3 minute read
Growing Alberta’s life sciences
As part of our special issue spotlighting biotechnology in Alberta, Biotechnology Focus recently sat down with Amanda Stadel, acting president BioAlberta, to discuss the state of the local industry and where it ranks as a priority sector for investment and industry growth in Alberta. Q A &
Biotechnology Focus: Can you tell us a bit about BioAlberta, how it has evolved and some of its current activities?
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It all adds up to a growing sector that has gone from 20 or so companies to more than 200 companies in just over a decade.
Amanda Stadel: In 1998, BioAlberta was created to act as the central voice and organizing hub for the biotech industry in Alberta. We have about 130 plus members and member companies within a broad range of sectors and subsectors. This includes the health technology, biopharmaceutical, medical device, agriculture, industrial biotechnology and environmental sectors. BioAlberta has three pillars of activity: one is advocacy, where we gather input from industry regarding challenges they face and present it to government. The goal here is to make sure our companies are represented in policy decision-making. The second pillar is industry development and this includes the funding programs that we offer. One example of the types of funding that we administer is the Medical Product Development Program (MPDP). The MPDP is jointly funded by Western Economic Diversifi cation Canada and the Government of Alberta through the Canada-Alberta Western Economic Partnership Agreement. The MPDP helps Alberta companies develop and commercialize new medical devices and applications, and is focused exclusively on the medical device and technology arena. That’s had some great successes, funding 20 projects between 2010 and 2012, and almost 80 per cent have resulted in new patents with several products poised to enter the market. Other activities that fall under industry development include partnerships that expose members to the fi nancial community. We’ve also been a provincial partner for a long time now with Sanofi for the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada, a high school competition that encourages student’s involvement in the industry and with the potential to create the next generation of researchers in Alberta. Then we have our marketing and promotion pillar which includes educational workshops, conferences, events and marketing pieces like our annual BioZine magazine where we highlight the different sub sectors of the industry and up-and-coming companies with innovative technologies. BF: What is the state of the industry in Alberta?
AS: As of our last Life Sciences in Alberta: State of the Industry Report launched in conjunction with Deloitte in 2011, the Medical technology and devices, health biotechnology and pharmaceuticals sectors accounted for almost two-thirds of the life sciences industry in Alberta. On the health and bio pharmaceutical side, there are many companies making their mark. One company of note is Oncolytics Biotech Inc., who recently had success in two clinical trials in the oncology fi eld with their product Reolysin®. In terms of academia, when you look at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary, the leading research that comes out of those facilities particularly in areas such as oncology, diabetes and cardiology have certainly been impactful. These efforts have led to a number of spin-off companies. Moreover, the science has garnered further worldwide interest and support from global pharma companies who are interested in these areas. The province has had its share of pioneers in this space, such as the late Dr. Tony Noujaim who was the founder of Biomira Inc. and provided the roots for a number of companies in the provincial life sciences industry, Dr. Lorne Tyrrell who’s very well-known for his ground breaking work on antiviral drugs for Hepatitis B and his work with the Li Ka Shing Institute for Virology and Dr. Raymond Lemieux who’s probably the most infl uential and most respected in regards to carbohydrate chemistry in the last 50 or so years. On the Agricultural biotech side, Alberta’s landscape naturally lends itself to CONTINUED ON PAGE 10