OtoSim Inc., a MaRS Innovation spin-of company, was featured along with MaRS Innovation in the Autumn 2012 edition of Health Research & Innovation magazine. The article by Tim Wilson is…
GEN Magazine (Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News) featured the microfluidics research of Dr. Aaron Wheeler on November 15, 2012.
Wheeler, Canada Research Chair of Bioanalytical Chemistry and an associate professor at the University of Toronto, has made an invention disclosure to MaRS Innovation; Kapplex is the start-up company created to commercialize his research.
TORONTO, ON (November 13, 2012) — The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and MaRS Innovation (MI) today announced $1.5 million in funding from OICR over three years to further develop Cellax™, a nanoparticle drug that could offer an alternative to chemotherapy with fewer side effects.
“Cellax is promising because it provides a more targeted strategy for treating tumours, killing tumour cells while minimizing the effect on healthy tissue,” said Dr. Rima Al-awar, director, OICR’s Medicinal Chemistry Platform. “OICR is proud to invest in a technology that has such potential to one day improve quality of life for cancer patients.”
Cellax, invented by Dr. Shyh-Dar Li and his research team in OICR’s Medicinal Chemistry Platform group, is a drug-polymer conjugate based on Dr. Li’s proprietary NanoCMC™ technology. These polymers self-assemble into defined nanoparticles and, when injected, selectively accumulate in tumours. Because of this property, the drug is released where it is most needed, increasing therapeutic benefits and reducing the side effects associated with conventional chemotherapy.
Biotechnology Focus, a compendium of the Canadian life sciences industry, has published a guest column by MaRS Innovation President & CEO, Raphael Hofstein.
The article examines how to build a strong biotechnology cluster from an academic base in the midst of a global recession.
Here’s an excerpt:
Gone are the days of large-scale, well-funded, in-house departments with resources to liberally support academic and start-up collaborations. Financial pressures and the economic downturn have made it clear that the go-it-alone model is no longer sustainable, and industry players are recognizing that they don’t have a monopoly on research acumen and disruptive ideas. Simultaneously, industry has expressed less interest in investing in early-stage technologies that carry significant risk. They remain receptive to the research emerging from academic enterprise, but need a means of bridging the gap that technologies face as they move from the bench to the market.
Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SSS), a life sciences company developing stem cell-related technologies, today announced the signing of an agreement with University Health Network (UHN), through its commercialization agent MaRS Innovation (MI), both of Toronto.
The agreement provides Stem Cell Therapeutics (“SCT”) with an option to an exclusive world-wide license to an innovative cancer stem cell program.
This agreement produced a license for a UHN technology on April 17, 2013.
Yonge Street Media, a weekly online magazine that covers talent, innovation, diversity and quality of life stories in the Toronto region, covered Bedside Clinical Systems’ (BCS) launch in their Innovation section on Wednesday, November 7, 2012.
BCS is a MaRS Innovation spin-off company created to commercialize decision-support research emerging from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).
Each year, 5,000 children in North American hospitals experience code-blue incidents; a code blue is an event where patients require immediate resuscitation. One quarter of these incidents result in death,…
Matt Ratto, assistant professor in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information and co-inventor and CEO of Shotlst, a UTEST company, was featured in the Globe and Mail on October 22 in an article by Nick Rockel on how emerging technology will change the education experience.
Here’s an excerpt:
Asked what the technological tools in university classrooms will look and feel like by 2020, Matt Ratto admits he’s no futurist. But the assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information is helping shape the future – by changing students’ relationship with technology.
Welcome to the beta version of the MaRS Innovation website.
We have refreshed the site’s design to make better use of its existing functionality while showcasing our projects.
The new design includes these additions and changes:
TORONTO, Ontario, October 4, 2012—Baxter International Inc. and MaRS Innovation, a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, have entered into a strategic partnership to commercialize early-stage technologies that present innovative methods in therapeutics and drug discovery technologies.
Information about Baxter and MaRS Innovation’s partnership is also available in French.
The partnership’s shared vision for delivering novel, transformative therapeutic technologies will benefit Canadians and others around the world. Baxter and MaRS Innovation will identify investment opportunities emerging from well-validated scientific research discoveries within MaRS Innovation’s 16 member institutions, including the University of Toronto and its nine affiliated teaching hospitals.