early-stage technology

University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology Program (UTEST) opens applications for second start-up company cohort

January 30, 2013
Susanne Staer
CoursePeer

Students, faculty and recent alumni with software ideas must apply by Feb. 22

Got a killer software-based idea? Are you passionate about turning that idea into a start-up company?

If you’re a current student, faculty member or recent graduate of the University of Toronto, consider applying to the University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) program.

Applications are now closed. Stay tuned for the third UTEST application call.

Created as a pilot in 2012 to help the U of T community bring their software-based ideas to market, UTEST is part of a growing ecosystem of incubators and commercialization support services.

UTEST accepts companies in the very earliest stages of idea generation— before they’re ready for traditional incubators — and awards each company up to $30,000 in start-up funds.

It also provides nascent software companies with office space in the MaRS Discovery District, mentoring and business strategy support.

“From a results standpoint, we couldn’t be more satisfied with first cohort of companies,” says Kurtis Scissons, co-director of UTEST at U of T. “In six months, they secured over $650,000 in follow-on funding. Each has filed solid patent protection and some are already gaining customer traction. They have also collectively created 21 highly-skilled jobs (HQPs).”

Update May 2013: Those figures now stand at $1.2 million and 29 jobs; most of the companies have secured customers.

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.

Video: Canadian International Council interviews Rafi Hofstein about commercializing Canadian technology

October 11, 2011
Susanne Staer
News

Dr. Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation, spoke to the Canadian International Council about the importance of protecting intellectual property as an important component in commercializing Canadian technologies.

Here’s an excerpt:

Government could be extremely helpful if they created special funds dedicated to covering the costs of patent protection.

Vasculotide: sanofi-aventis, Sunnybrook and MI – Article in the Globe and Mail

February 15, 2011
Susanne Staer
Media Coverage

A discovery that could help millions of diabetics worldwide is the subject of a lucrative pharmaceutical deal that will enrich the Toronto hospital that created it – part of a growing trend of selling science to help shore up Canada’s troubled health-care system.

Tuesday’s agreement between Sanofi-Aventis and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre on a wound-healing molecule demonstrates how entrepreneurial hospitals can become when the very sustainability of medicare is in question.

But the licensing deal with one of the world’s biggest drug companies is also savvy medically. Until recently, some hospitals were reticent to capitalize on their discoveries, seeing commercialization as unsavoury, but now many believe it’s one of the quickest ways to get a drug to their patients.

Wound Healing Technology Exclusive Rights Deal with Cardium Therapeutics

October 14, 2010
Susanne Staer
Industry Partners

TORONTO  (October  14,  2010)  –  Of  the  approximately  300  million  people  around  the  world  who  are  diabetics,  45  million  of  them  develop  foot  ulcers  that  bleed  –  and  the  infection  from  those  ulcers  can  spread.

Working  to  halt  this  is  Dr.  Ping  Lee,  a  professor  at  the  University  of  Toronto’s (U of T)  Leslie  Dan  Faculty  of  Pharmacy  and  GlaxoSmithKline  chair  in  Pharmaceutics  and  Drug  Delivery.  He  and  his  team  have  created  a  new  sustained‐release  form  of  nitric  oxide  (NO)  that  can  not  only  stop  the  infections  at  wound sites,  but  also  has  the  potential  to speed  up  wound‐healing.

Still,  the  technology  may  have  stayed  on  the  shelf,  even  with  three  years  worth  of  data  demonstrating  therapeutic  relevance.  The  ultimate  success  of  the  technology  is  due  to  an  effective  collaboration  between  Dr.  Lee,  the  Innovations  and  Partnerships  Office  (IPO)  at  U  of  T  and  MaRS  Innovation (MI).  Lee  worked  with  IPO  and  MI to  formulate  a  development  plan  in  consultation  with  numerous  industry  advisors.

MaRS Innovation and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Partner to Develop Four Exciting Medical Discoveries

TORONTO (March 23, 2010) — MaRS Innovation and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre have entered into their first set of agreements to collaboratively commercialize a novel therapeutic technology and three advances in medical imaging. These four technologies will impact diagnosis and care for epidemic chronic illnesses and have clear and broad commercial potential. MI will shepherd these opportunities through the next stages of the commercialization process.

Dr. Raphael Hofstein, president & CEO, MaRS Innovation.

“We are coming out of the gate vigorously in identifying this group of Sunnybrook technologies as commercialization opportunities,” said Dr. Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein, president and CEO of MI. “MaRS Innovation sits with academic institutions at the hub of a major North American cluster in medical devices and biomedical engineering. This agreement will enable MaRS Innovation to leverage our resources with Sunnybrook’s and generate attractive investment packages.”

CIHR Commercialization Program funds insulin-alternative stem cell technology and nicotine addiction drug therapy

March 2, 2010
Susanne Staer
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

TORONTO (March 2, 2010) – MaRS Innovation is delighted to announce that two of its commercialization projects – notably an umbilical cord stem cell technology from Mount Sinai Hospital and nicotine…

MaRS Innovation and CDRD Announce Strategic Collaboration

November 30, 2009
Susanne Staer
Industry Partners

TORONTO, ON and VANCOUVER, BC (November 30, 2009) – MaRS Innovation (MI) and the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) are pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement to collaborate on projects of mutual interest with a goal to advance and commercialize early-stage health-related discoveries.

“We are excited about our partnership with the CDRD as it provides an opportunity for the two organizations to augment each other’s strengths, and leverage resources to generate attractive packages for potential partners, thereby supporting both of our organizations’ mandates of commercializing promising academic research. By entering into this innovative agreement, we believe the commercial potential of select projects in our pipeline will be enhanced,” said Dr. Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein, president and CEO of MI.

Physicist pairs with pharmaceutical scientist to design nano-particles for cancer imaging

November 19, 2009
Susanne Staer
Industry Partners

MaRS Innovation logo

TORONTO (November 19, 2009) – In the drive to improve early detection and treatment of cancer, a pair of Toronto scientists has developed a unique technology that combines contrast agents with targeted, long-lasting nano-particles for use in multiple medical imaging platforms.

While contrast agents are routinely injected into patients to enhance the quality of medical images, different agents are currently required for various imaging modes (e.g. MRI, CT, PET) each with inherent strengths and limitations. By combining more than one contrast agent into a nano-particle for use in multiple types of imaging, not only are physicians and researchers able to use lower doses of contrast agents (with lower toxicity) but the nano-particle also enables targeted delivery to, and retention by, specific tumours.

MaRS Innovation selects Mount Sinai Hospital’s umbilical cord stem cell technology as first commercialization opportunity

TORONTO (June 29, 2009) – MaRS Innovation and the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital are pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement to collaboratively initiate commercialization of an umbilical cord stem cell technology for potential treatment in cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neurological disorders.

Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO MaRS Innovation — **Dr. Raphael Hofstein**, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation

“With the Toronto area identified as a world-leading cluster in stem cell research, we are extremely excited to have identified this technology as our first commercialization opportunity,” said Dr. Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein, President and CEO of MaRS Innovation.

The technology – invented by Mount Sinai scientists Dr. Ian Rogers and Dr. Robert Casper – offers a proprietary method to create multi-potent stem cells (MPSCs) from human umbilical cord blood. With preclinical data demonstrating efficacy of MPSCs in diabetes, peripheral vascular disease (a complication of diabetes that can lead to amputation) and neurological conditions, the technology has significant potential to address multiple unmet medical needs.