des cabinets de gestion de patrimoine familial et des fondations familiales, des fonds de fonds, des gouvernements, des régimes de retraite et des investisseurs stratégiques.
Malgré toutes ces réalisations, il reste encore beaucoup à faire pour tirer parti de l’élan actuel en vue de bâtir une économie qui sera véritablement de nouvelle génération et qui comprendra une forte composante des sciences de la vie si nous voulons assurer notre souveraineté en matière de soins de santé et, enfin, si nous voulons que la population canadienne, et non des entités étrangères, soit la principale bénéficiaire de l’investissement substantiel du gouvernement dans la science fondamentale liée aux soins de santé. Les entrepreneurs et les sources de capital actuelles ne peuvent y parvenir seuls. Pour y arriver, il faut régler le sousfinancement chronique de l’innovation dans les sciences de la vie au Canada en recourant à des sources durables de capitaux nationaux. Les régimes de retraite du Canada, en particulier ceux hors du Québec, doivent véritablement « Investir pour des générations » et reconnaître que non seulement le secteur innovant des sciences de la vie est une source de prospérité économique nationale, mais aussi qu’il constitue une classe d’actifs à fort impact et à haut rendement qui, au cours de la dernière décennie, a surclassé presque toutes les autres classes d’actifs dans lesquelles ils ont investi. Les gouvernements au pays doivent voir notre écosystème de soins de santé comme un atout, plutôt qu’une obligation et un centre de coûts. Il s’agit de la clé pour faire de cet écosystème un moteur de croissance économique et de prospérité. Il faut encourager et faciliter la mise en application des innovations en matière de soins de santé issues des centres de recherche universitaires et hospitaliers au Canada. Dans cet esprit, nous sommes fiers d’être le seul gestionnaire de capital-risque au Canada à avoir fait don d’une partie des bénéfices de son intérêt reporté à 12 grandes fondations canadiennes dans le domaine de la santé.
Enfin, nous devons continuer à miser sur nos succès en tirant parti des circonstances favorables et en aidant la prochaine génération d’innovateurs les plus prometteurs et les plus brillants dans le domaine de la santé du Canada à comprendre que leurs options professionnelles, et la possibilité que notre pays devienne chef de file en matière d’innovation ayant une incidence dans les soins de santé, ne se limitent pas aux parcours professionnels traditionnels consistant à « être médecin, à travailler dans un laboratoire ou à devenir un entrepreneur qui fonde une entreprise ». Dans cette optique, en 2021, nous avons lancé notre programme VIP, pour Venture Innovation Partners, qui offre un stage entièrement immersif d’une durée maximale de 12 mois chez Lumira Ventures à des étudiants en dernière année d’université. Nous croyons qu’il existe d’innombrables façons de contribuer à notre secteur et, à ce titre, l’objectif du programme VIP est simple : ouvrir les portes, les yeux et les esprits; créer des relations et une connectivité sans précédent; et aider nos meilleurs éléments à forger leur propre voie dans notre secteur.
Innovative approaches to developing tomorrow’s medicine
CANADA HAS A STRONG TRACK RECORD OF GLOBALLY RECOGNIZED EXPERTISE IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES which has really come to shine during the last 18 months. However, it takes more than science to build a global leader; it takes people, capital and action. This is what Amplitude has been focused on providing.
Amplitude’s commitment to creating, building and growing globally competitive healthcare companies is based on a potent mixture of opportunity and experience. Canada’s fertile innovation ecosystem and its ability to produce enabling technologies represents an opportunity to develop world-leading medical technologies and therapeutic platforms. Based across the country, Amplitude’s team has considerable experience successfully investing to accelerate the growth of these companies and in supporting the entrepreneurial teams catalyzing these technologies to transform human health.
“At Amplitude, we welcome every opportunity to nurture, support and work with world-class scientists thriving to develop new therapies in precision medicine,” says JeanFrançois Pariseau, a partner at Amplitude. And since its inception, Amplitude has done just that. Today, it has more than $300 million under management, a direct result of its innovative approach to investing in emerging precision medicine companies.
But while Amplitude continues to play a significant role in scaling the Canadian healthcare ecosystem, it believes the virtuous cycle of growth involving the development of clusters with deep entrepreneurial, scientific, and financial capabilities is just beginning. To accelerate this cycle,
Amplitude is working across the ecosystem to encourage the development of more ambitious vision and strategies for the early-stage companies and entrepreneurs. “Companies with the strongest strategies and boldest vision will attract the talent and capital required to impact healthcare on the global stage,” says Jean-François. “Amplitude wants to see more of these ambitious and strategic entrepreneurs across the country. That’s why we’re looking to be more proactive in the development of this class of professional.” Amplitude believes that the skills required for “entrepreneuring” can be learned and that more can be done across the ecosystem to identify and foster the growth of individuals with entrepreneurial ambition. Acting on that philosophy, Amplitude is encouraging life science PhDs, postdocs and MDs with deep scientific know-how critical to this domain – but also with a passion for translating world leading science to make an impact on patient lives – to hone their entrepreneurial capabilities through the development of new ventures directly at Amplitude. “We’re reaching out to outstanding scientists, engineers and inventors all across the country who, while eager to remain rooted in health and life science, are keen to explore the dynamic and creative scientific impact available to them as entrepreneurs,” says Michael Mee, a principal at Amplitude.
To attract these talented individuals, earlier this year Amplitude introduced the Amplitude Ventures Fellowship Program, a three-month virtual program in which successful applicants are immersed in Amplitude’s unique approach to venture creation and given the opportunity to hone the skills required to develop the vision and strategy required of a world class biotech from an initial scientific insight. Throughout the process, fellows are challenged to explore scientific concepts outside of their area of expertise; to develop hypotheses of what novel ventures could emerge; to quickly test those hypotheses to validate their potential value and impact on healthcare; and, ultimately, to confirm the feasibility of technological innovation required to underpin such companies with world-changing potential.
The fellowship will accept six to eight fellows annually. The first six were accepted in June of this year and completed their fellowship in August.
“The program is obviously still in its infancy,” says Michael, “but we were all very excited about how we pushed the fellows to think about the different types of platforms that could arise from new and emerging science.” In fact, the Amplitude team has already identified the kernels of potential new ventures. Over the summer, fellows had an opportunity to expand and define the alternative futures that could be enabled through the development and evolution of these kernels. “We were pleasantly surprised by the entire process,” added Michael, “not only by the positive reaction from the institutions we approached but also by the high level of people who applied. We received over a hundred applications, and the final choices were not easy. Clearly, the fellowship program is achieving what we hoped it would achieve.”
Amplitude is also proud to participate in an acceleration program designed to assist pre-seed or seed-stage stage therapeutic, med-tech or digital health companies in Quebec. Operated by adMare BioInnovations (adMare), with the financial support of the province and the City of Montreal, the two-year program supports up to eight companies with up to $150,000 of in-kind customized adMare resources. The selected companies also have access to adMare’s infrastructure and resources such as discounted laboratory and office space, complimentary scientific and business support, mentoring and training. Amplitude was proud to serve as a program delivery and selection committee partner.
Assisting and developing top science talent is one thing, repatriating talent back to Canada is another critical element of this broader effort, says Michael. Historically the United States and Europe were viewed to offer more attractive funding and future career opportunities – leading to a loss for Canada of both the scientists and the made-in-Canada intellectual property – but the tide is turning. “A key element to both building the Amplitude team and scaling the companies we work with is to seek out and recruit talent with exceptional international experience in company building, operating and investing,” says Michael. “Through our fellowship program, and in partnership with our companies and the broader ecosystem, we’re working to help Canada’s talented innovators – and their discoveries – take their rightful place on the world stage, rooted here at home.”
WE ARE DEVELOPING ANIMAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES THAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW AND INTO THE FUTURE, WE ARE DEVELOPING ANIMAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES TO MAKE A GLOBAL DIFFERENCE. THAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW AND INTO THE FUTURE, TO MAKE A GLOBAL DIFFERENCE.
EVAH Corp (EVAH standing for Evolution in Animal Health) is a Québec-based biotechnology company that specializes in the health of food animals. The company also has an aquaculture division in Atlantic Canada. EVAH Corp (EVAH standing for Evolution in Animal Health) is a Québec-based biotechnology company that specializes in the health of food animals. The company also has an aquaThe global population will grow significantly culture division in Atlantic Canada. over the next decades, driving demand for food even higher. The health of people, animals and The global population will grow significantly the environment are interconnected, and that's over the next decades, driving demand for food where WHO's "One World One Health" concept even higher. The health of people, animals and comes in. the environment are interconnected, and that's where WHO's "One World One Health" concept This approach is particularly relevant in the areas of food safety, the fight against zoonotic comes in. diseases (infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans or from humans to animals, like influenza, rabies and Rift Valley fever) and the fight against antibiotic resistance This approach is particularly relevant in the areas of food safety, the fight against zoonotic diseases (infectious diseases that can be trans(which occurs when resistant microbes are mitted from animals to humans or from humans selected after antimicrobial treatment and to animals, like influenza, rabies and Rift Valley diseases become harder to treat). fever) and the fight against antibiotic resistance (which occurs when resistant microbes are About 70% of the increased food proselected after antimicrobial treatment and duction will have to come from new diseases become harder to treat).
technologies and innovations that address the need for a regular supply About 70% of the increased food proof healthy animal protein. duction will have to come from new technologies and innovations that
66 fall | autumn 2021 BIOTECanada address the need for a regular supply
of healthy animal protein.
World Health Organization's concept "One World One Health" World Health Organization's concept "One World One Health"
WHY ANIMAL HEALTH? Given what's at stake and the urgent need to respond to the current health crisis, the former managers and staff of Québec-based Prevtec Microbia are teaming up again to build a new, innovative platform.
EVAH specializes in the research and development of biologics to protect food animals from bacterial disease, as an alternative to antibiotics.
Given what's at stake and the urgent need to respond to the current health crisis, the former Founded in Québec, EVAH has 18 employees managers and staff of Québec-based Prevtec in that province and in Atlantic Canada, most of whom are women scientists. They are all working together to become a Canadian leader in Microbia are teaming up again to build a new, innovative platform. animal health, addressing a gap in its sector by, on one hand, partnering with academic instituEVAH specializes in the research and tions and the scientific community and, on the development of biologics to protect other hand, partnering with large Animal Health companies. food animals from bacterial disease, as an alternative to antibiotics. We are also developing microbiome-based solutions to enhance the growth and performance of food animals, as well as a parasiticide for farmed salmon that will ensure sustainable growth and protect wild salmon. WHO WE ARE Establishing a global presence requires resources that SMEs don't have. EVAH is committed to all three stages of research and development: strategic planning assessment, efficacy pilot trials and safety testing, and final product formulation. Once the technologies and innovations have gone through the research and development phases, EVAH will partner with large pharmaceutical companies that have the resources to obtain regulatory approvals and commercialize products worldwide. EVAH’s positioning is timely in the knowledge sector and will contribute to tomorrow’s global economy.
Founded in Québec, EVAH has 18 employees in that province and in Atlantic Canada, most of whom are women scientists. They are all work ing together to become a Canadian leader in animal health, addressing a gap in its sector by, on one hand, partnering with academic institu tions and the scientific community and, on the other hand, partnering with large Animal Health companies. Establishing a global presence requires resources that SMEs don't have. EVAH is com mitted to all three stages of research and development: strategic planning assessment, efficacy pilot trials and safety testing, and final product formulation. Once the technologies and innovations have gone through the research and development phases, EVAH will partner with large pharma ceutical companies that have the resources to obtain regulatory approvals and commercial ize products worldwide. EVAH’s positioning is timely in the knowledge sector and will contribute to tomorrow’s global economy.
WHO WE AREEVAH is a Business and IP platform in Animal EVAH is a Business and IP platform in Animal Health based in Canada. The team includes Health based in Canada. The team includes business people with experience in selling business people with experience in selling innovations, and scientists with expertise in innovations, and scientists with expertise in developing industrial animal health products. developing industrial animal health products.
This collaboration will create intellecThis collaboration will create intellectual property value for animal health tual property value for animal health products that are in high demand.products that are in high demand.
From left to right: Michel Fortin, President & Chief Executive Officer of EVAH Corp with Scientific Advisory ComFrom left to right: Michel Fortin, President & Chief Execumittee: André Buret, PhD, John Brennan, PhD, Paul Dick, tive Officer of EVAH Corp with Scientific Advisory ComDVM, MSc and Jean Szkotnicki, MSc.mittee: André Buret, PhD, John Brennan, PhD, Paul Dick,
DVM, MSc and Jean Szkotnicki, MSc. To read more about EVAH Corp please visit our website www.evahcorp.ca To read more about EVAH Corp please visit our website www.evahcorp.ca
THE PANDEMIC FORCED CANADA TO RE-EVALUATE ITS BIOTECHNOLOGY SECTOR
By George Nikopoulos, Chief Executive Officer and President of Mannin Research.
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS SHAKEN UP CANADA’S BIOTECHNOLOGY SECTOR - a shakeup that was sorely needed, providing a catalyst for change that was long overdue.
When the pandemic arrived on our shores, it uncovered a troubling reality. Canada was unprepared for an event of this magnitude, lacking the trained people and the facilities to properly address the treatment challenges posed.
As countries around the world shut their borders to contain the spread of the virus, many of Canada’s supply pipelines were cut off. Our system was not designed to withstand a disruption in global supply chains, and the pandemic drove home the importance of having a domestic chain of both supply and capacity.
This started with personal protective equipment (PPE), and quickly manifested in vaccines, as countries with production capacity were keen on keeping what they could for their own populations before sending any abroad. Canada had only a relatively minimal capacity for domestic vaccine production, and no capacity to generate the novel mRNA based vaccines.
It became clear that addressing the needs of the pandemic required a collective effort in our industry, our governments and our people, in order to re-invest in a made-in-Canada solution. The Government of Canada responded with a huge increase in federal funds dedicated to the creation of biomanufacturing capacity. The last federal budget committed more than $3.7 billion over the next seven years to the biotechnology sector, an investment that is sorely needed to attract talent, train people and give them a place to work. This investment, and others like it, are making a difference. Prior to the pandemic, we at Mannin Research were developing novel therapeutics to treat vascular diseases, including glaucoma. Since our recombinant protein therapeutic was designed to target vascular endothelial cells in the host-patient, it could also serve as a therapeutic in infectious and inflammatory diseases.
Furthermore, because the therapeutic is enhancing defenses of the host, rather than targeting a specific infectious agent, its efficacy should not be affected by the various strains, or variants of the coronavirus.
Mannin has also pivoted its R&D and collaboration outlook to meet the need for made-in-Canada solutions for new therapeutics to treat patients with COVID-19. This means on-shoring as much of the supply chain as possible and utilizing Canadian-owned and controlled firms.
First, we partnered with Cyclica to develop new drugs, and evaluate repurposed drugs, utilizing their proteome-wide, AI drug discovery platform. Cyclica, a Canadian company and global leader in drug discovery and development that is embracing the complexity of disease, helped accelerate our work and improve our chances of success.
Through DNAstack, another Canadian company and a global leader in genomic analysis, analytics and scalable health IT, we were invited to contribute to the COVID Cloud project through Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster in Vancouver. This consortium of more than a dozen organizations and companies supports the development of a digital technology platform to provide near real-time monitoring of the virus’ evolutionary strains, transmission patterns, mutation rate and drug targets.
By sharing genomic and other biomedical data from COVID patients and the virus itself, we are learning new ways to attack and treat the virus.
Mannin’s experimental treatment moved quickly along the developmental pathway — and is showing promise. Our lead drug to treat Acute Respiratory Disease Syndrome in COVID-19 patients is a recombinant fusion protein that treats the patient, instead of directly targeting the virus. It is not a cure for COVID, but it strengthens a patient’s blood vessels and protects them against lung injury and breathing problems, inflammation and sepsis, and other infections that may cause the body’s organs to begin shutting down.
It will also help keep COVID patients out of the ICU and off a ventilator.
This therapeutic is slated to begin clinical trials in early 2022, while we build-out the capacity to manufacture it in Canada. This will enable our company to scale-up and meet the needs of Canadians, and also address global markets via a Canadian-based supply chain. This secures our commercial goals, while providing Canada with additional biomanufacturing assets that will be needed to address the evolving pandemic, and future pandemics. We also want to foster the ecosystem that helped bring our drug to this stage. This will pay dividends in the future by rebuilding the biotechnology sector as a truly collaborative space where competitors work together and share in each other’s successes. For example, small and medium enterprises (SME) in Canada could not succeed in moving to the scale-up phase without the rapid growth and “halo effect” created by other Canadian companies like Cyclica and DNAstack. The pandemic crisis has provided focus for our industry. It has made it easier for Canadian SMEs to connect, grow and accelerate drug development for the benefit of all Canadians. This is just the starting point. Mannin is on pace to double in size in the next six months, and then double again within a year. And we are not alone. By the time we reach the second anniversary of COVID-19’s arrival in Canada, there will be a significantly increased biotechnology footprint in Canada, with more investment from the private sector. The path we are now on will ensure that Canada has the arsenal of tools and networks to address this pandemic - and be ready for the next one.
