in puRsuit of paRtneRships

“There’s no question a successful deal requires a certain level of trust. It seems to me that the people who we spoke with are really are looking to push seems to me that the people who we spoke with are really are looking to push the frontiers of their areas forward.” — Dr. Mark Poznansky the frontiers of their areas forward.”

opportunities to speak with their Japanese counterparts. The RIKEN Institute, like A*STAR in Singapore, took great interest in the work of Dr. Kennedy and OGI.

“On this front, the tangible results are that we made contact with a number of people who are interested in what we’re doing,” says Poznansky adding he can already see what the next steps are. “Firstly, they’re pooling populations of patients with schizophrenia and depression, and seeing how they’re being treated in Tokyo and comparing that to how they’re being treated in the Toronto area. They are also comparing the genetic tests that are being done, to see how the drugs are metabolized and how individual patients are going to react or not react. They are very interested in the company AssureRx Canada, its parent company Assurex Health and also CAMH. We have a very strong sense from the RIKEN Institute right on down from leadership that they want to do business,” says Poznansky.

For Hofstein, the trip to Japan included a visit to the BioJapan Conference where he met with local pharma companies.

“It’s an event that’s a lot like the BIO Convention in North America and has similar features, sizeable exhibits, lectures and of course, most importantly, biopartnering. I tried to take full advantage of the partnering opportunities; even before going, we suggested to the Canadian embassy to arrange meetings for us with key leaders in Japanese pharma.”

The embassy successfully arranged meetings with several companies, including Astellas Pharma, Shionogi and Mitsubishi Pharma, among others.

“Those meetings were quite successful,” says Hofstein. “I discovered that Japanese big pharma, like their North American counterparts, are looking to biotech more and more to fulfi ll their R&D activities. They are late-comers in that respect, so the timing of our visit couldn’t be better.”

Hofstein adds that if he were to map the interests of Japanese pharma across the subsectors of medicine, everything they are looking for is available in Canada. “The research they need to replenish their pipeline is all happening in Canada, whether it’s oncology research, autoimmune disease research, neurodegenerative disease research, personalized medicine, etc. It’s just a matter of how we are able to package, present and tailor it to their specifi c requirements.”

In terms of how MI can work with these pharma companies, Hofstein already has plans to start sending them technologies for them to review as a prelude for business discussions.

Another key area that Hofstein stressed during his meetings with Japan was the idea that Ontario and Canada could be an ideal destination for clinical development.“We have organizations such as Clinical Trials Ontario, Centre for the Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), MI and others, and if we combine that into one big stronghold, we have the capabilities of cost effective clinical development.”

Overall, while both Poznansky and Hofstein were impressed with what they saw through this trade mission, they feel it’s only a fi rst step. Success in convincing Japanese and Singapore interests to work with Ontario’s life science community hinges on building relationships and trust.

“There’s no question a successful deal requires a certain level of trust. It seems to me that the people who we spoke with are really are looking to push the frontiers of their areas forward. We need to reach their top science and business people, tell them about our challenges are in terms of getting to the market, learn about their challenges, and develop the kind of relationship where you can discuss common problems. After that, it’s possible to think about common solutions and then about where the money will come from,” says Poznansky.

“It’s important that we not try to impose what we believe to be the right way to go,” says Hofstein. “On the contrary, we need to take the listener’s stance. The key to success is fl exibility. You need to be innovative and adapt your product or service to their reality, because they understand what it takes to develop a product in Asia and bring it to their market.”

Still, both men believe Ontario is poised to tap into these two markets thanks to this trade mission and now have a better understanding of the lay of the land.

“I think we established the right relationships with the right people. Following up is the key to ensure that we continue to build upon our progress,” says Hofstein. “Whether it’s speaking with them over the phone and Skype regularly or taking a more aggressive approach, but we have to have a regular presence. Everyone talks about addressing the needs of emerging markets, but the only ones that are truly successful at it are the ones that appreciate the need to follow up.”

“I feel if nothing comes of this, it will be a mistake,” adds Poznansky. “That doesn’t mean that every senior offi cial in the life sciences should run to Japan and Singapore without thinking things through, but certainly if a company knows of some serious activity going on in Singapore and Japan in their area of business or research, I think they would be remiss if they don’t explore opportunities to get involved over there.”

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/?p=10354

The International Trade Branch recently led a science and technology mission to Asia to identify joint funding opportunities and to establish strategic partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies and top research institutes in Japan and Singapore. The program was organized in cooperation with the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. Ontario delegates visited Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Japan’s RIKEN Institute where they had an opportunity to participate in market briefi ngs, presentations at technical seminars, one-on-one partnering meetings and pre-arranged site visits. In addition, delegates had the chance to attend one of Asia’s largest biotechnology conferences - the BioJapan World Business Forum in Yokohama.

As a follow up to this trade mission, we sat down with fi ve of the delegates who attended to get their fi rst-hand accounts of the trade mission, what worked and what didn’t. We geared our questions to gain insight into their experiences and to see what advice they would give to others interested in pursuing international research collaborations and commercialization opportunities with academic and industry partners in this growing market.

Dawn Richards, Director, Strategic Opportunities Office of Personalized Genomics and Innovative Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital

Q: What benefits and opportunities most interested you from your meetings with asian delegates?

What I enjoyed most was the sharing of information on projects of mutual interest (e.g. personalized medicine developments related to rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases) and discovering that there was potential to work together on these projects. I particularly enjoyed my meetings at A*STAR, learning about opportunities they provide their students, including the opportunities to study abroad and the support they provide their students who choose to do so. We wanted to share information on our prototype model of personalized medicine in autoimmune disease, for example using genomic information that will inform treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, primary biliary cirrhosis, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We also wanted to get the word out about our Clinical Genomics Centre, how we’ve integrated this core genomics facility into our prototype model of personalized medicine, and to discuss ways that we could potentially work together in disease areas, such as combining or sharing genomic datasets for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

Q: in terms of results, what were the most successful aspects of your meetings from this trade mission?

It’s still early days, but there is some follow up and ongoing discussions that have ensued. I think we’ve uncovered some potential ways to work together.

Q: Did you fi nd any barriers to your discussions with the asian delegates?

work; discussions of mutual benefi t ensue easily. So no, I didn’t fi nd any barriers that stood in our way.

Q: post meeting, what possibilities exist in terms of growing future collaborations? What areas of strength does asia present that are mutually rewarding to your own? essentially, what is the next step to ensure continuous dialogue in the hope of fruitful future outcomes?

From our perspective, there certainly is an interest in personalized medicine and in fi nding better ways to treat chronic autoimmune diseases - these are global issues, not just unique to Canada. In terms of the next steps, timely follow up when you get home is important to show that there is an interest, and to ensure discussions will continue.

Q: What advice would you give to your Canadian peers who want to do business in asia?

It’s important to be sensitive to cultural differences in doing business with our Asian counterparts, and when working together. Moreover, in certain cultures there is a lot of information exchanged before collaborations can occur, and trust takes time to be established. In North America, time is often of the essence, but in other cultures, it sometimes takes many meetings and a demonstration of commitment before work together can take place. So patience is important. There are huge time differences in working with partners in Asia but these can defi nitely be overcome, especially with today’s technology. At the same time, meeting face-to-face is very important to establish connections, strong relationships, and sometimes we just need to remember that email can’t do everything. And I can’t stress enough the importance of doing your homework before you go. If you’re meeting in person in Asia, you’ve traveled a long way and made a fi nancial commitment - make the trip worth your while, and worth your potential partners’ while. Lastly, timely follow up is important – but that’s just a general rule of doing business.

Nicole Baryla, Director, Alliance and Project Management, Commercialization, OICR

Q: What benefi ts and opportunities most interested you from your meetings with asian delegates?

From the meetings held during the mission, it was clear that there is a lot of overlap between OICR’s research efforts in personalized medicine and the initiatives underway in Asia.

The Asian researchers were keen to learn about the research in Ontario and showed a strong desire to look for synergies and opportunities to partner in the future. Specifi cally, some of the bioinformatics initiatives at OICR were complementary to research projects underway at A*STAR and hurdles the A*STAR researchers were facing could potentially be removed through solutions being developed at OICR. Institutes such as A*STAR and RIKEN are clearly also fostering world-class scientifi c talent which could be benefi cial for joint efforts in the development of the next generation of scientists. Q: What were you hoping to achieve by being part of the ontario trade delegation?

Given that Asia is a key growth market in personalized medicine, the desired future outcome from this mission is to establish international research collaborations and develop commercial opportunities as part of Asia’s multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical marketplace. As the delegation representative from OICR, I hoped to identify collaborators for specifi c OICR projects and OICR spin-out companies and understand available joint funding opportunities.

Q: What were the most successful aspects of these meetings?

The mission is set up for success when the delegates have identifi ed the researchers, research institutes, companies, and specifi c research/ discussion topics upfront so that the most appropriate meetings can be scheduled and the right audience is in attendance. For example, in Singapore, an A*STAR researcher was paired with an Ontario delegate based on similar research interests/areas for collaboration. This helped to focus the discussions towards more tangible projects for collaboration.

Q: Did you fi nd any barriers during your collaboration discussions with the asian delegates?

OICR is already involved in international initiatives such as the ICGC project and the new global alliance on responsible sharing of genomic and clinical data. Through these initiatives, OICR has developed relationships with many Asian research institutions and has been successful in these global initiatives. Being situated halfway around the world, location can be both a challenge and a strategic advantage. Time differences are always diffi cult when you have to collaborate across time zones. However, it is highly advantageous to gain access to the intercultural knowledge, skills and networks that can allow research to reach new levels.

Q: post meeting, what possibilities exist in terms of growing future collaborations that are mutually rewarding and what is the next step from your perspective to ensure continuous dialogue in hopes of positive future outcomes?

For OICR, there are two specifi c opportunities that will be explored further. One relationship has already been initiated between the OICR bioinformatics team and a team within the A*STAR Genomics Institute of Singapore. A future collaboration could see bioinformatics tools developed at OICR being used in a Singapore project that is introducing and embedding genomic information into the diagnosis and treatment of medical diseases. A second relationship has been initiated between an OICR spin-out company and researchers at the National University of Singapore for therapeutic development in liver cancer. In both cases, each party brings complementary strengths to the table which could lead to joint collaborations in the future.

Q: What advice would you give to your Canadian peers that want to do business with asia?

The Asian researchers and business professionals in the life science sector are keen to explore international collaboration opportunities. They have the ability to establish key infrastructure and capabilities rapidly. For example, Singapore has demonstrated its commitment to developing the life science sector by building capabilities to facilitate

innovation through the Biopolis research space which was designed to co-locate and promote collaborations among private-sector labs and research institutes. My advice to other Canadian researchers who wish to explore collaboration opportunities with Asia is to ensure targeted meetings are arranged and prompt follow up is completed. It is important to foster the relationship and show benefi ts to collaboration for both parties. Patience and engagement throughout the pre-collaboration discussions are crucial. I see building more direct conversations between our researchers and theirs as the most immediate next step. In the near long term I would like to get people together – either by hosting their researchers for a visit to Waterloo, our researchers going there, or by encouraging student exchange. At Waterloo we have world class researchers in biosensors, biodiagnostics, and bioinformatics and these are very key areas in moving forward. I think they have very advanced facilities and equipment in Asia, but my sense is that the environment in Canada and particularly Waterloo is more innovative and entrepreneurial. Especially at Waterloo where we have a very good path to get research out of the lab and into industry. I think that is critical today.

Catherine Burns, Director, Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology & Director, Advanced Interface Design Lab, and professor, Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo

Q: What benefi ts and opportunities most interested you from your meetings with asian delegates?

At the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology we have over 120 researchers and nearly 100 student members. Our researchers are interested in collaborating with others in the world doing similar work. In many cases, there are very advanced facilities in Asia which could advance our research programs here. There are opportunities for our researchers to spend time with colleagues there, and the reverse, to host them here. There are opportunities for student exchanges as well which would be very educational for students in Canada and in Asia. Essentially we are talking about knowledge exchange, so that everyone learns more and moves further along.

Q: What were you hoping to achieve by being part of the ontario delegation?

My role in the delegation was to bring awareness of the fantastic research in biotechnology that is happening at Waterloo. I also watch and look for potential strong matches of interests, so we can work towards building stronger relationships for future work.

Q: in line with your goals, what are the most successful aspects of these meetings?

It’s still early to say, but we are following up on several strong connections and building stronger relationships.

Q: Did any barriers appear to your collaboration discussions with the asian delegates?

Not in particular, but these are preliminary discussions. You need to do a lot of work before going to understand your team at home well and a lot of work on the people you are meeting so that you can have fruitful discussions.

Q: post meeting, what possibilities exist in terms of growing future collaborations and what is the next step from your perspective to ensure continuous dialogue in hopes of a fruitful future outcome? Q: What advice would you give to your Canadian peers that may want to take part in a future trade mission or do business with the asian life sciences sector?

It takes time to fi nd the right relationships and build partnerships and because Canada is a very small country, it isn’t easy to fi nd what you’re looking for in our own backyard. The need to think, look and build globally as such is becoming more and more critical for us and these trade missions are an avenue that we should exploit to our full advantage.

Ahmed El-Sohemy, Founder of Nutrigenomix Inc. and Chair of the company’s International Science

Advisory Board, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Nutrigenomics, Department of

Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto

Q: What were you hoping to achieve by taking part in this trade mission?

This was for many of us that went, a science mission fi rst as opposed to a trade mission. However, I went there with my company hat on and not just as a University of Toronto researcher. My company, Nutrigenomix, is a University of Toronto biotechnology start-up. We help dietitians and their clients by providing comprehensive, reliable, genomic information with the ultimate goal of improving health through personalized nutrition. We do this through our genetic testing service for personalized nutrition. Our service was launched in Canada in June 2012 and there are now over 500 authorized providers of our service. I believe the Ministry of Research and Innovation was hoping to see a mix of not only academics doing research, but also those who are working to translate research into some kind of commercial opportunity. For me personally and for Nutrigenomix, this trip as such was more of an opportunity for business collaborations and partnerships as opposed to seeking pure research collaborations. It’s just really about making ourselves visible and making the most of this opportunity to have coordinated meetings. I think visibility was a big thing, we don’t know necessarily what our Asian counterparts are engaged in, so there’s an educational component too that goes beyond showcasing our own work.

I think the opportunity was primarily to make them aware of what we are doing, to share what we’ve developed and to see whether there was any interest in partnering. We were open to research collaboration opportunities but also on potentially partnering with start-up companies and/or more established companies in Singapore and Japan in the areas of genetic testing for personalized nutrition. Post meetings, the expectations were similar. Where there seemed to be more opportunity was not so much with A*STAR or the RIKEN Institute, but with smaller groups and companies in Singapore as well as in Japan. I was also invited to give a talk at the University of Tokyo where I met with a group there who had a start-up company and were planning to establish a plan to commercialize a similar technology to our own. Not surprisingly, post meeting we’re currently discussing with them the possibility of partnering rather than competing against each other. We have a much more developed product yet they have greater knowledge of the market in Japan which would give us a leg up in terms of accessing that market.

Q: in terms of results, what were the most successful aspects of your meetings during this trade mission?

I really enjoyed the BioJapan meetings because they allowed us to meet with people from all over Asia, and not just Japan and Singapore. What was really encouraging about this leg of the mission is that it actually led to discussions with a major life science consortium in Thailand. BioJapan allowed us to make some good contacts and they’ve since followed up with us and are very interested in our product and introducing it to their market.

Q: it’s safe to say that you’ve made some inroads, what are the next steps?

Well the possibilities I think are these discussions that we’ve started having with the group through the University of Tokyo and their start-up company as well as this group in Thailand, those are the immediate ones. There was also another big clinic in Singapore we met with where a director of a private health clinic came to this lunch time talk that I gave at A*STAR. This was an individual who was not part of A*STAR that I likely wouldn’t have had the chance to meet had they not invited me to speak and this individual really liked what we have developed. This has since led to further meetings and they’ve also expressed interest in bringing our kit to the market in Singapore. On a broader scale, looking at Asia as a whole, there’s the obvious that it’s just a huge market and they seem to recognize what Canada has to offer. I think we have a good international reputation for really good science and the products that come out of those scientifi c discoveries.

Q: What advice would you give to your Canadian peers who want to do business in asia?

The value of a trade or science mission, or going there to do business really depends on who is there and what you have to offer. If you have something of interest to them then you stand a better shot. There are defi nitely lots of opportunities but they do things a little bit differently over there so be prepared for that. If you go, try to meet with a lot of different groups; don’t just stick to your schedule because sometimes the ones that really fl ourish are not necessarily the ones that you would have expected to. That’s how it was for me, meeting with A*STAR and the RIKEN Institute and not really pursuing anything with either of them but benefi ting greatly from our other side meetings.

Kenneth Pritzker MD, President and CEO, RNA Diagnostics Inc.

Q: Can you give us a brief synopsis of your company and the technology it has developed?

I’m a pathologist at Mount Sinai and have spent most of my career as an academic physician, but four years ago I joined a group that specializes in investment and management of startup companies in the Med tech sector called York Medtech Partners. RNA Diagnostics Inc. is our lead company. We’ve developed a molecular diagnostic technology that we believe radically improves cancer chemotherapy management. This is a technology that was discovered by Amadeo Parissenti at Laurentian University in Sudbury; it was actually discovered during a breast cancer clinical trial where they noticed that the RNA integrity was decreased in certain patients and that was associated broadly with response to chemotherapy. That was the beginning of the technology and over the past three and a half years we’ve developed that technology considerably and are moving to get it out into world markets. The product, the RNA Disruption Assay™ or RDA™ enables clinicians to identify patients who are not responding to chemotherapy early during treatment. The RDA technology works for most of the drugs that are currently out there and many others that will be down the line. It works on all the breast cancer subtypes so it’s useful over the entire spectrum of what’s called neoadjuvant therapy or response guided therapy. The goal with the technology is to identify patients that are not responding so that they can be switched quickly to alternate therapies.

Q: how close is the product to reaching the market?

We anticipate fi rst sales this coming year, in 2014, but we also expect those sales will be in Europe because the practice of breast cancer therapy is more oriented to using this test at the present time than here in North America. We have the test, what we’re doing at the present time is building the clinical system so we can provide it at scale, meet the demand and provide high quality.

Q: how did you get involved in the trade mission to asia?

We’ve been busy trying to cultivate relationships and awareness around the RDA technology in Japan both in the corporate world and the clinical trial world. On this front we’ve been particularly active over the past six months. When I got an invitation to participate in the mission, I felt it was a great opportunity to augment what we were already doing. I missed out on Singapore due to other commitments, but found a way to join the mission on the Japan leg. The reason for making that effort was two-fold. First as mentioned

we are cultivating relationships there and second the opportunity to broaden those relationships and to learn about other opportunities that might be occurring. We also had a particular interest in working with the Riken Institute.

Q: When you met with the riKen institute, what type of conversations did you have with them?

All these meetings had a similar fl avour, there’s a mutual discovery of interest, and we discuss ways of how to work on a common interest. The RIKEN Institute is one of the world’s most advanced institutes in the genomics world and they’re starting to move into personalized medicine, this is what we learned. We also learned from discussions with them that they have same sets of issues and challenges as similar institutes here in Canada, particularly in translating discovery into practical products or services and how to move them along into the market, essentially the commercialization of intellectual property. That was very interesting for me, and yet at the same time, they have also had some success at it and there’s an opportunity to learn from them. We look forward to learning more from these folks and if everything lines up fi nd ways to use what we learn in furthering our own technology in their market.

Q: Did cultivating partnerships in Japan go beyond approaching the riKen institute?

Yes, no company of our size can view the entire world by itself, it’s not really something we would attempt, so we used the mission to also explore channel partnering and collaborative opportunities that would assist us in getting our product to potential clients in Japan.

Q: What would you say were the most successful aspects of these meetings in Japan?

For me, the successful aspects of these meetings were threefold. One, we met new people with new ideas both related to RNA diagnostics and beyond. Second, we increased the awareness around RNA Diagnostics and the RDA technology in the Japanese life science community and third, we made specifi c headway with some organizations about RDA and some of the things particular about Japan that we have to know and work with in order to get RDA marketed in Japan. I would say it was a very successful set of meetings.

Q: Unlike many of your peers who participated in the mission, the concept of procurement and gaining market access to Japan carried a lot of weight in your meetings. What were the differences you found in Japan as opposed to Canada?

There are similarities and differences when it comes to procurement with the kind of product we are looking to market. Japan has a system that is not unlike Canada when it comes to cancer care, i.e. there are regional providers that are essentially public sector and there is also a private sector in Japan that includes cancer care. This is one avenue where various trials can be performed because there’s more fl exibility in that part of the system. Although there are differences, what’s becoming clear is the general pattern of acceptance of tests and reimbursement for these tests is similar across the world and this is because of course clinicians talk with each other and unsurprisingly the reimbursement agencies and regulatory agencies talk with each other. As such, we see not total uniformity but we see certainly a convergence in the questions groups ask of us and the hoops one has to go through to get a product of this type to market. And it all comes down to validation, i.e. the more people that validate the reputation of a product or the company, the better it is for us. The good news is that the acceptance of our product is gaining credence around the world and we do have support from many of the world’s leading clinicians for what we’re doing. The other key thing is that there is a need for a product like this. The concept that you modify a therapy successfully based on a response is now gaining momentum and this will position us quite well as we explore our marketing options in places like Japan.

Q: post meeting, what prospects exist for cultivating future collaborations?

Introductory meetings in Japan are really very fi rst pass and in order to develop these relationships further there needs to be a cultivation of information exchange and a learning of in much more detail of what they’re doing. That’s not much different than in any other part of the world, but it is much more formally organized in terms of how the Japanese like to work. I would say this is a fi rst step, and my understanding is other steps are planned in the future. There was an understanding between the RIKEN Institute and the public sector bodies MaRS Innovation and the Ontario Genomics Institute that will try to foster collaborations amongst the private sector companies who have innovative technology and I think those possibilities are very real, and I think discussions will continue on how to best move them forward. The next step for us is keeping in touch, corresponding with the folks we met with and working to develop tangible collaborations. Although one can’t go back and forth continuously, one can correspond very easily. The second intersection for those folks and ourselves is attend the same meetings, and try to fi nd ourselves talking to each other in different parts of the world. That’s happening already, as we have plans to attend the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and meet with our Japanese colleagues there.

Q: What advice would you give to your Canadian peers who want to do business in asia?

Asia isn’t one market; it’s vast and very large. In some parts of Asia, in Japan and Singapore, and more and more every day in China, it’s a very sophisticated market as well. There are relatively very few companies of our size even thinking about Asian markets. I would encourage Canadian companies to become interested. These are large markets, eager to collaborate, and Canada enjoys a good position and reputation in all these countries. They’re willing to talk with us, willing to work to try and do something together if it makes sense. Missions such as these also need to be part of a long range plan. They’re integral to advancing technology to markets, but they’re only the fi rst step. It’s feasible to continue discussions today through Skype, email, and other social media, so we need to learn how to do all these things well to further these relationships.

To see this story online visit www.biotechnologyfocus.ca/in-pursuit-of-partnerships/