TIAP announced today the significant expansion of its flagship LAB150 drug discovery and development program with the addition of Amgen as a strategic and financial partner. Read full press release: https://bwnews.pr/3D3DUXb…
Staying on Target: How to Determine if Your Research Program is Ready for Drug Discovery LAB150 Presents: A 3-part Webinar Series on Drug Discovery and Development November 17, 2020 -…
TORONTO and SAN DIEGO (June 4, 2016) — Triphase Accelerator Corporation, a private drug development company dedicated to advancing novel compounds through Phase 2 proof-of-concept, today announced positive results from its…
Agreement signed as part of Ontario's life sciences trade mission to Israel TEL AVIV and TORONTO (May 16, 2016) – BioLineRx Ltd. a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to identifying, in-licensing and developing promising…
Company initiating two new clinical trials for recurrent and newly diagnosed malignant gliomas TORONTO and SAN DIEGO, (May 03, 2016) – Triphase Accelerator Corporation, a private drug development company dedicated to advancing…
TORONTO and SAN DIEGO (November 19, 2015) — Triphase Accelerator Corporation, a private drug development company dedicated to advancing novel compounds through Phase 2 proof-of-concept, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation for marizomib to treat patients with malignant glioma.
Malignant glioma is an aggressive form of brain cancer for which there is a significant unmet need in current treatments due to the disease’s poor prognosis. Triphase is evaluating marizomib, a novel and highly potent proteasome inhibitor, in combination with bevacizumab in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.
Orphan drug designation is granted by the FDA Office of Orphan Products Development (OOPD) to novel drugs or biologics that treat a rare disease or condition affecting fewer than 200,000 patients in the United States.
MaRS Innovation’s “model solves the two weakest points in tech transfer: the lack of dealflow and the ability to match public funding,” writes Thierry Heles in, “MaRS Innovation: A Unique Model for Tech Transfer,” for Global University Venturing.
This feature was also covered in Techopia.
The article, which includes an interview with Dr. Rafi Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation, was published September 14, 2015.
Here’s an excerpt exploring the range of MI’s portfolio and Hofstein’s strategy for addressing technologies emerging in new areas:
In the beginning, Mars received primarily discoveries in the medical sector, but the balance has since shifted to 60% medically-oriented research and 40% for other areas. The medically-oriented discoveries, Hofstein elaborated, are a diverse set of technologies and include everything from drug development and molecular diagnostics to medical devices and healthcare IT.
The remaining 40% meanwhile cover “a smörgåsbord all the way from alternative energies and solar energy, and water reclamation to all sorts of mobile apps”.
Fanny Sie, MaRS Innovation’s head of imaging technologies, was quoted in Tanya Powley‘s article, “Printing whole organs remains a long way off,” for the U.K.’s Financial Times on June 11, 2015, regarding the technology’s potential to transform existing healthcare practices.
MI does wish to note that the article inaccurately attributes the PrintAlive device’s development to MaRS Innovation; MI is working with the University of Toronto inventing team, led by Dr. Axel Gunther, to commercialize the device.
Here’s a short excerpt:
Bioprinting could save pharmaceutical companies a lot of money, according to Fanny Sie of MaRS Innovation, a Toronto-based company. The company has developed the PrintAlive Bioprinter, which can print skin that could be used to treat people with large scale burns. The printed tissues could be used by pharmaceutical companies to test the toxicity of new drugs, and help them decide if it is worth starting costly animal and then human clinical trials.
TORONTO and MONTREAL, Nov. 10, 2014 — Encycle Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology start-up founded by Dr. Andrei Yudin of the University of Toronto in partnership with MaRS Innovation, is developing its lead orally-bioavailable macrocycle drug to target integrin a4b7, which is involved in the inflammatory process in a number of diseases, most notably for inflammatory bowel disease.
This announcement was covered in SciBX, Drug Discovery & Development, PBR, Yonge Street Media, Biotechnology Focus, and Bioworld Today (no public link available).
Read this release in French.
To support and advance this molecule, Encycle Therapeutics is collaboratively partnering with the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer — Commercialization of Research (IRICoR), the Université de Montréal (UdeM) and MaRS Innovation. The partnership builds on the Merck Canada Inc. $4 million public-private funding partnership, announced at BIO in April 2013, to develop collaborative research projects with three Canadian academic commercialization centres, including MaRS Innovation and IRICoR.
“We are pleased to help support this important research collaboration that is made possible through the Quebec-Ontario corridor project in an emerging technology area. IRICoR, MaRS Innovation and Encycle have clearly leveraged their respective strengths to accelerate the discovery of novel therapeutics. As a research-focused company committed to early stage private-public partnering, we believe that such interactions will continue to fuel innovation in the life science sector in Canada,” said Mr. Chirfi Guindo, president and managing director, Merck Canada Inc.
The agreement brings a significant investment to fund Encycle Therapeutics’ development work, giving IRICoR an equity position and expanding MaRS Innovation’s equity stake. Cumulatively, Encycle Therapeutics has secured more than $2.5 million to advance its drug development platform.
Triphase Accelerator Corporation, a private, drug development company dedicated to advancing novel compounds through Phase II proof-of-concept, announced October 27, 2014 new and expanded strategic collaborations with Celgene Corporation.
This announcement was covered in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN), BioCentury Extra (no link available), Pharmaceutical Business Review (no link available), Scrip and BioWorld Today (no link available). It builds on Triphase’s original collaborative agreement with Celgene in January 2014.
The company has also announced a new global license for a fully human, bi-specific antibody targeting VEGFR-2/TIE 2 with Korea’s PharmAbcine.
Triphase has expanded its strategic collaboration with Celgene Corporation. The supplemental agreement adds a Phase I development program that will explore combining an intravenous (IV) formulation of marizomib with bevacizumab in glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive malignant primary brain tumour.
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