Compiled by Daniela Fisher
Readers Respond
What you had to say:
C
ar seats made of soy foam, biofuels powering jets and easy-application clamps that can stop blood hemorrhaging in a matter of minutes. All are examples of the great work going on in Canada’s biotech sector and of the positive impact biotech has on our lives. They’re also the kind of success stories that are being celebrated during Canada’s tenth National Biotechnology Week. With events scheduled across the country, National Biotechnology Week plays an important role in introducing the public to the positive aspects of biotech. It also acts as an advocate for success stories in an industry that’s still recovering four years after the global financial crisis. Every year, in line with National Biotech Week in September, Biotechnology Focus does its part to help raise awareness for the Canadian biotech sector. In the months leading up to September, we run a Readers Respond survey, to get your feedback on what is and what isn’t going right in Canada’s biotech and life sciences sector. 6 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS September 2013
Some of the questions we asked included how you felt Canada measured up on the international biotech scale, as well as what the major issues were that you wanted raised before government. Our goal was to find out what you want to change, and to generate ideas for how we can improve biotech in Canada. To simplify things, this year we had one main survey for everyone in the life sciences field, whether on the research or business end, to fill out. Respondents ranged in sectors from drug discovery and therapeutics, to biomedical devices, diagnostics, bio-agriculture, environmental and industrial. From your responses, a general theme emerged: Canada needs to get interested in biotech. We need to do a better job of championing our successes to the general public, as well as to investors. In an industry that’s traditionally reaching for the bucket and getting ready to bail, we need to advertise more effectively our success stories – the examples of how funding biotechs can be highlyattractive instead of highly-risky.
How does Canada’s bio-economy measure up? First off, we asked our readers what the most compelling stories were in the biotech sector for 2013, including the biggest hits and misses. Answers varied, and many were of the opinion that 2013 has so far been a fairly dull year for biotech, especially in terms of financing. While 2012 saw a resurgence of biotech’s venture capital ecosystem, readers were quick to point out most of that money is going towards larger, well-established companies instead of start-ups or smaller companies still developing their products. So far, the largest financing announced this year has been the federal government’s $400 million Venture Capital Action Plan. Readers say this is a step in the right direction, but much more is needed in terms of government support for biotech. In terms of ‘hit’ stories, the most mentioned were Paladin Labs’ growth and BioAmber’s $80 million IPO. Other big stories included the IPO window opening in the U.S., and Valeant Pharmaceuticals $8.7 billion acquisi-
