Biotechnology Focus June/July 2015

INSIGHTS FOR THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY

JUNE/JULY 2015 VOLUME 18, NUMBER 3

ONTARIO’S LIFE SCIENCE SECTOR

READY TO SHINE ON THE WORLD STAGE

Publication Mail Registration Number: 40052410

LIFE SCIENCE IS A HUMAN RACE 78% of global CEOs rank human capital as the #1 priority*

Making the next breakthrough isn’t about luck. It’s about talent, pure and simple. The brightest minds, specialized education, the insatiably curious – all blended in this unique sector of the knowledge economy. The race is always on in Life Sciences, and Mississauga, Ontario – Canada, is where great companies build winning teams. What else do you need to know?

VISIT WINTHEHUMANRACE.CA TO START NOW. *Source: PwC 15 th Annual Global CEO Survey 2012

contents FEATURES 10

Data analysis for Ontario’s Life Science Sector just leveled up

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Life Sciences Ontario’s 2015 Sector Report provides first evidence-based economic impact data and benchmarks against North American jurisdictions

FACIT

Building Ontario’s biotech hub through innovative commercial models

COMPILED BY SHAWN LAWRENCE

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BY FIGHT AGAINST CANCER INNOVATION TRUST

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CIMTEC: commercializing medical imaging technology

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Advancing neuroscience through partnerships

The Ontario Brain Institute was created to build on existing excellence in Ontario’s neuroscience community

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COMPILED BY SHAWN LAWRENCE

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Across Canada

Patenting computer-implemented inventions in the Life Sciences: Challenges and Opportunities

BY LAURENCE MACPHIE, TERESA MACLEAN AND IAN MCMILLAN

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BY SHAWN LAWRENCE

Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization

OBIO® receives investment from the government of Canada to boost investment opportunities and strengthen innovation for Ontario’s commercial bioscience cluster

BY GAIL GARLAND

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The SGC: Where big pharma buys into the science of sharing

The Structural Genomcis Consortium is a not-forprofit public-private partnership supporting the discovery of new medicines through open-access research

Optical Solutions

Overcoming the greatest single challenge in ophthalmology: delivering drugs to the eye

BY DANELLE D’ALVISE

SPECIAL TO BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS

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A perfect storm in regenerative medicine

Ontario is poised to emerge as the world leader in regenerative medicine

BY LISA WILLEMSE

TO Health

Come discover the action in the Toronto region’s human health and sciences cluster

Ontario’s Life Science sector is open for business

In conversation with Minister of Research and Innovation Reza Moridi

BY JORDAN ANTFLICK

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Spotlight on Mississauga

Where life sciences wins the human race SPECIAL TO BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Customized engineering solutions leverage CIMTEC’s patents to propel customer projects farther and faster

BY MICHAEL WATERSTON

Getting to know Merck Canada’s new hired gun

Biotechnology Focus goes one-on-one with Merck Canada Inc. president and managing director Chirfi Guindo to discuss what’s in store for the pharma giant’s Canadian subsidiary

BY JASON FIELD

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June/July 2015 – VOLUME 18 – NUMBER 3

Q&A with BIOTECanada CEO and president Andrew Casey

Discussing the state of the Canadian biotech industry and BIOTECanada’s plans for the upcoming BIO International Conference COMPILED BY SHAWN LAWRENCE

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The Last Word

It’s time to declare an end to Canada’s two research solitudes

BY RAPHAEL HOFSTEIN AND ELIZABETH MONIER-WILLIAMS

www.biotechnologyfocus.ca

June/July 2015 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 3

SILS

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Reaping the Harvest, 15 years later Remember the 2009 hit single by Miley Cyrus, ‘The Climb’ ? The one where she belts out the lyrics: “Ain’t about how fast we get there … ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side … it’s the climb.”

The biotech industry’s current preoccupation with ‘the climb’ is worth fretting over, especially if what’s ‘waiting on the other side’ is a fall as long and disastrous as the one taken by Cyrus shortly after penning that number.

For industry, the question — at this point — really isn’t about how high biotech will climb, but what lies under its feet. The fleeting benefits of ascension in a bubble may outweigh the sharp drop and resultant crash after it bursts. In contrast, a rise based on a solid foundation may result in the long-term success and growth of the biotech industry.

At the fourth annual Bloom Burton & Co. Healthcare Investor Conference in Toronto, Ontario on May 4 and 5, Adam Feuerstein, a senior columnist with TheStreet.com, rolled out his take on the state of biotech, cautiously deflating the belief that the industry’s success isn’t (only) the result of favourable, yet temporary, market conditions. Instead, he sees the rise of the industry as a linear series of milestones that owe its origins to a historic scientific achievement fifteen years ago.

In 2000, when the human genome was first mapped, people had a feeling like that milestone was going to become an instant game changer. “Everyone assumed that it was going to cure all these diseases,” Feuerstein explains, and bold claims were made about the rate at which drugs would be coming to market.

Fifteen years later, Feuerstein says, “we’re getting to that point.” He uses the recent successes with Cystic Fibrosis and Hepatitis C as examples. “We used to take a year to cure patients with Hep C … now we’re curing basically 95 per cent of Hep C patients in eight to 12 weeks with a single pill.”

Much of it wouldn’t be possible without the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which Feuerstrein jokingly refers to as “the House of Yes.” Once viewed as an adversary, the FDA is now a friend that “goes out of its way to work with industry.”

After that, the gears really click into place for the biotech industry. The rapid increase in the development of drugs, coupled with the FDA’s willingness to get them to market is reaping huge rewards (read profits) for Big Pharma, and the trickle-down benefits for the biotech industry are huge.

Feuerstein says the result is a sellers market for biotech firms, which are now either being scooped up by Big Pharma, or are partnering on very agreeable terms.

Of course, investors want in on the action. Where biotech was once looked upon by the generalist investor as too complex, or a niche investment opportunity, Feuerstein says it can no longer be ignored. If you are looking for favourable returns, or to outperform the market, “you have to be in biotech.”

If Feuerstein’s assessment of the industry is accurate, he’s taken a lot of the firepower away from skeptics who are waiting for the the ‘bubble to pop.’ But he is cautious. Big Pharma has traditionally faced little resistance on drug pricing, but insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PMBs) are ratcheting up the pressure to bring the prices of drugs, new and old, down. This would have negative implications on biotech firms, but just how much, is unclear.

SENIOR WRITER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Terri Pavelic Shawn Lawrence Danelle D’Alvise Elizabeth Monier-Williams Gail Garland Ian McMillan Jason Field Jordan Antflick Laurence MacPhie Lisa Willemse Michael Waterston Raphael Hofstein Teresa MacLean

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José Labao Elena Pankova John R. Jones Mary Malofy Mary Labao circulation@promotive.net Tel: 289-879-4272

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Christine Beyaert, Cohn&Wolfe; Rob Henderson, BioTalent Canada; Najla Guthrie, KGK Synergize; Pierre Bourassa, IRAP, Montréal; Murray McLaughlin, Sustainable Chemistry Alliance; Carol Reynolds, AdFarm; Ulli Krull, UTM; John Kelly, KeliRo Company Inc.; Peter Pekos, Dalton Pharma Services; Brad Thompson, Oncolytics; Darrell Ethell, CanReg; John Hylton, John H. Hylton & Associates; Robert Foldes, Viteava Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Randal R.Goodfellow, P.Ag., Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations, Ensyn; Bob H. Sotiriadis, Robic LLP; 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 6 times per year by Promotive Communications Inc. 23-4 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 – 23-4 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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R & D NEWS Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals expands to Canada Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals Canada Inc. is expanding into Canada opening its new headquarters in Ontario.

Operating as the Canadian affiliate of the parent company, the new Canadian headquarters will be located in Mississauga, ON. The company said that the province’s strong research-based pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries and the presence of leading hospitals with globally-recognized clinical research capabilities were key factors in its decision to establish its Canadian head office in the province.

The opening of the facility is expected to create approximately 40 new full-time jobs in Ontario and across Canada.

The company is a global specialty-driven biotechnological group with total sales exceeding €1.2 billion in 2014. It sells more than 20 drugs in more than 115 countries.

Its development strategy is supported by three franchises: neurology, endocrinology and urology-oncology.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca//?p=14407

McEwen Centre researchers unlock ability to create human articular cartilage A team of scientists, led by Drs. Gordon Keller and April Craft from the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto has been able to generate articular chondrocytes and cartilage tissue from human pluripotent stem cells in a Petri dish.

Pluripotent stem cells have the potential to make most cell types in the body.

In this study, the McEwen Center team identified, for the first time, the combination of factors that direct the human stem cells to specifically produce articular chondrocytes, the cells that make the cartilage that lines our joints. They also showed that these chondrocytes can make cartilage tissue in the Petri dish.

With these advances, it is now possible to produce an unlimited supply of chondrocytes and cartilage tissue for studying how osteoarthritis develops and for creating new regenerative medicine-based therapies for treating patients with cartilage damage that would otherwise lead to joint replacement surgery.

The findings are reported in the coauthored paper, “Generation of articular chondrocytes from human pluripotent stem cells”, published online in Nature Biotechnology.

“Articular chondrocytes are found on the surface of the bones within the joints and provide the cushioning that deteriorates in osteoarthritis,” explains Dr. Craft, assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School. “If we can grow and use these chondrocytes to generate

6 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS June/July 2015

and maintain stable cartilage tissue, we have a tremendous opportunity to study the early events that lead to arthritis, to screen for new drugs to treat this disease and to investigate how to use this cartilage to repair damaged joints.”

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common type of arthritis and affects one in 10 Canadian adults. There is no cure for OA. Cartilage is an essential part of the joint; it absorbs the impact of movement and enables the joint to move smoothly. Osteoarthritic cartilage progressively deteriorates and eventually causes pain, stiffness, and swelling as a result of bone-on-bone movement in the affected joint.

“This is an exciting and encouraging first step in producing functional tissue for joint repair,” says Dr. Keller, director of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative

Medicine. “Working with our partners at Mount Sinai Hospital, the Arthritis Program at Toronto Western Hospital, and the University of Guelph, we are proceeding to transplant the stem cell-derived tissue into the joints of animal models to test its ability to repair damaged cartilage.”

Funding for the research project was provided by generous donors including Rob and Cheryl McEwen, the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Krembil Foundation, and Michael and Yetta Bregman in collaboration with the Campaign to Cure Arthritis, Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca//?p=14405

R & D NEWS Medicago to build $245 million production facility in Québec City

Québec City biotech company, Medicago’s greenhouse. Photo: The Canadian Press Canadian biotech company Medicago says it has chosen Québec City as the future building site of its new biotech complex for producing vaccines and treatments.

The new complex will be built in Québec City’s Espace d’innovation D’Estimauville (Estimauville innovation park) . It will regroup Medicago’s head office, research and development activities, and commercial production plant.

According to company officials, the building project costing $245 million will create 200 new jobs by 2019, adding

to the team of 180 employees already working at Medicago’s Québec City office and laboratories.

“We’re pleased that Medicago will take this next major step in Québec City, where we have already developed our innovative technology,” said Andy Sheldon, Medicago’s CEO. “We will export most of our vaccines to foreign markets, but we also believe our new production complex will help Canada meet its needs for seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines, in addition to strengthening the country’s response to emerging diseases around the world.”

Medicago’s new 44,000 m2 facility will be located on a 90,000 m2 site. It will have the capacity to deliver up to 40 to 50 million doses of quadrivalent seasonal flu vaccines. In addition, work towards developing new products will take place over the upcoming years.

Using plants to fight seasonal and pandemic influenza, Ebola and other health threats Medicago’s innovative technology uses plants like miniature factories that can quickly produce large quantities of vac-

cines or treatments. This technology demonstrated its potential for responding to global pandemics when it produced candidate vaccines for H1N1 in 2009 and H7N9 in 2013 in just 19 days, compared to the several months required to produce vaccines using eggs.

Medicago was recently awarded a contract by the U.S. government to manufacture Ebola antibodies in its Québec City pilot production plant for a study in nonhuman primates. The technology used can quickly produce large amounts of antibodies, thereby boosting production volumes to increase stockpiles across the globe.

A project supported by important partners Medicago’s major expansion project received support from all three levels of government in the form of loans or discounted land purchase costs. The governments of Canada and Québec provided loans of $8 million and $60 million, respectively. The municipal government contributed to a value of $6.5 million.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca//?p=14465

Converge. Discover. Deliver. | Mobiliser. Découvrir. Produire.

PARTNERING INDUSTRY EXPERTISE WITH ONTARIO’S RESEARCH EXCELLENCE PATIENTS

CONTRACT RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS

INNOVATIVE COMPANIES

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200+ RESEARCHERS 35+ INSTITUTIONS 40+ COMPANIES

FUNDERS

18 PATIENT GROUPS 5300+ PATIENTS (expected) June/July 2015 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 7

BUSINESS CORNER

Ontario government invests $25 million into Scale Up Ventures, establishes unique VC fund

Ontario is investing $25 million in a new $50-million venture capital fund that will provide successful early-stage start-ups with both mentorship and capital to foster the next generation of global companies. The fund includes both provincial and private-sector investment.

To qualify for investment, start-ups will have to go through the same pitch and due diligence process as they would with a regular venture capital fund. Scale Up Ventures’ initial investments in promising start-ups will range from $500,000 to roughly $3 million, with the potential for follow-on investment.

The fund will also match start-ups with

mentors from the ranks of Ontario’s most successful business leaders. Members of the Scale Up Ventures leadership council will be paired with a start-up based on industry fit. For example, a promising financial technology company may be paired with a former bank CEO. What makes this fund interesting is the number of private industry leaders who have signed up to mentor start-ups that qualify for the fund. The Ontario government says the leaders aren’t being paid to mentor.

The more than 30 council members include representatives from key areas of Ontario’s economy — financial services, advanced manufacturing, retail and consumer products, telecommunications and media, and hardware and electronics. It will be led by the chair, Nadir Mohamed, former CEO of Rogers Communications.

It also includes successful Ontario entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. It will be managed by a professional fund manager, who will be chosen by a team that includes Mohamed, former Scotiabank COO Sabi Marwah, former OMERS CEO Michael Nobrega and Scott Bonham, Partner at GGV Capital.

According to stakeholders, Scale Up Ventures will operate on private-sector investment principles and expects to eventually return the original capital plus any investment gains to its investors, including the province.

“We will be offering more than capital, and more than simply advice,” said Mohamed. “Leadership Council mentors will open up our organizations to the companies we support, and will look for ways to use their technologies to help run our businesses. This will not only help create the next generation of Canadian successes, but also help Canada remain competitive through innovation and access to emerging technologies.”

Scale Up Ventures is the latest venture capital fund launched by the province.

In January of 2014, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, which raised over $217 million in commitments, with the provincial and federal government each pledging up to $50 million.

The fund is expected to begin operations in the summer of 2015.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus. ca//?p=14394

Northern Biologics Inc. and Celgene Corporation have struck a collaboration deal that will see the latter financially back the development of the former’s first-in-class antibody cancer and fibrosis therapeutic portfolio.

As part of the collaboration, Northern Biologics will receive a US$30 million upfront cash payment and will have the right to receive additional future payments to advance its antibody therapeutic portfolio from preclinical discovery through human clinical trials. In exchange for helping to advance Northern Biologics’ technology, Celgene will have options to in-license drug candidates and will also have the right to acquire Northern Biologics upon conclusion of the collaboration.

Northern Biologics was launched in June 2014 by Blueline Bioscience, a Canadian 8 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS June/July 2015

biotechnology incubator backed by venture capital firm Versant Ventures, in partnership with the University of Toronto and University Health Network’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Versant committed a US$10M Series A financing round to the company in October 2014.

“Celgene’s financial and scientific contributions will enable us to rapidly progress our therapeutic antibodies to the clinic,” said Dr. Stefan Larson, CEO at Northern Biologics. “This deal reflects strong alignment among Celgene, Versant, the Northern Biologics founders, and management team regarding the advantages of collaborating to advance our innovative portfolio.”

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca//?p=14441

Dr. Stefan Larson

Northern Biologics and Celgene enter strategic collaboration

BUSINESS CORNER Transition Therapeutics in-licenses muscle boosting drug candidate from Lilly Transition Therapeutics Inc. reports it has exclusively licensed the worldwide rights to a novel muscle boosting drug candidate from Eli Lilly and Company through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Transition Therapeutics Ireland Limited (TTIL).

Transition picked up the rights to the small molecule drug, TT701 for just $1 million, but could be paying up to $100 million in commercial milestones as well as a mid-single digit royalty on TT701 products that hit the market. TT701 is a selective androgen receptor modulator that has been shown in a Phase 2 study

to significantly increase lean body mass and a measurement of muscle strength in male subjects.

The 12-week, Phase 2 study of 350 subjects also demonstrated additional beneficial effects, including significant fat mass reduction with no significant change in prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels.

“We are very pleased to expand our relationship with Lilly to develop novel drug candidates,” said Dr. Tony Cruz, chairman and CEO of Transition.

Cruz also said Transition is “evaluating multiple development paths” for

the drug, including as a new therapeutic option for patients with androgen deficiency. TTIL is engaged with potential collaborators to rapidly commence another Phase 2 clinical study.

“The safety and efficacy profile of TT701 creates a number of development opportunities. TTIL will initiate development and manufacturing activities to enable the start of a Phase 2 study in the coming months.”

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca//?p=14438

FACIT partners with Ontario researchers to create new company The Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust (FACIT) and its partners are forming a new biotech company. The new company, Turnstone Biologics Inc. (Turnstone), will focus on developing treatments for cancer that harness the patient’s own immune system.

The company represents a unique collaboration between the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, McMaster University, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, the University of Ottawa and FACIT. Turnstone combines breakthrough discoveries supported by OICR’s Ontario Regional BioTherapeutics Program (ORBiT) and multiple Canadian research granting organizations with intellectual property from the founding institutes.

Drs. David Stojdl, Brian Lichty, and John Bell from CHEO, McMaster, and The Ottawa Hospital respectively, have leveraged their longstanding collaboration and combined efforts into a single therapeutic platform.

The platform, Marabex™, combines

an oncolytic viral therapy with a tumourtargeted vaccine into a single treatment.

Building upon the recent clinical validation of oncolytic viruses, preclinical studies using this new strategy have demonstrated unprecedented immune responses against tumours. As immunotherapy has emerged as one of the most exciting new approaches in the fight against cancer, stakeholders in the company believe the Marabex™ technology has an opportunity to expand the boundaries for new treatments and benefit a large group of patients.

“Immunotherapies represent one of the most transformative and promising anticancer approaches, and the formation of Turnstone Biologics around the Maraba oncolytic vaccine reflects a significant contribution to the field,” said Jeff Courtney, chief commercial officer for FACIT and interim CEO of Turnstone. “With all the benefits of a strong intravenously delivered oncolytic virus, the addition of a powerful anti-cancer vaccine has great potential to

improve the potency of the treatment and enhance patient outcomes.”

“Turnstone Biologics is the culmination of a long-term collaboration between the founding scientists, their institutions and many supporters of cancer research across our country,” adds Dr. Bell, senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital, professor at the University of Ottawa and ORBiT program leader. “OICR and FACIT played a critical role in translating our discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic with significant financial and in-kind support to the ORBiT Program.”

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca//?p=14412

KalGene Pharmaceuticals committed to develop a disease modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and KalGene Pharmaceuticals are co-developing a novel therapeutic molecule against Alzheimer's disease. KalGene is collaborating with the Centre for Imaging Technology Commercialization (CIMTEC) and the Montreal Neurological Institute to access the most advanced diagnostic techniques.

“Validating this new Canadian-developed Alzheimer’s therapy with the best imaging technology available will be an exciting development for clinicians who must manage this disease today without effective treatments,” says neurologist at McGill University Dr. Rosa-Neto MD, Ph.D. “We are committed to co-developing new treatments with NRC against diseases that have collaboration brings new treatments one step closer to people living with Alzheimer’s."

www.kalgene.com

For additional information on KalGene’s efforts to develop new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, please contact nathan@kalgene.com

June/July 2015 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 9

Special report

Data analysis for Ontario’s Life Sciences Sector just leveled up

ONTARIO

Life Sciences Ontario’s 2015 Sector Report provides first evidence-based economic impact data and benchmarks against North American jurisdictions By: Dr. Jason Field Ask anyone affiliated with Ontario’s Life Sciences sector about its importance to the province’s economic health and you’ll likely get a lot of strong affirmations about its broad impact on the province. Traditionally, Life Sciences Ontario Sector Report 2015 however, it’s been very challenging to find evidence-based data or benchmarking against other north American jurisdictions. Thanks to Life Sciences Ontario, that’s changing. released in February 2015, the Life Sciences Ontario Sector report 2015 was published to provide the well-defined data that clearly measure and report on the sector’s benchmarking and its economic contributions.

Here’s a snapshot of the key trends.

1. The life sciences sector makes a significant contribution to Ontario’s economy. The 5,600 life sciences establishments employ over 83,000 highly-skilled workers in Ontario.

The sector generates approximately $40 billion in annual revenues, which translates to approximately $38.5 billion in total contributions to Ontario’s gross Domestic Product (gPD). That easily ranks Ontario’s sector among north America’s must successful clusters — it’s in the top 10 by employment and the top three by establishments.

2. It’s good news for the deep field of life sciences talent, provided they’re well established in their careers. The sector’s job growth outpaced the provincial average by nearly 10 per cent between 2001 and 2013, showing resilience during the 2008 economic downturn. On average, wages in the Life Sciences sector are also 26.5 per cent higher than those of the provincial average. The flip side is that it’s a challenging sector to enter. recent science graduates face an unemployment rate of 18.9 per cent. This is a substantial challenge since Ontario produced 9,813 postsecondary graduates from physical, life sciences, and technologies programs in 2011, accounting for 49 per cent of the national total.

3. Part of the challenge is that Ontario’s life sciences companies skew to the smaller end of the scale. Of all Ontario’s life sciences companies, 63 per cent have less than 10 employees and only four per cent have more than 100. On the whole, over 80 per cent of these companies are in the Medical Device and Equipment or the research, Testing and Medical Laboratories segments, with the remainder in Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and Agricultural Feedstock and Chemicals. These numbers speak to Ontario’s commitment to commercialization and many policy initiatives that support translating our cutting-edge life sciences research into innovative technology companies. However, the next step is to grow many of these innovative start-ups into globally

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Biotechnology Focus / June/July 2015

competitive firms, which will be the focus of LSO’s nearfuture advocacy work.

4. Ontario’s access to capital resources for life sciences needs substantial attention to help our companies grow and thrive. Since 2001, Ontario’s share of Canadian venture capital has declined approximately 20 per cent. In 2014, the Life Sciences sector was the segment to receive the least investment on the TSX/TSXV while the nASDAQ Biotechnology Index outpaced the nASDAQ Composite Index by nearly 3:1 over the past three years. For additional context about the enormity of this missed opportunity, two U.S. Life Sciences companies, gilead and Amgen, have a combined market cap of $268.6 billion (USD) (as of Q12015). That is more than the approximately 1,500 companies combined that make up the entire Canadian mining sector (market cap of $265.7 billion CnD as of Jan. 2015) listed on the TSX/TSXV. In the past, making these kinds of accurate comparisons was virtually impossible due to inconsistencies in both data and methodologies. LSO saw a role in researching and publishing a report that would substantially quantify and articulate the sector’s impact while establishing a data baseline to help inform policy divisions, a crucial milestone in helping Ontario’s life sciences sector reach its full economic and social potential.

About the author and Life Sciences Ontario Dr. Jason Field joined Life Sciences Ontario in 2011 as executive director and was appointed president and CEO in 2014. He has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts and an undergraduate degree from the University of Waterloo. Jason worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a research scientist developing scalable manufacturing processes of active pharmaceutical ingredients before joining the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT), where he led a team of senior advisors dedicated to growing Ontario’s life sciences and information and communication technologies (ICT) sectors.

During this time, Jason was integral to developing a number of strategic policy initiatives and spearheaded negotiations with several major ICT and life sciences companies that resulted in significant new investments in the province.

Life Sciences Ontario (LSO), a member-driven organization, is the voice for Ontario’s life sciences sector and represents and promotes the province’s vibrant and diverse life sciences sector. LSO collaborates with governments, academia, industry and other life science organizations in Ontario and across Canada to promote and encourage commercial success across the sector and its diverse subsectors.

Source: http://www.lifesciencesontario.ca/home/index.php

T O in in o

Th is O an id tu pa —

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FA (OI can

Transforming Ontario’s oncology innovations into commercial opportunities.

The Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust (FACIT) is the gateway to the cancer research pipeline in Ontario, bringing together communities in the public and private sectors. We take the most promising ideas and discoveries in the fight against cancer and turn them into profitable opportunities that benefit patients, researchers, investors and our economy.

— To learn more visit facit.ca or contact info@facit.ca

FACIT is an independent business trust established by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) to undertake development and commercialization activities for Ontario assets related to cancer research, technologies, products and drug discovery.

Special report

FACIT:

ONTARIO

Building Ontario’s biotech hub through innovative commercial models Launched in 2014 by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) as a vehicle to propel the translation of innovative cancer-related technologies, the Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust (FACIT) in the past year has strategically pursued novel commercial models to best position the most promising oncology discoveries to benefit patients, and foster Ontario’s biotech industry and economy.

The Innovation Ecosystem: Driving Capital and Economy

Ontario’s strengths in science and clinical research are world renowned. However, the province is not maximizing its strengths to commercialize innovation and translate health products to patients, limiting the value captured. A stronger innovation ecosystem is therefore needed to fully realize the value.

From FACIT’s perspective, successful commercialization in oncology requires access to four key pillars to build an effective innovation ecosystem (Exhibit 1): • Breakthrough technologies; • Professional management; • Capital; and • Scientific and technical expertise. exhibit 1. Key Pillars of an Effective Innovation Ecosystem Breakthrough Technologies

healthcare translation & economic benefits

Professional Management

Capital partnerships

concentration of capabilities

Expert Network

Historically, while some pillars have occasionally aligned, substantial gaps have also impeded successful commercialization in Ontario, adding time, cost and risk to development.

FACIT strives to strengthen these pillars to increase the frequency and quality of successful ventures. The expectation is that a small number of high profile ventures will attract additional investment, accelerate the next generation of novel technologies, and cultivate a concentration of capabilities to rein-

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Biotechnology Focus / June/July 2015

exhibit 2. FACIT’s Keys to Building Successful Ventures and Elevating Ontario’s Innovation Ecosystem

Identify and elevate disruptive cancer innovations to bring benefits to Ontario through an entrepreneurial approach.

Invest in promising intellectual property through FACIT’s funding programs.

force a sustainable innovation ecosystem in Ontario. The key to sustainable success is best achieved by first creating successful commercial ventures.

Helping to Transform Ontario’s Biotech Hub

As an innovation hub for cancer research FACIT and its team of biotechnology professionals leverage OICr’s oncology expertise together with funding programs, an active management approach, as well as a network of industry advisors, to drive innovation and commercialization in Ontario (Exhibit 2). The depth of these networks is especially helpful given the need to identify, access, and support the most transformative technologies to fulfill unmet oncology needs. FACIT is well positioned to navigate the competitive environment for investment capital, strategic transactions and professional management teams and is building on the pillars, attracting noteworthy partners to Ontario.

Realizing Cancer Breakthroughs Requires Disrupting Traditional Models

Commercialization has relied heavily on traditional licensing models, which often result in the exit of innovative technology and expertise from the country, but are insufficient if the goal is to build the right infrastructure to ensure a sustainable ecosystem that continues to drive growth. In addition, translational research models in oncology are becoming increasingly complex, involving multiple

Engage partners that enhance the development of novel business models to accelerate translation.

Be proactive in the strategic management of FACIT activities and investments.

institutions. In response, commercialization models need to be dynamic and novel to address these challenges.

Progressive Frontiers: FACIT’s Novel Partnership Venture with Ontario Researchers Creates Cancer Immunotherapy Startup

reflecting the growing complexities associated with the translational cancer research landscape, FACIT recently announced the formation of Turnstone Biologics Inc., an oncolytic virus vaccine company focused on developing treatments for cancer that harness the patient’s immune system. This represents a unique commercial collaboration between the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario research Institute, McMaster University, OICr, the Ottawa Hospital research Institute and FACIT. FACIT and OICr’s funding and leadership provided cohesion and vision in bringing the multiple institutes together, providing significant legal, operational, corporate and clinical expertise. The unified management behind the company was critical to drive the pooling of technologies and intellectual property, positioning the technology more attractively to potential partners and investors. Moreover, forming a single corporate entity around the multi-institute-based platform was recognized as a necessity by industry partners. The creation of Turnstone is a great success story for Ontario’s innovation ecosystem and commercialization initiatives, with the potential to benefit cancer patients and the economy.

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CIMTEC:

Focused on Commercializing Medical Imaging Technology By: Michael Waterston, Director of Business Development, CIMTEC The Centre for Imaging Technology Commercialization (CIMTEC) is one of the only organizations in the world providing a unique set of services specifically designed to accelerate the commercialization of medical imaging innovations. CIMTEC helps early-stage companies fill their capabilities gap by providing a range of engineering, business development, and clinical testing services to help them build and test devices with strong sales potential in the multi-billion dollar global medical imaging market.

With world-class expertise and intellectual property in minimally invasive 3D image-guided interventions and digital pathology, CIMTEC works closely with entrepreneurs to create customized solutions. Customer projects include diverse technologies that address better and more efficient solutions to diagnose and treat breast, liver and prostate cancer, as well as Alzheimer’s disease and nerve disorders.

CIMTEC implements unique engineering solutions that leverage its hardware and software patents in image-guided biopsy and therapy and image analysis algorithms to propel custom-

Customized engineering solutions leverage CIMTEC’s patents to propel customer projects farther and faster. ers farther and faster than they could achieve on their own.

CIMTEC gives its customers access to exemplary clinical and laboratory resources that help test prototypes and provide valuable feedback about ease of use and how to improve the design and workflow of products; generate clinical data to support pre-market regulatory submissions, or to demonstrate clinical utility for driving adoption and reimbursement.

For more information about CIMTEC’s services and capabilities, visit www.cimtecimaging.com

EXPERTS IN COMMERCIALIZING MEDICAL IMAGING DEVICES

IP and regulatory assessments

Hardware and software engineering

Go-to-market strategy and

Clinical testing

Licensable patented

execution

services

technology

Contact CIMTEC to discuss how we can help you succeed

1-855-853-5155 www.cimtecimaging.com Biotechnology Focus / June/July 2015

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The Ontario Brain Institute: advancing neuroscience through partnerships

By: Jordan Antflick

The Ontario Brain Institute was created to build on past investments and existing excellence in Ontario’s neuroscience community.

What is OBI?

Launched in 2010, the Ontario Brain Institute was created to build on past investments and existing excellence in Ontario’s neuroscience community, and advance a more integrated approach to brain research that generates both clinical and commercial impact. This can only be achieved by orchestrating cooperative efforts among researchers, clinicians, companies, the patient community and government. The role of OBI is to create partnerships between these groups and build an ecosystem of openness, sharing and collaboration. In effect, stakeholders are moving away from working in silos and toward working within a system focused on translation.

These partnerships are now in place across five research programs: EpLink (intractable epilepsy), CP-nET (Cerebral Palsy Integrated Discovery network), CAn-BInD (Canadian Biomarker Integration network for Depression), OnDrI (Ontario neurodegenerative Disease research Initiative), and POnD (Province of Ontario neurodevelopmental Disorder network).

The programs work together to develop standardized approaches to conducting research, including common data elements. The data generated by the programs are collected, stored and shared through a secure informatics and analytics platform called Brain-CODE. As a rich repository of clinical data, and an innovative research tool, the Brain-CODE platform facilitates integration across research disciplines and across brain disorders.

The research programs are continuously evolving and presently involve over 200 researchers at 35 academic centres and research hospitals across Ontario, more than 45 companies, and approximately 20 patient advocacy and service groups.

Through the current funding cycle, which ends in 2018, OBI anticipates that over 5,000 participants will be recruited.

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How OBI creates opportunities for industry

research exists at the core of OBI activities, but it is through partnerships such as those with industry and patient groups that the greatest health and economic impacts will be realized. Early and continuous involvement of these stakeholders provides the research programs with the relevant perspective to refine and validate the ongoing research.

The involvement of industry helps to identify and evaluate commercial opportunities for both OBI and its industry partners. OBI’s role is to integrate and support small or medium sized Ontario-based companies, including entrepreneurs, into our research programs, and to facilitate partnerships between academia and industry to develop new products in a collaborative manner. Each of the five research programs have a focus on commercialization and have a range of projects underway which involve digitization of clinical rating scales, novel drug development and medical device development. OBI support bridges an existing gap in the funding for this type of translational research and helps to de-risk early investment in earlystage neuroscience start-up companies.

The other aspects of OBI’s industry strategy involve attracting investment and supporting resource development to help build and sustain a vibrant neuroscience cluster.

Why are we here?

At BIO, OBI’s objectives are to connect with new and existing multi-national pharma and device partners to further engage them in advisory and contribution partnerships with OBI through our research programs, data/informatics platforms and commercialization initiatives.

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Come discover the action in the Toronto region’s human health and sciences cluster.

The cluster attracts over $1 billion in annual health sciences research and is home to a community of 38,000 employees.

It is also the place where health sciences professionals can work big and live big in a large, cosmopolitan and diverse mega-city with a quality of life friendly to families and young singles. Many regions tout their quality of life, but we are the only metropolitan area in the world that The Economist ranked as the #1 best city to live in.

Other city regions around the world can only dream of having a downtown innovation district like Toronto’s. This represents Canada’s largest concentration of research institutes, busi-

ness incubators and banking/venture capital organizations.

Over 160 institutes and companies call Toronto’s Discovery District home. The University of Toronto ranks second only to Harvard in number of scientific publications and citations. research at our world-class academic institutions is complemented by discoveries made at our local and regional hospitals. Hospital research revenues in 2013/14 were $840 million, supported by over 9,500 active researchers and research staff, resulting in 277 IP disclosures and 73 commercializations.

The energy from this innovation hub is further multiplied through strong connections with the cluster’s network of regional health technology office and manufacturing locations.

The Toronto area is a premiere destination for clinical trials, supported by our world-class research and thriving independent clinical research community. Clinical trial management costs are significantly lower than in the U.S. and streamlined processes have been implemented to accelerate local and global collaborations.

Come to Toronto and discover the action!

Biotechnology Focus / June/July 2015

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Special report

By: Laurence MacPhie, Teresa MacLean and Ian McMillan

Patenting Computer-Implemented Inventions in the Life Sciences:

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Challenges and Opportunities The use of computers in the life sciences has continued to grow and evolve. Current advances include the use of sophisticated techniques such as multi-variate analysis or machine learning methods to identify risk factors or diagnose disease.

Healthcare providers are considering how ‘big data’ may be used to gain efficiencies and improve patient care. Computers have also migrated from the desktop to individual portable devices and the ‘internet of things’ promises to transform fields such as agriculture, diagnostics and drug delivery.

While computer-implemented inventions in the life sciences have great potential, commercial success is far from assured.

Obtaining effective intellectual property protection can be critical.

To be patentable, a claimed invention must be new and inventive over the prior art, and must be directed to patent eligible subject matter. What is considered ‘patent eligible subject matter’ differs in each jurisdiction. For example, in the United States “laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas” (“ineligible elements”) are ineligible for patent protection. Driving this exclusion is the concern that a patent may pre-empt an entire field and improperly tie up fundamental concepts from future use.

Many inventions in the life sciences incorporate ineligible elements. For example, in the Mayo decision1 the correlation between a biomarker (thiopurine drug metabolites) and a particular outcome (therapeutic efficacy and toxicity) was considered to be an unpatentable “natural law”. In Mayo, the Supreme Court also set forth a two-part test for assessing whether inventions are patent eligible. First is a law of nature, natural phenomenon or an abstract idea claimed? If not, the invention is patent eligible. If so, are there additional elements that transform the nature of the claim into a patent-eligible application of otherwise ineligible elements?

Examples of “additional elements” that may be sufficient to transform a claim into patent eligible subject matter include the use of specific reagents or analytical techniques, or incorporating unconventional method steps or elements that are separate from the natural law itself.

For some inventions, the use of a computer may be considered an “additional element” for transforming a claim into a patent eligible subject matter. In the recent Alice decision,2 the Supreme Court revisited the two-step test in Mayo in the context of a software patent and held that simply implementing an abstract idea on a computer is not an additional feature sufficient to ‘transform’ the claimed abstract idea into a patenteligible application. In Alice, the computer was configured to implement a business method, which was not considered to improve the operation of either the computer or any other area of technology. In contrast, a computer-implemented invention

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in the life sciences may well be considered to constitute an improvement in technology and qualify as patent eligible subject matter.

The best strategy for claiming a particular invention will depend on the nature of invention as well as any expected commercial activities. Applicants seeking patent protection in the United States should work with their patent agent to identify ‘additional elements’ that may be used transform the claims into patent eligible subject matter without necessarily sacrificing commercially relevant claim scope. In practice, it may also be advisable to file one or more continuation patent applications in order to obtain claims that incorporate different ‘additional elements’ in order to obtain the broadest possible protection.

Compared to the United States, Canada has not yet seen the same developments with respect to restricting the patentability of laws of nature, physical phenomena or abstract ideas.

For example, diagnostic methods are generally patentable as long as they do not include administration or surgical steps and meet all the other requirements for patentability. However, the law is in a state of flux and it is possible that Canada may eventually adapt restrictions similar to those that are evolving in the United States.

References:

1. Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. 566 U.S. (2012) 2. Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International 573 U.S. (2014) Laurence MacPhie is an associate and patent agent at Bereskin & Parr LLP. Laurence’s practice focuses on patents for biotechnology, chemical, and pharmaceutical innovations.

Ian McMillan is a partner, patent agent and trademark agent at Bereskin & Parr LLP. Ian’s practice focuses on helping clients secure and license patent rights for a wide variety of electrical and computer technologies.

Teresa MacLean is an articling student at Bereskin & Parr LLP. Her practice focuses on life sciences, including biotechnology and biochemistry-related patents.

SGC

By Shawn Lawrence

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The Structural Genomics Consortium: Where big pharma buys into the science of sharing

In the cut-throat world of drug discovery, pharmaceutical companies are often at odds over who gets the biggest slice of the proverbial pie. But there are some who believe that competition is not always best, that there are better ways to win the drug development race.

Rather than trying to get their own pieces of the action, Dr. Aled Edwards believes that if companies spent more time setting aside their differences and working together, there would be a larger pie to share. It’s with this belief in mind that he founded the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), a not-for-profit public-private partnership 12 years ago. The SGC supports the discovery of new medicines through unraveling the complexities of human biology by determining the 3D structures of human proteins of therapeutic relevance to diseases, and then using these structures to design small drug-like inhibitors of the proteins. What differentiates the SGC is that they share this knowledge, as well as the inhibitors publicly without patenting them. In fact, this knowledge and these research tools are already facilitating hundreds of drug discovery projects around the world.

This was always the idea behind the SGC according to Edwards.

“By sharing information about the protein and the chemistry, the SGC is equipping drug developers with a better understanding of the diseases they are trying to treat,” he says.

According to Edwards the work takes place at SGC laboratories housed within universities all around the world. The SGC has a particular focus on proteins involved in the transfer of methyl, acetyl and phosphate groups.

“We provide new therapeutic hypotheses, and industry’s reaction is “I never knew we could make a drug by inhibiting that protein, thank you for that informa-

tion SGC.” That’s our job, is to open up complete new areas of drug discovery by doing what we do.”

The results so far speak for themselves.

Since its inception, the SGC through its collaborative network of 250 academic laboratories has determined the shapes of 15 per cent of all of the known proteins from the human genome. As it has promised to do, it has made this information available before publication and without restriction on use. It has also produced over 30 drug-like molecules to new disease targets, and the resulting knowledge has spurred more than a

(From left to right) Dr. Ronan O’Hagan, Dr. Aled Edwards, The Honourable Reza Moridi, Mr. Chirfi Guindo and Ms. Jennifer Chan. (CNW Group/Merck)

Biotechnology Focus / June/July 2015

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SGC

ONTARIO “We’ve consistently met our objectives, and these objectives translate into papers in prestigious journals and through the knowledge we’ve generated, you begin to sort of understand how these molecules work.” — Dr. Aled Edwards

dozen clinical trials in cancer.

“We’ve consistently met our objectives, and these objectives translate into papers in prestigious journals and through the knowledge we’ve generated, you begin to sort of understand how these molecules work,” Edwards explains.

He adds that there are approximately 40 companies spanning both pharma and biotech that are currently pursuing targets at the clinical trial stage that the SGC helped validate.

“When you have three-dimensional structure in complex with a drug-like molecule, it’s not challenging for a pharmaceutical or biotech company to make a novel molecule and get a patent position, from this information. This can take as little as a few months. However, no one would be working in that new area of science if we had we not put these molecules into the public domain.”

To date, the SGC`s efforts have attracted more than $150 million in industry funding.

“They’re saying here’s a pile of cash, don’t patent anything just share it with everyone. Go do great science in areas that nobody works in. They really want us to go do new stuff,” says Edwards.

At first glance the investment into the SGC by industry may seem like a traditional outsourcing exercise, but Edwards argues this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“What companies want is simply great science that will lead to better disease

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hypotheses and in turn will lead to better medicines. And the speed with which we do our science is a lot faster and a lot cheaper than many companies could do because we can avoid many of the complexities of patents and competition. Of course what companies choose to do after with the information we make available is up to them - we’re in this to do great science.”

And this great science has attracted some of the biggest names in the pharmaceutical space including Abbvie, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Eli Lilly Canada and Takeda. The latest to commit to the consortium, Merck, did so by making a $7.5 million contribution to support a multitude of projects including one that involves the development of small inhibitory molecules called chemical probes to study epigenetic mechanisms of regulation. According to Merck Canada Inc. president and managing director Chirfi Guindo, there are a multitude of reasons to get behind the SGC. “We’ve done a robust assessment of our priorities in research, always beginning with where the need is greatest, and we’ve prioritized oncology, vaccines, acute care, diabetes and also newer degenerative diseases, and the science at the SGC is very promising in all these therapeutic areas,” says Guindo.

He also sees the merits of the SGC’s non-competitive business strategy and open access sharing.

“Frankly, our business model is constantly changing as we’ve come to realize that there is a great amount of useful knowledge in the public domain. Whether it’s tackling the most challenging of diseases, or improving our own research productivity, partnering with the SGC just makes sense.”

There was also the fact that SGC mem-

bers enjoy the option to nominate targets and place scientists at SGC labs that Guindo found appealing.

“From our standpoint we see the SGC in Toronto as a center of excellence because it brings academia, government and industry together in a unique collaboration and working with these scientists only strengthens our own research efforts. Moreover, they’re part of globally competitive and highly credible research and science consortium in the biomedical field.”

Like Guindo, Edwards also sees the value of having scientists from both academia and industry working together.

“In this partnership with Merck and really with all of the companies we partner with, we get the chance to work with some of the top drug discovery scientists on planet earth and there’s a huge educational component to that.”

He adds that you never really know what`s going to happen next when you get scientists from across the research continuum together in the same room.

Sometimes even, the doors swing wide open to future joint endeavors. Edwards adds that the other exciting aspect about the partnerships with Merck is that they have really bought into the concept of working in novel areas of science.

“They are explicitly supporting a project that takes the long road in terms of the areas it chooses to work, and that we’re very excited about. For example, Merck is highly supportive, like the rest of our industry partners, about forming these open source partnerships with hospitals. We’re talking a new partnership structure that includes not only companies, but also hospitals that have joined in on this no patenting idea. In this case the consortium partners will develop these really excellent molecules and the hospitals will collaborate with them to

SgC

ONTARIO test these molecules in cells from patients. As a part of this partnership with Merck for instance, we’re going to collaborate with the Montreal Neurological Institute, the Hospital for Sick Children, the University Health Network, CAMH, St. Michaels, and CHEO in Ottawa, and create this network of like-minded clinician scientists and institutions that believe that by doing this early stage research in the open, we will bring more ideas to drug discoverers, and more medicines to patients.”

Edwards believes that if successful, this partnership will also put more of a spotlight on Ontario, and even Canada for that matter, as an ideal place to do

“Frankly, our business model is constantly changing as we’ve come to realize that there is a great amount of useful knowledge in the public domain.” — Chirfi guindo

business and partner. This in turn might lead to further pre-competitive collaboration projects for the SGC and the Ontario biomedical ecosystem.

Asked if he ever believed the SGC would be this successful, Edwards responds assuredly yes.

“That’s not a statement about us per se, but it’s a statement that there was a clear need for this type of consortium.

Whether it`s accelerating the time to drug discovery, working with industry to help make molecules that are effective, discovering new hypotheses and giving those away and letting the world play with them. The patients win, scientists win, industry wins,” says Edwards.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ the-sgc-where-big-pharma-buysinto-the-science-of-sharing

Biotechnology Focus / June/July 2015

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Merck Canada

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Q&A:

Getting to know Chirfi Guindo, Merck Canada’s new hired gun

Chirfi Guindo has only been the president and managing director for Merck Canada Inc. for nine months and already he has big plans for Merck’s Canadian outfit.

Biotechnology Focus goes oneon-one with Mr. Guindo to discuss what’s in store for the Pharma giant’s Canadian subsidiary.

Q: How familiar were you with Canada before taking on the role of president and general manager of Merck Canada Inc. and how have you enjoyed your transition to the role?

I had visited Canada as a tourist before taking the job, but to be honest I can’t say that I knew much about Canada. It is my first real business engagement with the country, but I’m enjoying it. It’s a great country that is much more diverse than I expected. When you’re sitting in Europe, where I spent most of my adult years or New Jersey, you see Canada as a single country. What I’ve discovered is Canada based on the geography and the fact that the provinces are very distinct and have a lot of autonomy, particularly in our field of healthcare; it is very similar to Europe in a regional sense. What has been surprising is the magnitude of great innovation and science taking place across the country.

Q: Takes us through your responsibilities as president and managing director of Merck Canada Inc.?

My job here as head of the Canadian organization of Merck is really about being an ambassador for Canada, vis-à-vis our head office in New Jersey. This is a big part of my job. In other words, as many multinationals, you’re dealing with a competition model. Canada competes with Germany, France, Italy, and markets in Asia and elsewhere. My job as the head of the Canadian Merck subsidiary is to defend the business case for continued development in Canada. Equally important

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obviously is to help create an environment in Canada which will help Merck further grow our business interests, all the way from research to the commercialization of products. The third component is my role as leader of the team at Merck Canada.

This is very much like cheerleading, the guy who makes sure we’re all working towards one common goal and that we inspire our teams to achieve more, and we remember that we’re all doing it for Canadian patients.

Q: Merck has long history in Canada, but its business model and commitment here has also changed over the years. How would you say Merck in Canada stacks up with other subsidiaries within the greater company?

Even though our headquarters in Canada are based in Québec, our activities really are nationwide. In fact, roughly half of our research money spent in terms of our ongoing clinical research that we do in Canada, is spent in Ontario. We have approximately 975 employees nationwide.

Moreover we are highly invested across Canada in various sponsorships and partnerships in both a business and science sense. I might also add that Canada within the global network of Merck subsidiaries is one of highest recipients of research money in our company and also one of the most productive. In terms of research money spent, it ranks right up there with what is spent in Germany. I think the most important reason why is the fact that Canada does deliver in terms of return on investment. It has a great concentration of knowledge workers, scientists and researchers in our field and a tradition of excellence. You find that in Québec, Ontario, on the west coast in British Columbia and all over the country really.

Q: What is your vision for Merck Canada Inc.?

A: I’m still relatively new to Canada, and I realize that people tend to associate Merck in Canada as being a Québec-focused company. I can’t stress enough that our focus and interests in fact stretch across

the country. As an example, we are always looking for new innovative science and technology opportunities, and that take us all over Canada. In fact, we have scouts on the ground like Steven Xanthoudakis who spends as much time in Ontario and British Columbia as he does in Québec and New Jersey. We’re also looking for new ways to work together with industry and government, taking a collaborative approach in finding sustainable ways to expand access to innovation in healthcare.

This is what I’ve tried to do in my time with Merck, forging stronger partnerships between the government and industry as I have done in the past as managing director for South Africa and the Netherlands and I believe we can accomplish this here.

Q: What lessons have you learned elsewhere in your other roles around the world that you want to bring to this position?

I have learned that if we as an industry are not able to look at long-range challenges that payors are facing, if we’re not able to really sit down and work collaboratively on encouraging or promoting access in a way that also assures sustainability objectives like budgets that these payors have, then we’re not going to be successful. What I have learned in other markets is exactly that: put yourself in the shoes of the payors, the regulators, and try to understand their issues, and then come up with, proposals and potential solutions, co-create those solutions in fact. That, to me is the only way forward.

Q: What are some challenges that you’re facing as a pharma company operating globally and are they different than the ones you now face here in Canada?

Globally, the number one challenge is to continue to discover new molecules and technologies that are truly differentiated.

Our business model needs that in order to be sustainable. The second one is to get those new discoveries to patients as quickly as possible. This is where you get into some of the challenges with regards

MerCk Canada to access to new drugs, with getting priority reviews where needed by the regulators and getting reimbursement agencies to work more rapidly. In areas like cancer for instance, some patients have very limited options as there are important unmet medical needs. Likewise, the challenge for us is to work with regulators and provincial governments to get these new discoveries assessed more rapidly and made available in a sustainable fashion.

We understand the challenges of budgets that governments are dealing with in all countries, not just in Canada, and so I think our challenge as an industry is to think outside of the box and to sit at the table with these decision-makers and find ways to get these discoveries to patients.

Those are the two that come to mind as being the greatest challenges globally.

Regarding Canada, as I’ve mentioned, its diversity is very good in a sense but this diversity comes with its own set of challenges. For example, the fact that provinces have a lot of autonomy can also slow down processes. As such, in regards to access or the adoption of new therapies or technologies, there are significant differences across provinces and it makes the Canadian market very fragmented.

If you’re looking at the country from the outside in, and this is very much how our CEO’s at the global level look at countries, comparing Canada to Germany, France or other big markets, typically you find that if you’re launching new technologies in Canada, your adoption rates tend to be much lower than what you would see in those comparable countries. That’s a unique challenge to doing business in Canada and I think to successfully overcome this challenge, we must work collaboratively with regulators, as well as the provincial and federal governments in Canada.

Q: Conversely, what are the opportunities of doing business in Canada?

If you look at the global ranking in terms of scientific excellence, Canada is right up there. The opportunity really would be for greater collaboration across provinces in order to put Canada in an even stronger position globally as a hub of research.

Other opportunities really have to do with innovation in other areas. For example, having lived for many years in the Netherlands, France, in the U.S., I have been very impressed at how receptive decision makers here are in comparison, from the poli-

ONTARIO ticians down, to sitting around the table and trying to collaboratively address issues in Canada. So that’s an opportunity.

What I would like to see more of are approaches where we as an industry would experiment different models of pricing, different models of access to new technologies and new drugs. I have a sense that Canada could be an ideal place that links the U.S. and Europe. If you wanted to start something in the U.S., you would do it in Canada first. If you wanted to do something in Europe, Canada would be a great proxy for that as well. I’ve talked to my team about ways of thinking outside of the box and piloting ideas around sustainable pricing, around sustainable access models, and so in addition to the great science here, I see the potential for innovation in several other areas.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ qa-getting-to-know-chirfi-guindomerck-canadas-new-hired-gun

Protecting Canadians from Superbugs The World Health Organization calls antibiotic resistance the worst health threat of our time. Canada Research Chair Gerry Wright (centre) and a team of McMaster University researchers are leading the global race to find solutions that will bring better health, technologies and innovation to the world.

Learn more about this important battle at dailynews.mcmaster.ca/superbugs

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June/July 2015

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Mississauga: Where Life Sciences Wins the Human Race

Accelerating Innovation

Exceptional talent, innovative companies and the convergence of the supports for the life sciences industry are propelling this leading economic cluster forward. For Mississauga, Ontario, Canada this is a multi-dimensional, key sector employing thousands of knowledge workers. The work of our life sciences companies benefit the world with new scientific discoveries, new processes, new drugs and inventions helping people live longer, better lives.

Tried Trained and Talented

Mississauga values a strong global business future, fostering a prosperous and sustainable economy that attracts and grows talent. Our City provides firms with access to a skilled talent force with 66 per cent of resident workers having postsecondary education, higher than the national average. The City is surrounded by 21 of Ontario’s finest, post-secondary institutions, most notably, the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) campus that offers one of the few Master of Biotechnology and Master of Management of Innovation programs in Canada.

The University of Toronto Mississauga’s four-storey Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Complex houses the Mississauga Academy of Medicine, one of the most advanced sites for training family medicine and community-based primary care physicians in Canada. The academic complex includes laboratory space for life sciences research and expanded facilities for the Biomedical Communications Program.

The Mississauga Academy of Medicine links Mississauga’s community health-care network with excellence in teaching and research. The Academy partners with Mississauga’s Trillium Health Partners and has access to more than 12 hospitals that are within a 30-minute drive of Mississauga that engage

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in research and development activities that offer students clinical experiences in a wide range of health-care settings.

Continued Growth and investment

Future growth of Mississauga’s Life Sciences Sector is gaining strength and global exposure as leading international companies such as Baxter Corporation and Baylis Medical continue to re-invest and expand operations in Mississauga.

Baylis Medical, a manufacturer and distributor of medical devices, recently announced a $15.2 million investment towards the development and commercialization of new, first in Canada medical devices used by physicians during heart procedures.

This investment is expected to create 30 research and development jobs and 60 manufacturing jobs at the Baylis Medical facility located in Mississauga.

Baxter Corporation is also in the midst of a $10 million expansion in Mississauga with a new facility for its Centralized Intravenous Admixing Pharmacy Service (CIVA). The new investment will triple the size of the current facility and will double its number of clean rooms available to support customized requirements for hazardous and non-hazardous IV admixing. The company expects to open and transition operations into the new facility this Fall and expand its workforce by 25 positions in the next few years.

Today Mississauga is one of Canada’s leading life sciences clusters with over 350 companies employing over 25,000 knowledge workers. Companies like AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Eisai, Bayer and Amgen are just a few of the world renowned companies that call Mississauga home. This sector is strong, vibrant and a leading business component of the City that attracts highly-skilled scientific, technical and management personnel from all over the world.

To learn more about Mississauga’s life sciences sector, visit www.winthehumanrace.ca.

Life Science Sector

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Q&A with Minister Reza Moridi: “Ontario’s Life Science Sector is open for business” There is little doubt that the provincial government in Ontario is doing its part to help reshape the life science sector in the province, not just through its commitment to supporting scientific research at the grass roots level, but also with its emphasis on creating value for the private sector. This includes establishing policies that encourage a more business friendly environment, spearheading new venture capital funds that widen the pool of capital, and playing the role of a catalyst in collaborations between businesses and academia.

In conversation with Biotechnology Focus, Reza Moridi, who currently serves as the Minister of Research and Innovation, discusses some of these finer points, as well as his future vision for the sector in the province. Other talking points include Ontario’s current standing in the global bioeconomy, the message the province is bringing with it to BIO 2015 in Philadelphia, PA, and most importantly, why Ontario is the go-to-place for innovative multi-national partners, investors and customers in the life science space.

Q: It’s been a little over two years on the job for you now, in that time I’m sure you’ve learned a lot about the biotech and life science industry here in Ontario.

In your role as Minister, how would you say your own personal goals and opinions have changed from when you first took the role?

Photo: Catherine Capek

The past two years I think I’ve learned quite a bit. Based on my scientific background, I came into this job with some familiarity of what was needed to support innovation here in Ontario. That understanding has only grown over time, especially when it comes to what we need to do to support innovative industries like the life sciences.

From all I`ve seen, I can say I am very proud of the incredible research capacity and innovative talent we already have in our province. Ontario is a hub for health technology, thanks to the combination of

strengths in life sciences, engineering, design and entrepreneurialism.

As a Ministry, our mandate is to support this whole spectrum of research and innovation by not just supporting science at the grass roots level, but also in finding new ways to turn that great science into commercialized products and bringing the results of our innovation to the marketplace.

For example, in late April, we announced that Ontario is partnering with private investors and business leaders to create Scale Up Ventures, a new venture capital fund designed to support Ontario’s most promising start-ups through a unique combination of investment and mentorship.

Last November, we announced that our government is investing more than $3.1 million to establish the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine, an institute focused on bringing ground-breaking discoveries to market. We will be making another an-

Biotechnology Focus

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Life Science Sector

ONTARIO nouncement in the coming weeks with our long term plan to support the work of OIRM. Summarily, from 2010 to 2014, the Ontario government has invested in 44 Life Sciences companies supporting the creation of almost 1,040 new jobs and the retention of nearly 1,400 existing positions. Overall, Ontario has invested more than $3.8 billion in research and innovation to attract talent and investment and create good jobs since 2003.

Q: On the topic of investing in Ontario companies, the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC), which manages Ontario’s interests in the province’s venture capital initiatives recently struck a major deal. The story goes that the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund made an initial investment into Affinium Pharmaceuticals in 2011, alongside other investors, and now the corporation is receiving $19 million -- more than three times its initial investment from the sale of Affinium to a Swiss-based pharma company. I

imagine this is considered a significant win for your Ministry?

We have a long record of supporting Ontario companies and Ontario funds and this new partnership is a great example of the success of Ontario’s venture capital initiatives. We saw a return on our investment, jobs created, and are incredibly proud to have attracted an international player such as Debiopharm International to the innovation ecosystem in our province.

We want to encourage more of our entrepreneurs to dream big and be bold. To make this a reality, we are making sure that venture capital is available to take companies to the next level.

That’s why Ontario companies will continue to benefit from investments made by OCGC through its various funds.

Between 2008 and 2014, Ontariobased companies in the OVCF portfolio on aggregate basis recorded $1.1 billion in revenue, dedicated $257 million to research and development and employed 2,864 people..

The core concept behind the Ontario Venture Capital Fund and the Northleaf Venture Catalyst fund was that they be market-driven and based on achieving superior long-term returns for investors. Each fund has a fund manager with proven experience and a strong reputation. The manager has full discretionary authority over investment decisions.

Q: Another big news story from the past year was the creation of the Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund with the Federal government partnering with the Government of Ontario on this new fund. Is this validation that you’re on the right track with these types of venture funds?

It’s absolutely a testament to the success of the fund. In fact, the Federal Government has modelled its Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP) on the OVCF model. Since it was announced, VCAP has produced four “funds of funds,” including the NVCF here in Ontario and the Teralys Capital Innovation Fund in Québec. Ontario developed and implemented the original OVCF

Join Top Stem Cell Thinkers in Toronto this Fall Ontario will be the epicentre of stem cell research this fall as the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine and the Stem Cell Network join forces to host the 2015 Till & McCulloch Meetings.

This year’s conference takes place October 26-28 at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto.

As the only conference of its kind in Canada, the Till & McCulloch Meetings provide an unparalleled opportunity to hear the latest research and network with the world’s best and brightest stem cell scientists, clinicians, bioengineers and ethicists, and to meet representatives from industry, government, health and NGO sectors from around the world. Register today at www.tillandmcculloch.

Harnessing Ontario’s research, innovation and clinical expertise to realize the future of regenreative medicine.

Your imagination. OIRM’s expertise. Our future. www.oirm.ca

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ONTARIO model, led the engagement of its partners and attracted $115 million in third party limited partner capital. Ontario will continue to work to strengthen the venture capital industry and have a positive impact on supporting early stage and high-growth companies and creating new jobs.

Q: you’ve said in that past that you want Ontario to be the go-to place for innovative multinational partners, investors and customers. Under your watch, in what ways has MrI tried to facilitate this?

Ontario supports a climate that fosters scientific excellence, attracts world renowned researchers and ignites fruitful collaborations between government, academia and industry.

As a province, we have created a very business friendly environment. We have cut red tape for business by 17 per cent since 2008, our corporate income tax rate is lower than the tax rate in any U.S. State, we have a strong R&D infrastructure and we have one of the best educated workforces in the G7.

The Ministry of Research and Innovation has also continued to support the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE), which provides a one-stop shop for our entrepreneurs seeking resources to achieve success. In 2013-14, ONE assisted entrepreneurs and firms in launching close to 5,000 new start-ups and helped create/retain over 35,000 jobs.

Our government is committed to promoting collaboration among our innovation partners to address global challenges, create jobs and help Ontario’s businesses become more innovative, productive and competitive.

Q: you use the word collaboration, but what does that entail? What is the ideal collaboration in this industry, and what is government’s role in this collaboration?

We need to work together – leveraging our expertise and talents to build on our success and turn more ideas into worldleading companies exporting innovative “made in Ontario” solutions to the global market.

Collaboration in the premarket and/ or precompetitive stage of research and development allows for the acceleration of learning. R&D in the life sciences can take a long time and it is important for companies, institutions and researchers to partner in the early stages to spread out the risk, share approaches and continuously develop tools that can be used to address many different and complex challenges.

We are also making strategic investments to mobilize and prepare our researchers, entrepreneurs and companies to support the entire innovation continuum – accelerating the translation of scientific discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace. A great example of this is the support the Ontario government has provided to the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) since its inception.

The SGC provides a means for Ontario to compete for pharmaceutical research funding through increased industry involvement. The SGC’s open-access model has been widely praised for enabling rapid and efficient research, production of

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www.obio.ca Biotechnology Focus

June/July 2015

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F LIFE SCIEnCE SECTOr

ONTARIO with the people and resources to develop and bring their technologies to the health system.

The Chief Health Innovation Strategist will in turn hire several Innovation Brokers to help innovators move their technologies into hospitals, clinics and even in patients’ homes.

In addition, the government will continue to shift to strategic, value-based procurement approaches, which encourage adoption of innovation across the continuum of health care delivery, from hospitals to home care.

world-class science, reduced duplication of human and financial resources, and for fostering diverse collaborations and strong research networks. The consortium’s work in pre-clinical drug discovery directly aligns with Ontario’s commitment to funding pharmaceutical research and manufacturing. In February 2015, pharmaceutical giant, Merck re-joined this distinguished partnership. Collaboration and partnership will make Ontario strong and prosperous, and life science companies like Merck are helping us get there.

Q: What is government already doing right in terms of growing and supporting the life science industry and can it do more?

The path to succeeding in the bioeconomy is based on how well we can harness our strengths. Ontario supports the full cycle of research, innovation and entrepreneurship — from scientific discoveries to translating those discoveries into commercial use. That’s why we have made strategic investments in research, entrepreneurship and venture capital. By investing in research, we are creating the workforce of tomorrow and supporting world-class research and talent at Ontario’s leading-edge research institutions.

Our investments in entrepreneurship are helping to accelerate the start, growth and success of Ontario companies.

And finally, our venture capital investments are catalyzing a strong returnsbased venture capital industry, supporting high-growth and retention of Ontario’s innovative firms.

In the last decade, more than 20,000 researchers have been trained in the province and 150 new companies have been founded. Overall Ontario’s Life Science Sector represents 61,000 high-value jobs in approximately 1,900 firms. The sector generates more than $38 billion in revenue and exports $8.3 billion in goods.

Regarding doing more, we want to continue to grow this important sector of our economy. That’s why earlier this month, we announced that Ontario is adopting all six recommendations from the Ontario Health Innovation Council (OHIC) to support more Ontario-made health technologies, improve patient care and spur economic growth.

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Photo: Catherine Capek

“Overall Ontario’s Life Science Sector represents 61,000 high-value jobs in approximately 1,900 firms. ” — reza Moridi Q: On the topic of implementing OHIC’s recommendations, what are the next steps?

On May 7th, 2015 we formally announced that we would be implementing all of the Ontario Health Innovation Council (OHIC) recommendations - including a $20 million Health Technology Innovation Evaluation Fund - to leverage these strengths for the benefit of our health care system and our economy. Expanding our health technology sector will support job creation, increase the sustainability of the health system, and lead to tangible benefits for all Ontarians.

Thousands of new medical devices are being developed around the world and brought to market every year, with some estimates projecting the global market for these devices will reach US$440 billion by 2018. This represents a tremendous opportunity for our province and we want to be sure that we support our ecosystem so that Ontario has a large piece of that market.

We have begun the recruitment process for the position of Chief Health Innovation Strategist, which will help identify health system priorities. The strategist will also connect health technology innovators

L RE

Q: In your time as Minister, you have taken a particular interest in the Ontario Brain Institute, with your Ministry providing $100 million in funding over five years to OBI. What is it that excites you about OBI and why is this type of research so important to Ontario?

In Ontario, the economic impact of brain and mental health disorders is estimated to be over $39 billion annually. There is an opportunity here to be at the forefront of finding solutions, provide better treatments and improve the quality of life of affected Ontarians, while bringing the economic benefits of getting Ontario made products to market faster. I have always said that if we don’t do it first, our competitors will, so we are working hard to ensure we support the important work that OBI is doing.

As a result, over five years, OBI will be directly spending $88.9 million on brain research and related programs. The OBI’s Integrated Discovery programs fund research across several brain disorders: neurodevelopmental disorders, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, depression, and neurodegenerative disorders. We will ensure that Ontario discoveries are transformed into new diagnostics, treatments and improved clinical practice and economic development opportunities.

It`s an institute that is accelerating important discoveries that are having a real impact on people’s lives, while reinforcing Ontario’s position as a global leader in brain research.

Moreover, the OBI works with a widerange of industry partners — everyone from large, multi-national pharmaceuticals to small, Ontario-based start-ups.

While its research programs directly

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ONTARIO “Look at our successes at last year’s BIO: Ontario’s presence included a large-scale pavilion with eight exhibitors that represented research and commercialization institutes and industry associations with a province-wide mandate for life sciences. ” — Reza Moridi involve more than 40 companies, often its role isn’t about partnering with companies directly but instead helping develop and support new companies as well as finding ways to link them to ongoing research.

The OBI’s Industry Advisory Council provides guidance on commercialization opportunities, gives shape to the organization’s commercialization strategy, and facilitates outreach to industry players who could be involved as new partners.

The OBI’s involvement of Patient Advisory Committees also plays an important role in the commercialization of the science, ensuring that the products being developed are firmly aligned with patient needs.

Bottom line is the OBI has made significant progress in harnessing the province’s leading edge brain research expertise to translate discoveries into products in the marketplace and services in Ontario hospitals.

Q: You have also mentioned during the course of this interview your Ministry`s financial commitment to the newly formed Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Can you tell us about the significant commercialization and economic potential that new technologies spurred from this institute can contribute to Ontario’s economy?

From the early research of James Till and Ernest McCulloch, to recent work by Drs. John Dick, Mick Bhatia, Andras Nagy and Janet Rossant, Ontario has been a leader in cutting-edge discoveries in the field of stem cell and regenerative medicine.

We want to build on this strong legacy of excellence, increase the number of jobs in regenerative medicine and create an international cell therapy manufacturing hub right here in Ontario.

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Every day, our researchers and their teams conduct important work that advances the treatment of degenerative diseases. They are finding new and better ways to fix a damaged heart by using heart muscle derived from stem cells, they are helping people who are going blind by using stem cell research to fight macular degeneration and they are also developing novel stem cell strategies for immunotherapy.

The Institute offers a strategic opportunity to accelerate the translation of discoveries into new treatments and therapies for a wide variety of diseases and conditions, including cancer, diabetes, blindness, and heart and lung diseases.

Through the OIRM, a network of over 100 stem-cell and regenerative medicine scientists across Ontario will be working to transform their discoveries into tangible products and technologies, offering innovative health care solutions.

Regenerative Medicine represents a significant commercialization opportunity.

The current global market for regenerative medicine is estimated at $3.6 billion US and is projected to reach $11 billion by 2020.

Q: We hear that you will be attending the upcoming BIO 2015 conference in Philadelpha, PA. Why do you think attending these kinds of events is essential for the advancement of research and innovation in Ontario?

Events like BIO help Ontario promote its brand internationally and build awareness of what our great province has to offer.

They are equally important in helping Ontario’s businesses and research institutions reach new customers, forge new partnerships and create new markets.

Ontario’s objectives at BIO 2015 include

investment attraction and lead generation, trade promotion and business partnering, R&D collaborations and marketing.

Q: What is the return on investment (ROI) for the Ministry in attending Bio, and what do you think the ROI is for businesses that attend?

Look at our successes at last year’s BIO: Ontario’s presence included a large-scale pavilion with eight exhibitors that represented research and commercialization institutes and industry associations with a province-wide mandate for life sciences.

Over 125 inquiries were made at the pavilion including business development, trade and investment leads; five of six exhibitors reported that over 70 new investment/ commercialization leads were generated and approximately five deals reported.

Of the 11 Ontario SMEs that participated in the BIO Business Partnering program, five companies reported potential business development of $10 million over the next several years and over 94 qualified leads were generated for SMEs at BIO 2014.

Q: Having missed the opportunity to attend last year’s event because of the Ontario Provincial election, what are you most looking forward to at this year’s event?

As you said, last year I missed it so this year is extra special. The message I’m bringing to the people at BIO is that Ontario is open for business. We have created a very favourable business environment as well as other business friendly elements in order for companies to come to Ontario and I want to invite delegates to get to know us.

Already, Ontario is the top jurisdiction in the America’s in terms accepting foreign direct investments and we have a very talented and educated workforce with 65 per cent of the population educated at the post-secondary level. Essentially, I want to share our story with the world, and at the same time see what the world has to offer.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ qa-with-minister-reza-moridiontarios-life-science-sector-isopen-for-business

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Regenerative Medicine

By Lisa Willemse

ONTARIO

A Perfect Storm in

Regenerative Medicine Clinical trials involving stem cells are increasingly common in hospitals and institutions across Ontario, focusing on severe debilitating conditions such as spinal cord injury, heart disease and autoimmune disorders. As a result, Ontario is poised to emerge as the world leader in regenerative medicine.

In the blink of an eye, or as quickly as car accidents happen, a woman is transformed from an active individual – one who drives her kids to school and sports events, works part time and manages a busy household – to one in a wheelchair, with no use of her legs and only minimal use of her hands. Life for her and her entire family is irrevocably changed.

Dr. Michael Fehlings has a vision where this change can be reversed, where such victims of spinal cord injury can regain a portion, or perhaps all of their lost function. This vision involves stem cells, which are a cornerstone of his work as a clinician-researcher at the University Health Network and play a central role in a clinical trial he is undertaking to test the safety of neural stem cells to regenerate thoracic and cervical spinal cord injuries. The first phase of the trial, sponsored by StemCells Inc., which enrolled 12 patients in Toronto, Calgary and Zurich, recently concluded and the results are now being written for publication.

The second phase of the trial is anticipated to start later this year in Toronto and other, yet to be identified, centres,

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“It’s a significant reflection on Ontario’s vision for the future that the province recognizes the potential of regenerative medicine and is investing in the creation of a biotech environment that supports clinical translation and commercialization of research.” — Dr. Michael Fehlings and will seek to enrol participants with a cervical spinal cord injury. Dr. Fehlings and his team are excited about this second phase because of the potential impact: injuries to the cervical spine account for approximately 70 per cent of all spinal cord injuries in Canada. Such injuries often result in quadriplegia, with significant reduction in quality of life for those afflicted.

“I think this could have a big impact because even small amounts of regeneration can influence one or two segments of the spinal cord and if we can achieve this, participants will regain the use of their hands, which can have a huge impact on recovery,” said Dr. Fehlings. “To put this in

context with the first study, an equivalent improvement on the thoracic spinal cord might not be detectable at all by the patient or the physician. So the impact here for the cervical spinal cord is enormous.”

That this trial can take place in Ontario and possibly improve the outcomes of Ontario patients is important to Dr. Fehlings and his team. “It’s a significant reflection on Ontario’s vision for the future that the province recognizes the potential of regenerative medicine and is investing in the creation of a biotech environment that supports clinical translation and commercialization of research,” he said.

The trial is one of several with connec-

Regenerative Medicine

ONTARIO

“If you’re working in regenerative medicine, either as a researcher, clinician or entrepreneur, Ontario is an ideal place to be right now.” — Dr. Janet Rossant

tions to the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine (OIRM), which was formed in 2014 to coordinate Ontario’s research, clinical, and commercial efforts in the development of stem cell-based products and therapies. OIRM has focused its energies in advancing stem cell and regenerative medicine therapies for a range of debilitating diseases for which current treatments fall short. These include autoimmune disorders and diabetes, as well as diseases or injuries that affect musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, vision, neurological and blood systems.

OIRM, and its partner, the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), are leading a convergence of advanced research, an expanding clinical infrastructure and commercial opportunities in Ontario that has summoned a new era for regenerative medicine – one that is increasingly focused on bringing new therapies to the clinic.

Consider that, as recently as 10 years ago, the announcement of a stem cell clinical trial for a condition other than cancer would have been front page news across the globe. While many such announcements are still newsworthy, the steady increase in new stem cell trials has made them a much more common occurrence – in Ontario alone this year, there are at least eight such studies underway or scheduled to begin. Taken together, these studies involve 11 institutions and two Ontario-based companies in London, Ottawa and Toronto, and will enrol approximately 650 patients.

This surge is hardly surprising in light of the commitment and motivation one finds in the province. Ontario ranks exceptionally high internationally in stem cell and regenerative medicine research.

Infrastructure, in terms of facilities and a supportive regulatory environment also plays an important role.

“If you’re working in regenerative medicine, either as a researcher, clinician or entrepreneur, Ontario is an ideal place to be right now,” said Dr. Janet Rossant.

“We’ve got a perfect storm of support and vision that promises to be transformative not just for health care, but for the economy as well.”

As the interim director for OIRM and a recent Canada Gairdner Wightman award winner, Dr. Rossant knows about building a supportive environment. She built her own lab from a small space in an old refrigerator factory and moved it to one of the most recognized institutes in the world, SickKids, to conduct research in early development. In the process, she fostered the careers of several promising young researchers, while helping to cement ties between labs across the country, and form partnerships between labs and organizations around the world.

“We have a lot of advantages in Ontario and in Canada that make us very competitive internationally,” said Dr. Rossant.

“One of our greatest strengths is our willingness to collaborate and co-operate.

This spirit of collaboration enabled us to first identify blood stem cells more than 50 years ago, and has led to many other significant research discoveries. But it has also made us leaders in our ability to form strong networks of people across disciplines, such as OIRM, CCRM, and also CellCAN, which is based in Montréal, but connects cell processing facilities across the country. These collaborative networks of research, commercialization and clinical infrastructure allow us to leverage smaller investments into much greater benefits.”

While much of the attention is placed on clinical outcomes, there is equal energy being placed in cell manufacturing, commercialization of intellectual property, and business development, all of which is as

important as basic and applied research in realizing the vision of regenerative medicine.

One of the primary drivers of this agenda is CCRM, a commercialization hub whose mission is to support the kinds of innovative technologies, such as biomaterials development and improved cell expansion protocols that are integral to the translational arc. Notably, as part of its mission, CCRM has created an industry consortium of startups, SMEs and large corporations, currently with 45 members representing Ontario, Canadian and international organizations. Members of the consortium will be able to utilize the technological platforms being developed

by CCRM in order to develop new opportunities and address bottlenecks within existing systems, thereby enabling faster, more efficient and better quality cellbased products for therapeutic purposes.

In April, the Ontario government renewed its support of regenerative medicine with a pledge of $25 million to OIRM for another five years. This commitment will bring a wealth of new knowledge that in turn can be applied to the next rounds of studies and a greater number of clinical trials for Ontario. The implications are significant: not only does this have the potential to help many people suffering with ailments such as heart disease, vision loss, Multiple Sclerosis, and spinal cord injury, it promises two-fold economic benefits, first by reducing the direct and indirect costs of health care and by opening more opportunities for business development.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ a-perfect-storm-in-regenerativemedicine

Biotechnology Focus / June/July 2015

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McMaster University By: Danelle D’Alvise

ONTARIO

Optical solutions McMaster chemical engineer Heather Sheardown, at a media conference announcing her Canada Research Chair in Ophthalmic Biomaterials and Drug Delivery Systems, demonstrates how her research will improve the treatment of many ocular conditions.

‘Stick a needle in your eye’ – the age-old, cringe worthy turn of phrase that immediately conjures up pain and discomfort might well become obsolete, thanks to leading edge technologies and therapies Heather Sheardown and her research team are developing in her lab.

Sheardown, a professor of chemical engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, was recently appointed Canada Research Chair in Ophthalmic Biomaterials and Drug Delivery Systems. Her research has established the University as a globally recognized centre for research into the development of new drug delivery systems and new biomaterials for treating ocular conditions.

Whether it’s developing better biomaterials for contact or intraocular (implanted in the eye) lenses, or determining the best method to deliver therapeutic drugs to the back of the eyes of patients suffering from diabetic retinopathy or macular degeneration, Sheardown has been at the forefront of the research that could be translated into novel treatments for a host of ophthalmic diseases.

“Finding new ways to deliver drugs to the eye, particularly the back of they eye, is the greatest single challenge in ophthalmology,” says Sheardown. “People suffering from macular degeneration, glaucoma and other conditions need us to find ways to deliver precise amounts of drugs targeted to the desired tissue and we’re well on our way to doing just that.”

Diseases of the eye are a significant burden to society, says Sheardown, citing estimates of almost one million Canadians who are visually impaired with more than three million suffering from diseases such macular degeneration and glaucoma - numbers that are expected to double over the next 25 years, according to Sheardown. “The incidence will only rise as our society ages,” she says, noting that women are more vulnerable as estrogen levels trigger many of these diseases.

Much of Sheardown’s work is carried out at the McMaster Biointerfaces Institute –the first institute of its kind in Canada, and among the first in the world to use high-throughput synthe-

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sis and screening technologies coupled with advanced surface characterization methods to provide a new understanding of the nature of the biological and material interface. She’s using the institute’s high-tech capabilities to experiment with materials designed to improve eye health, and she’s making incredible progress.

It’s there that she and her team are looking at remedies for infectious diseases in the eye and the most effective and least invasive delivery of antibiotics in the eye. McMaster is internationally known for its infectious disease research.

In terms of infectious diseases, the eye is incredibly susceptible considering it’s a relatively immune-privileged organ. A common complication of monthly injections is endophthalmitis – an infection inside the eyeball or the globe, near the back of the eye. It is among the most serious complications and can lead to blindness or even total loss of the eye.

“Endophthalmitis is very difficult to treat because the eye is a closed globe,” she explains. “It can be caused by trauma (monthly injections) or in cataract surgery, for example, when the lens is removed and a new lens put in, there’s a risk of secondary infection.”

To combat these ‘difficult-to-treat’ infections, Sheardown’s developing biomaterials to specifically target the infection either as a single antibiotic injection or to deliver it across the ocular tissue – as opposed to putting it into the eye.

Similarly, she’s looking to improve antibiotic delivery for front of the eye infections, like those in the cornea, which can require drops every 15 minutes. “Understanding the infection – whether it’s bacterial, fungal or viral – is critical to determining the best course of antibiotics,” she says, adding that having access to the Biointerfaces Institute’s diagnostics work is the ‘perfect marriage’ of disciplines.

Developing the technology is one thing, commercializing is yet another, but Sheardown is well on her way there.

Sheardown’s developed a treatment for dry eye diseases. While these diseases are considered merely ‘inconvenient,’ millions are afflicted with little treatment choice on the market.

Her treatment is based on this being an inflammatory disease and she’s looking at the cause of that inflammation.

“It’s a mucoadhesive system which sticks to the cornea – a polymer that’s in the eye naturally so it sticks and stops that inflammation from occurring,” she explains.

And even better, Sheardown’s optimistic it could be on drug store shelves in the very near future. “It’s a material, not a drug, so the regulatory hurdles are very small.”

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/optical-solutions

Special report

By: Gail Garland

ONTARIO

Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO®)

receives investment from the government of Canada to boost investment opportunities and strengthen innovation for Ontario’s commercial bioscience cluster On May 22, 2015, Member of Parliament for Don Valley West John Carmichael, along with Member of Parliament for EtobicokeLakeshore Bernard Trottier announced an investment of up to $3.894 million to support the Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization’s (OBIO®) efforts to boost investment opportunities for Ontario companies and strengthen innovation for Ontario’s commercial bioscience cluster. The announcement was held in OBIO’s bright ‘new’ offices in the Banting and Best Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Toronto, ON and was attended by a capacity crowd of invited guests who came to show their support for OBIO and over six years of work to help bioscience companies develop their businesses and attract investment.

OBIO’s vision is to ensure a thriving industry in Ontario that creates jobs, attracts expertise and ideas, elevates health outcomes and builds a more prosperous economy. OBIO’s focused activities fall into three categories: building companies; building industry and building an environment in Ontario where companies can start, stay and grow. Federal Government funding together with existing provincial funding supports OBIO’s Capital Access Advisory Program, CAAP™. The CAAP program is devoted to building companies by addressing the number one issue facing industry; access to capital, in particular the type of capital needed for growth and success. Now in its third year, OBIO CAAP is helping to ensure the sustainability and advancement of 25 Ontario health science companies while preparing the next cadre of high potential companies to successfully raise the funds necessary for late stage development and commercialization of our innovative technologies.

Four OBIO CAAP companies demonstrating the horizons of healthcare showcased their technologies at the May 22 event.

Colibri Technologies Colibri Technologies is a medical device company focused on providing image guidance technologies for minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures. Colibri’s first product to market is the Colibri Foresight, a 3D Intracardiac Echocardiography (ICE) system consisting of the Colibri Hummingbird Console and a single-use Colibri Foresight catheter. It has a unique capability of acquiring full field 2D and 3D images of the heart assisting medical professionals with the over 200,000 atrial fibrillation ablation procedures performed every year. Colibri recently signed an agreement with Japan Lifeline Co., Ltd to serve as the exclusive distributor of Colibri’s intracardiac echocardiography imaging system in Japan. (colibritech.com) GestSure

GestSure is a medical device company that has developed a touchless interface that allows surgeons to control operating room computers while scrubbed, by making simple hand gestures. This is particularly useful for intraoperative access of diagnostic imaging and a

major improvement over scrubbing out to check, or waiting for a circulating nurse to navigate the imaging. The system is trivial to integrate, has been used in surgery for three years and is installed in several US, Canadian, and Qatari hospitals. (gestsure.com) Komodo OpenLab

Komodo OpenLab in an Ontario-based health IT and hardware company that provides their Tecla product to enable simple and easy access to smartphones and tablets for people with mobility impairments. Presently, millions of users with moderate to severe upper extremity impairments are prevented from using hand held devices (HHDs) which require fine motor dexterity for “touch control” as the primary interface mode. While some basic devices exist which allow users to use “non­touch” based tools to access these devices, they have serious ease of use and/or input device compatibility limitations. Tecla is a set of hardware and software tools that facilitate access to mobile devices for people with mobility impairments. (komodoopenlab.com) QoC Health

QoC Health in health IT company that deploys mobile applications for healthcare providers including agencies, hospitals, private healthcare providers, in-home care organizations seeking to engage with their patients in new ways. Governments and health systems have been focused on getting patients out of hospital faster and keeping them out. However, doing so without support systems has proven costly as this leads to readmissions, unnecessary appointments, and complications.

QoC Health provides mobile technology to support this shift of care, which reduces costs while improving patient outcomes. (qochealth.com) OBIO’s achievements and ongoing activities would not be possible without the many people who support the organization and give generously of their time, expertise and networks.

Membership has grown over the years to surpass 250 companies. Both corporate and government sponsors contribute to funding OBIO’s activities on behalf of industry. We invite you to join the change underway in Ontario’s bioeconomy.

About OBIO®

The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO®) is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization engaged in the development of an integrated health innovation economy for Ontario that will become a leader in providing health technology to the international marketplace. For more information, visit the OBIO website www.obio.ca and follow OBIO on Twitter @OntBioscience.

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BIOTECanada

ONTARIO

Q&A Andrew Casey, BIOTECanada Biotechnology Focus goes one-on-one with BIOTECanada CEO and president Andrew Casey to discuss the organization’s recent CEO Investor Conference in Whistler, its plans for the upcoming BIO International Conference in Philadelphia, PA and to get his take on the state of the industry in Canada.

Q: Your organization recently hosted its 10th annual investor summit in Whistler, BC, what was the turnout like, and who attended?

We had a lot of people coming up from the U.S. which was very encouraging, both in the form of VC’s and also strong representation from pharma investment and R&D arms. In total, I think we had close to 70 attendees. We really wanted to maintain that intimacy because we find that’s what really works. As a small company attending you know you’re going to get time to spend with Johnson and Johnson, Versant Ventures or CTI Lifesciences.

To keep it small, we did have to turn a few people away which is a very good sign and indicative of what’s happening in the industry. There’s a real sort of feeling we’re in an upswing and the energy feels very positive right now. It’s a little like what you’re seeing with the Bloom Burton Healthcare Investor Conference where it’s growing by leaps and bounds. Brian Bloom wants to turn that event into a JP Morgan of the North where everybody comes to that event and builds in side events and while not on the same scale, I think we’re seeing the same thing with the Whistler event. The quality of the presentations was outstanding by the companies. We put together an advisory group this year to help vet the companies to make sure the companies that came were in the right state, ready for that investor audience. Some companies weren’t even there looking for money, they were looking for licensing or partnership opportunities, like the business development people from big pharma.

Q: In terms of the biotech companies that attended, was there good representation from across the country?

Yes, we try to balance it out, so we had a couple from Québec and Ontario. Obviously due to the location, BC had a strong presence.

From a presentation company standpoint it was balanced across the country, we even had a company from PEI.

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Canada Place Opening: Andrew Casey with Hazel McCallion (left).

Q: What were some of the takeaways from your roundtables of VC’s and industry leaders at this event?

There were a lot of good things that came out of it starting with who was there. When you looked around there was probably over a billion dollars in investment money in the room which was really exciting. Many of the big name venture firms were there including Versant Ventures, CTI Life Sciences and Teralys Capital, in addition to SR1. A lot of investment money and a lot of expertise. We changed the format up a bit as well. Under the old format, Friday was the reception and Saturday we would have five companies presenting to investors and then you go off and ski.

We would have a reception again on Saturday night, and start the whole thing over on Sunday. This time around people were coming in as early as Thursday night, so we started the conference early on Friday with some mentorship sessions. One featured a successful company answering questions on best practices.

We followed that up with a panel featuring one of the lead legal firms that puts together the deals, one of the VC’s and also one of the pharma guys. I said to all the companies that were coming

BIOTECanada

ONTARIO “More companies need to come here. More investors need to come here. I think it’s on the upswing. So that’s our message to the world.” — Andrew Casey you got them for two hours, ask them all the questions you want to ask them. That was a great session. It wrapped up just after lunch and then we had the round table session which featured a great discussion. Everybody’s feeling really good about the state of play right now. There’s money flowing and the companies are growing. You look at the Xenon’s, Zymeworks’ and Aquanox’s of the world, and there is obviously some success stories out there and that’s generating a buzz What was very interesting around the table and you heard a bit of it here at the Bloom Burton event is that often we’re just too Canadian. We’re not thinking or talking global enough and we’re not being big and bold. You know if you talk to an American company and ask, “What do you want to be?” An American company says “I want to be the only therapy in ALS. That’s my objective.” It’s like go big or go home mentality.

A lot of the people are saying as Canadians, stop being so timid and be less Canadian. In many respects, get out there, be bold and be brash. Go against what is your natural cultural instinct.

Really change the image of the industry a little bit. That got to be a very interesting discussion and became sort of the theme of the conference in an organic way.

Q: What are BIOTECanada’s goals for this year’s BIO Conference? What’s the message that you’re taking with you to BIO? The conference has changed over the past couple years but it’s still probably the preeminent trade show in the industry, in the world. There’s none bigger. Some are more targeted in focus whether it’s the science or the business aspect of the industry, but this is the Superbowl for anyone involved in the sector. It’s a really important conference to be at, to be seen.

In terms of our goals, we want to spread the message to the world that Canada is the place to be, that we’re a biotech hub and that we are open for business. I think we stack up very well against the competition. If you take everything from British Columbia to PEI and put it all together, we are as big and powerful as the biggest biotech jurisdictions. Just in classic Canadian style, we have it all spread around. But we have all the right pieces, like great science, great researchers, fantastic universities and government programs in place to help your businesses grow.

We’re a great country to do business in. More companies need to come here. More investors need to come here. I think it’s on

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June/July 2015 35

BIOTECanada

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ONTARIO

the upswing. So that’s our message to the world.

Our message to Canadians and Canadian companies that will be there is that we are here to support you. That’s probably the biggest job for us at a conference of this magnitude where you’re talking about 15,000 people all together in one place, that’s a lot of ground to cover. We’re here to help Canadian companies meet as many people as possible. It’s really one of the key things that we do. Our brand has to be out there and to showcase our companies is ultimately the most important thing.

I’d also like to add that every year we also honour some of our best companies and individuals who have made significant achievements through our Gold Leaf Awards program. We will be honouring our winners at the conference.

Q: It’s a question we get asked all the time and I’d be really interested in your take on this question: what is the return on investment for companies that attend?

It’s a really difficult question to answer because of the answer depends on the metrics involved. The temptation at the conclusion of the event is to ask companies in a traditional sense how their sales improved, but you can’t measure our industry in that way.

As much as we wish it were this way, it’s not how our industry works. Rather, it’s about establishing or strengthening relationships. You literally have to accept the fact that a company who comes back and says, “We had 15 more meetings and those led to five new relationships,” had a successful trip. Even with our Whistler event, I can’t point to a single company that because of the event in Whistler, they got this ‘x’ amount of dollars. But they’ll all say it was a relationship that started there that led to something else, or an existing relationship that was nurtured because they attended the conference, or a potential partnership was sparked from their meetings. I think you could make the case that if you didn’t go you’d feel the impact. You have to be there, you have to be part of it, you have to be seen and you have to have presence. That’s all part of saying you’re on the world stage and accept the fact that this is a global competitive playing field and you have to be part of it.

Q: There have been some rumblings from some of the Ontario

folks of bringing the Bio Conference back to Toronto. Has

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BIOTECanada put any thought to this and can it work in Ontario, or even Canada?

We have thought about the possibility because it was very successful when Toronto hosted it in 2002. By all accounts, with more than 14,000 delegates, it was one of the best attended ones in its history to that point. If it came back here would it be great? Yes, it would be outstanding. I think we’d make the thing sing and it would be just off the charts amazing. If it was Toronto again, there is lots of scientific excellence and infrastructure here to tap into, and it would be a great showcase of the great science in the Discovery District, Pill Hill in Mississauga, but also the rest of Canada. I think because Toronto is easier to get to for all the U.S. travelers, along with Toronto’s reputation as an international hub, I think it would be a fantastic way to put the thing on steroids. Could it take place elsewhere in Canada? I think it could. Obviously Québec would be another ideal location, as it is home to many Canadian subsidiaries for big pharma. The fact that the BIO organization already has a footprint in Montreal having hosted its World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology there shows they’re very familiar with Québec and the opportunities of hosting the event there. So, there are many reasons to try and bring it here. The challenge, if I understand the business model correctly, is that you have to get the space to host the event for free. That’s how the Bio organization makes it work. It’s a multimillion dollar venture for them. It’s how they make their money.

So they cut back on their costs and charge everybody for the space and all the rest of it and they make their cash. Could you get a place like the Metro Toronto Convention Trade Centre for free? I don’t know. I do know they’re getting really significant deals from Philadelphia, from San Diego, and all the other locations they’ve held the event. So if the logistics can be worked out, it would be fantastic to have it here. I think it’s a natural fit, it would not only benefit the City of Toronto, it would benefit the province, but most importantly it would benefit the entire industry in Canada.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/qa-with-biotecanadasceo-and-president-andrew-casey

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THE LAST WORD

By Dr. Raphael Hofstein and Elizabeth Monier-Williams

It’s time to declare an end to Canada’s

two research solitudes

Dr. Raphael Hofstein President & CEO, MaRS Innovation

Elizabeth Monier-Williams Director, Marketing & Communications, MaRS Innovation

38

The time of Canada’s French and English solitudes may be past, as Governor General Michaëlle Jean notably stated when she took office in 2005, but the solitudes of thought concerning how Canada supports basic and commercial research persist.

This thinking is most easily spotted after the government announces a federal budget, triggering a flurry of opinion pieces debating the breakdown for the $2.7 billion Canada spends on research.

Most recently, Jim Balsillie, co-founder of Research in Motion (now BlackBerry Ltd.), wrote for the Globe & Mail about the Canadian need to understand that “geopolitics is at the heart of commercializing ideas,” and create better policies to protect Canadian ideas, including “better incentives for researchers to spur commercialization,” such as during an academic’s consideration for tenure.

Yet, like any business endeavor whose success depends on people, there’s more involved in changing Canada’s approach to commercialization than just policy.

The people must want to change, too.

(Dr. Hofstein has previously argued in this space that the keys to successful commercialization are the three M’s: merchandize, management and money.)

Canada, as Balsillie rightly argues, has the research merchandize in spades. Within our network recently, Janssen created the Neuroscience Catalyst project to select high-potential, early-stage projects to treat Alzheimer’s disease and mood disorders. Janssen’s Boston-based Innovation Centre also established a strategic partnership to co-develop projects with MaRS Innovation; we’ve selected three and the program is expanding. Merck has renewed its financial support of the Structural Genomics Centre, and GE Healthcare has partnered with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and MaRS Innovation to advance the WaveCheck technology as a product.

On the money side, Accel-Rx’s creation in partnership with BDC has opened a funding source for seed-stage life sciences projects. The Networks of Centres of Excellence’s Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program continues to support new initiatives in life sciences, such as the Centre for the Commercialization of Antibodies and Biologics and the MedDev Commercialization Centre. Baycrest received $100 million from various sources to advance its aging and neurology research, Trillium raised over $50 million after listing on the NASDAQ, Profound Medical Inc. is set to raise $28 million through the TSX, a clear signal of the openness within Canada’s life sciences sector about using the open market.

Closer to home, Encycle Therapeutics, a joint start-up between MaRS Innovation and the University of Toronto, is set to announce a funding round at BIO 2015 involving IRICOR, MaRS Innovation and three industry partners to advance drug discovery platform and lead asset.

That brings us to the challenge start-ups face in attracting talented, experienced management. In recent years,

Biotechnology Focus

June/July 2015

MaRS Innovation has witnessed the first successful wave of leaders coming to Canada. Notable examples include Tim Still becoming CEO of Xagenic, Jerry Rodisin becoming CEO of Flybits, Walter Blattler joining Avid Biologics (now Formation Therapeutics) as executive chairman, and Richard Ailon joining Bedside Clinical Systems.

Why the change? Simply put, it’s not altruism. Experienced people seek exciting opportunities where the economy is already attractive, both financially and in other ways. It doesn’t hurt that international venture capital groups are now coming with smart money to do a $3 to $5 million round, which is well beyond the stage of government accelerators.

But there’s more. As Xagenic’s co-founder and an experienced entrepreneur via Boston, Dr. Shana Kelley represents the gold standard of Canadian research entrepreneurs: researchers who develop their science with commercialization outcomes in mind, can explain their work sufficiently to sell it to investors and remain bullish supporters, yet who also understand when to turn the management over to someone like Still.

As MaRS Innovation grows, we see this mentality spreading among the researchers we work with, but the Shana Kelleys within Canadian entrepreneurship remain too few. As Basillie rightly notes, there’s so much more that could be done to help Canadian startups scale globally.

At a minimum, founding scientists have to be willing to allocate time to creating and chairing a scientific advisory board; the CSO role is perfect for those whose passion goes beyond that baseline. Patents, companies created, and revenue generated should count toward tenure conversations, which will in turn drive a greater understanding that public discourse of any sort (publication, presentation etc.) may compromise a discovery’s strength as a global idea. We must note the Bay-Dahl national intellectual property policy is another key factor in North America’s industrial tech revolution, which transformed the United States’ mountains of IP into the Googles and Genentechs of the world.

For Canada to make good on its substantial R&D investment and prowess, we need to turn our well-funded academic research into meaningful outcomes. And that means accepting that the solitudes of basic and commercial research cannot be indifferent or adversarial, but rather integrated wholes.

The genius breakthroughs no one anticipates must be advanced on a global stage to create the revenue needed to fund more genius work: the two research solitudes must work hand-in-hand and be solitudes no longer if Canada is to thrive on the global stage.

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