Susanne Staer

This author has written 424 articles

OCE invests $250,000 in ScarX Therapeutics’ revolutionary anti-scarring medication

ScarX TherapeuticsTORONTO, ON (Jan. 24, 2013) – ScarX Therapeutics, a start-up company commercializing a groundbreaking treatment to dramatically reduce post-operation scarring, is receiving a $250,000 investment from Ontario Centres of Excellence.

This story was covered in Yonge Street Media on January 30, 2013.

ScarX, a topical medication, emerged from Dr. Benjamin Alman‘s research. Alman, head of orthopedic surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children, is developing his invention in conjunction with MaRS Innovation.

Benjamin Alman, founder of ScarX Therapeutics.
Dr. Benjamin Alman, founder of ScarX Therapeutics. Photo courtesy of The Hospital for Sick Children.

Each year, doctors worldwide perform 240 million surgeries. Currently, no clinically-proven prescription therapeutic exists to reduce post-surgical scarring. Given this critical need for its technology, ScarX Therapeutics believes sales of the ScarX product could potentially reach into the billions of dollars.

“ScarX is a true game-changer when it comes to reducing the scarring associated with many surgeries,” said Dr. Tom Corr, president and CEO of Ontario Centres of Excellence. “Through our Market Readiness program, OCE is pleased to be supporting both the commercialization of this revolutionary research-based product and Ontario’s economy.”

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Globe and Mail and Global News Toronto cover early-stage Bio Printer technology

U of T Ph.D. student Lian Leng demonstrates how the Bio Printer prototype creates new skin cells.
U of T Ph.D. student Lian Leng demonstrates how the Bio Printer prototype creates new skin cells. Screen shot courtesy of Global News Toronto.

An early-stage technology that may revolutionize the way burn victims are treated is generating considerable buzz in Toronto media this week.

Globe and Mail reporter Robert Everett-Green wrote about the joint University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre project January 20 in “A 3-D machine that prints skin? How burn care could be revolutionized.”

Health reporter Beatrice Politi also covered the Bio Printer project for Global News Toronto January 21. Her video segment includes an interview with PhD student Lian Leng and a look at the existing Bio Printer prototype.

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Xconomy names Xagenic to 2012’s Biotech Startup Class

MI spin-off company one of 30 listed in North America and the United Kingdom

Xconomy, a U.S.-based business news website, named Xagenic to its 2012 Biotech Startup Class.

Luke Timmerman‘s article, published December 3, 2012, sited Xagenic as one of only 30 “exciting biotech startups” to raise significant venture capital (at least $5 million) in the life sciences sector.

Xagenic, founded by Drs. Shana Kelley and Ted Sargent at the University of Toronto,  was also the only Canadian company named to the list.

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Shotlst: “Track changes” for the physical world

Shotlst is one of six inaugural UTEST companies; next UTEST application round to begin shortly

UTEST-Shotlst co-founders Matt Ratto (left) and Mike Borg
Shotlst co-founders Matt Ratto (left) and Mike Borg. Shotlst was one of six companies accepted into UTEST‘s inaugural cohort. Photo courtesy of Jon Horvatin, University of Toronto.

What if you could turn on Microsoft Word’s “track changes” tool and apply it at will to the world around you?

Sound like science fiction?

Meet Matt Ratto, a professor in the University of T’s Faculty of Information, and Mike Borg, a recent graduate of the faculty. They’ve formed Shotlst, a new software company being incubated by the University of Toronto Early Stage Technology (UTEST) program.

The central metaphor of Shotlst is the “shot list,” a list of scenes a film director plans to get each day on a movie set. It serves to organize the cast and crew’s time and activity for the day.

With Shotlst, a user decides at the outset on “shots” that will be consistent throughout the life of a project.

For example, an architect might take pictures of a cardboard model of a building, 3-D renderings and, later, the actual construction site. These shots would serve as raw material that colleagues could use to annotate and collaborate using the software.

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Biotechnology Focus’ December issue covers MaRS Innovation projects and partnerships

Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. logo
Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp.

MaRS Innovation’s (MI) projects and partnerships earned three separate article mentions in the December 2012 issue of Biotechnology Focus, including:

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Start-Up Snapshot: Flybits, OtoSim, ApneaDX, ScarX Therapeutics

Happy New Year. Here’s a snapshot of some spin-off stories you may have missed over the holiday break:

Vito Forte
Dr. Vito Forte

OtoSim Inc. co-founder Dr. Vito Forte was selected as a recipient of the 2013 Canadian Association of Medical Educators (CAME) Certificate of Merit Award, which promotes medical education in Canadian medical schools while recognizing and rewarding faculty’s commitment to medical education. Dr. Forte will receive his certificate at the upcoming Canadian Conference on Medical Education (CCME) in Quebec City on Sunday, April 21, 2013. As co-founder of OtoSim Inc., Dr. Forte is actively involved in developing a pipeline of products including the OtoSim™, OtoSim™ Pneumatic Otoscopy Trainer and OptoSim™ (to be launched in early 2013).

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Bedside Clinical Systems featured in Philadelphia’s MedCity News

Bedside Clinical Systems (BCS) participated in Philadelphia’s 2012 Canada-U.S. eHealth Summit on November 28.

Twelve of the 65 participating companies were selected to pitch a group of over 100 chief medical information officers, chief information officers and chief medical officers from U.S. hospitals, along with venture capitalists and industry representatives.

BCS’s CEO Rajesh Sharma delivered a strong pitch and was interviewed for a story in MedCity News.

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Kaypok selects Zync to power its global “big data” technology brand

Spin-off company based on founder Razieh Niazi’s research at York University

TORONTO, Dec. 6, 2012 — Kaypok Inc., a start-up company whose technology delivers insight into unstructured big data, today announced that it has selected Zync as its agency of record to create and launch Kaypok’s brand globally.

Kaypok Inc., which was spun off from York University research with support and funding from MaRS Innovation, filters, categorizes, identifies meaning and measures the root cause and emotions buried within unstructured text to understand what people are saying and feeling. Kaypok Inc. launched nationally at the iStrategy Digital Marketing Conference in Toronto on December 4, 2012.

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