commercialization in Ontario

Stem Cell Therapeutics Merger, Technology Featured in Biotechnology Focus

Dr. Aaron Schimmer, University Health Network — **Dr. Aaron Schimmer** of the University Health Network discovered that Tigecycline was effective in killing leukemia cells and leukemia stem cells by shutting down their energy supply.

In a November 25 article in Biotechnology Focus magazine, author Shawn Lawrence highlights Stem Cell Therapeutics and Trillium Therapeutics Inc. coming together in a reverse merger that creates more opportunities to advance early-stage research.

The article profiles Dr. Aaron Schimmer and his discovery that Tigecycline is effective in killing leukemia cells and leukemia stem cells by shutting down their energy supply.

Here’s a quote from Lawrence’s article:

“Dr. Schimmer’s research is focused on drug repurposing – finding new indications for approved therapeutics. Focusing on established drugs with known safety profiles can significantly lower the risk in the drug development process, saving time and cost,” says Dr. Niclas Stiernholm, president and CEO of Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp.”

MaRS Innovation focus of Yonge Street Media article on growing technology sectors

November 1, 2013
Susanne Staer
BresoTec Inc.

President and CEO Dr. Raphael Hofstein speaks on healthcare innovation in Toronto

Screen Shot 2013-12-18 at 12.21.01 PM — **Dr. Raphael Hofstein**, MaRS Innovation president and CEO, was featured in an article by *Yonge Street Media*. (Photo Credit: Yonge Street Media)

In an October 30 article, Yonge Street Media‘s Andrew Seale spoke with MI’s president and CEO Raphael Hofstein on the booming healthcare innovation coming from Toronto since 2005.

Seale’s article is the first of a two-part series on technological innovation.

In the article, Hofstein credits the city’s intellectual infrastructure and access to healthcare resources for allowing innovation to flourish.

Three of MI’s start-up companies are also mentioned in the article.

Here’s an excerpt (links and emphasis our own):

“The Intellectual Property that is being generated in Toronto (is) a major chunk of the IP that’s being generated across Canada,” he says.

He points to ChipCare Corporation‘s state-of-the-art handheld analyzer, which allows doctors to run multiple diagnostics on a patient’s blood on site as opposed to bringing the patient to the clinic. The University of Toronto developed cell analyzer could prove to be a game changer in the fight against HIV. “Lab-in-a-chip” technology like this is crucial in third world countries where healthcare access is severely limited.

Xagenic’s AuRA platform—another diagnostic tool for blood samples—uses ultra sensitive microelectrode arrays (nano-sensors) developed by another team of researchers at University of Toronto. The inexpensive tech makes it possible for molecular diagnostic testing outside of labs.

MaRS Innovation-backed ApneaDX has developed a clinical-quality sleep-monitoring tool. Previously, diagnosing for sleep apnea—a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal breathing patterns—often required an expensive overnight stay at a sleep clinic. The device is a fraction of the cost and records the data on a chip, which is then analyzed by the company’s software.

ChipCare, UTEST and MaRS Innovation profiled in Nature journal article on commercialization programs in Canada

Canadian commercialization and entrepreneurial programs helping scientists and researchers bring their products to market are the focus of a recent article in Nature Journal and on nature.com.

Posted online on October 2, 2013, the article explains how the Centres of Excellence in Commercialization and Research (CECR) programme, and specifically MaRS Innovation, develop research and put it into practice:

MaRS Innovation's commercialization process — MaRS Innovation’s commercialization process: Bridging the gap between brilliant research and successful start-up companies or licensable technologies.

“MARS Innovation and its sister organization MARS Discovery District are not-for-profit organizations that are tightly integrated in Canadian research commercialization. They are based in a heritage building that once belonged to the Toronto University Hospital, in the heart of the city’s ‘discovery district’ — the inner-city conglomeration of universities, institutes and hospitals which has a reputation as a research hotbed. “Here, all the different actors in the commercialization sphere come together in one space,” says Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MARS Discovery District.

UTEST named one of Canada’s seven true start-up accelerators

June 10, 2013
Susanne Staer
Awards

The University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) program, part of U of T’s growing ecosystem of incubators and commercialization support services, has been named one of Canada’s seven true start-up accelerators.

The findings come from Helen Kula‘s MaRS Data Catalyst report and were covered by Rob Lewis of TechVibes.

MaRS Discovery District launches MaRS EXCITE to help breakthrough technologies reach patients faster

MI start-up ApneaDx Inc. among program’s first round of participants

The first three companies selected to participate in the MaRS EXCITE program aim to improve outcomes for breast cancer, sleep apnea and drug-resistant hypertension.

The Excellence in Clinical Innovation and Technology Evaluation (EXCITE) initiative helps companies accelerate the adoption and reimbursement of innovative health technologies through a single, harmonized, pre-market, evidence-based process.

EXCITE has selected ApneaDx Inc., Medtronic of Canada Ltd. and Rna Diagnostics Inc. as the program’s initial participants.

Five UTEST companies to tackle critical healthcare challenges

Program’s second cohort includes eQOL, E-Twenty Development, Root2Crown, Treata Smart Solutions and TrendMD

TORONTO (May 14, 2013) — Five companies tackling pervasive healthcare challenges — such as assessing dental health, helping patients and medical personnel navigate hospitals with greater ease, staying current with medical literature, or creating digital tools to help care for the elderly or those with chronic health conditions — have been admitted to the University of Toronto Early Stage Technology (UTEST) program’s second cohort.

UTEST, supported by the University of Toronto’s Connaught Fund, Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO) and MaRS Innovation (MI), is part of a growing system of incubators and commercialization support services at U of T.

Two companies in UTEST’s second cohort, E-Twenty Development Inc. and Treata Smart Solutions Inc. are participating in Canada 3.0 at the Metro Convention Centre May 14 and 15, 2013, in Toronto.

This announcement was covered in PE Hub.

Each company will receive up to $25,000, incubation space in the MaRS Discovery District, mentoring and business strategy support to develop protectable intellectual property, launch their products and gain market traction. They are also eligible to become clients of MaRS Discovery District’s ICE or Healthcare practices.

UTEST seeks scalable, enterprise-focused software applications interested in building business-to-business customer bases — and preferably operational products with a short term to market. The program is co-directed by Kurtis Scissons (U of T IPO) and Dr. Lyssa Neel (MI).

The second cohort has big shoes to fill. UTEST’s first cohort has collectively secured over $1.2 million in follow-on funding and currently employs 29 highly skilled people (HQPs). Each company also filed solid patent protection and most have secured customers. Notably, Whirlscape’s Indiegogo campaign secured over $87,000 in crowd-sourced product funds from nearly 10,000 users, and was featured in the Financial Post, TechCrunch, Mashable and The Verge, among other global media outlets.

Canadian biotech sector makes strong showing at BIO2013

Every six weeks, MaRS Innovation’s marketing and communications manager writes a guest post for the MaRS Discovery District blog profiling MI’s activities or one of our start-up companies. You can read the original post on the MaRS blog.

Downtown Chicago skyline in late April — **Chicago**‘s famous downtown skyline during the 2013 BIO Convention.

Nearly 14,000 delegates—representing over 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centres and related organizations across the United States and more than 60 countries—attended the 2013 BIO International Convention from April 22 to 26, 2013.

The event drew biotechnologists, pharmaceutical industry executives and life sciences researchers, along with sector-based organizations and associations, to Chicago.

According to a press release issued by the conference organizers, BIO 2013 offered “a record number of partnering meetings and panel sessions on the latest science, policy issues and business opportunities and challenges facing the biotechnology industry.”

How Canada’s health-care industry is riding a wave of transition

Bedside Clinical Systems featured on Research Innovation and Commercialization Centre (RICC) panel discussion In an article for YourMississaugaBiz.com, Jon Cook writes, " 'The health-care industry is relying more on the…

National Post: How does Canada solve its commercialization conundrum?

Government has key role to play as early-stage technology adopter says CEO Raphael Hofstein

Dr. Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation, was quoted in Mary Theresa Bitti‘s National Post article, “Commercialization Conundrum: Canada must turn ideas into social and economic value,” published April 3, 2013.

The article examines Canada’s worsening track record in realizing commercialization gains based on the country’s significant per-capita investment in R&D.

Here’s an excerpt:

While Canada punches above its weight class when it comes to generating ideas — witness countless academic journals showcasing Canadian research — as a country, we are experiencing a failure to launch when it comes to commercializing those ideas and getting them to market. The Jenkins panel report on innovation spelled it out quite clearly, “Too many of the big ideas [Canada] generates wind up generating wealth for others.” Canada ranks 14th out of 17 peer countries when it comes to innovation, even though on a per-capita basis, our $7-billion federal annual investment into research and development (R&D) is far more generous than other OECD nations. The result: Our global competitiveness continues to slide. According to the World Economic Forum, Canada has dropped to 14th place in 2012 from 10th in 2010.

What does MaRS Innovation’s funding extension mean for Toronto’s academic entrepreneurs?

Every six weeks, MaRS Innovation’s marketing and communications manager writes a guest post for the MaRS Discovery District blog profiling MI’s activities or one of our start-up companies. You can read the original post on the MaRS blog.

Created in 2008, MaRS Innovation (MI) bridges the chasm between the early-stage technologies emerging from its 16 member institutions and successful startup companies and licensable technologies.

By offering early-stage funding in tandem with hands-on management, business development, mentorship and intellectual property protection strategy, MI acts as a commercialization agent for its members and researchers.

Earlier this year, the Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada awarded MI $14.95 million to continue its mandate as a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR), matched by $25 million from membership fees and private sector investments.

So what does that success mean for MI’s ability to serve the needs of academic entrepreneurs based in Toronto?

Stem Cell Therapeutics Merger, Technology Featured in Biotechnology Focus

MaRS Innovation focus of Yonge Street Media article on growing technology sectors

President and CEO Dr. Raphael Hofstein speaks on healthcare innovation in Toronto

ChipCare, UTEST and MaRS Innovation profiled in Nature journal article on commercialization programs in Canada

Canadian commercialization and entrepreneurial programs helping scientists and researchers bring their products to market are the focus of a recent article in Nature Journal and on nature.com.

UTEST named one of Canada’s seven true start-up accelerators

MaRS Discovery District launches MaRS EXCITE to help breakthrough technologies reach patients faster

MI start-up ApneaDx Inc. among program’s first round of participants

Five UTEST companies to tackle critical healthcare challenges

Program’s second cohort includes eQOL, E-Twenty Development, Root2Crown, Treata Smart Solutions and TrendMD

Canadian biotech sector makes strong showing at BIO2013

How Canada’s health-care industry is riding a wave of transition

National Post: How does Canada solve its commercialization conundrum?

Government has key role to play as early-stage technology adopter says CEO Raphael Hofstein

What does MaRS Innovation’s funding extension mean for Toronto’s academic entrepreneurs?

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