MaRS Innovation: Ahead of Innovation video launched
To coincide with our presence at the 2016 BIO International Convention (BIO) from June 6-9, 2016, MaRS Innovation launched a video explaining our role in Canada's innovation ecosystem: backing big…
Video: DashMD’s CEO and co-founder interviewed by Dx3 Canada
Amber Mac from Dx3 Canada interviewed Zack Fisch, CEO and co-founder of DashMD. In the video, Zack discusses DashMD's vision for a better healthcare system and what the company is doing in…
Israel’s BioLineRx and Canada’s MaRS Innovation sign framework collaboration agreement
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…
Ryerson University to host Dr. Daniel Kraft on Future of Health and Medicine
MaRS Innovation and the Ontario Centres of Excellence among the event's sponsors On Tuesday, May 31, 2016, Diane Francis, the first woman editor of a national daily newspaper in Canada…
Triphase Accelerator Corporation expands collaboration with Celgene in developing Marizomib to treat gliomas
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…
Globe and Mail features UTEST company eQOL’s home dialysis technology
“When Binh Nguyen, then a graduate student in biomedical engineering at the University of Toronto, was working in the renal engineering department of a local hospital, he was struck by what he felt was a suboptimal setup for dialysis treatment,” writes Jordana Dixon in “Health startup helps patients become more independent,” for the Globe and Mail on April 13, 2015.
eQOL Inc. is a University of Toronto and MaRS Innovation start-up company that participated in and graduated from the University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) program’s second cohort.
UTEST is currently accepting applications for its fourth cohort.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Taking these complications into consideration, Mr. Nguyen envisioned an all-encompassing lateral system that would optimize the process of in-home dialysis utilizing technology, but most importantly, improving patient experience.
Smartphones and mobile tablets becoming mainstays for clinicians
VitalHub’s partnership with Microsoft and Intel for Seattle Children’s Hospital pilot and British Columbia contracts featured in Canadian Healthcare Technology
“As hospital invest continue to invest in mobile solutions, doctors and nurses are more likely to be texting on their smartphones or swiping their fingers across a tablet PCs than tapping away on desktop computers,” Dianne Daniel writes in the April 2015 issue of Canadian Healthcare Technology in an article titled, “Smartphones and mobile tablets are becoming essential tools for clinicians” (page 12-13 of the print edition).
VitalHub Corp, a Mount Sinai Hospital spun-off through partnership with MaRS Innovation, is among the healthcare technology companies delivering services to hospitals as part of this trend.
Daniel writes:
One company that is giving clinicians the option to use their preferred device — whether iOS, Android, or Windows 8, smartphone or tablet — is VitalHub Corp, a Mount Sinai spin-off launched in Toronto in 2009. “We have found that many hospitals provide their nurses with mobile devices and can therefore select the platform they would prefer for those users, but physicians are generally expected to be BOD,” said VitalHub CEO Lisa Crossley. “So for a mobile solution to be practical, it has to be cross-platform.”
MaRS Innovation President and CEO Named to Ontario Health Innovation Council
Council members include MI’s Raphael Hofstein and MI Board Chair Dr. Robert Bell
On November 20, the Government of Ontario launched the Ontario Health Innovation Council to support health innovation in Ontario. Dr. Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation, was named to the council.
By becoming a member of the Council, Hofstein will assist in identifying evidence-based opportunities in Ontario’s healthcare space and advancing them into practice on a global scale.
Simple test could replace surgery to diagnose male infertility
Mount Sinai’s Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute has developed a new test that could make a big difference to men facing infertility.
A study published in a leading international journal, Science Translational Medicine, details the discovery of a key biomarker that can pinpoint the cause of infertility without the need for invasive surgery.
This story was covered by BBC News, ABC News’s “PM” with Mark Colvin, CTV News, CBC News, The Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen and the Calgary Herald.
About half a million Canadian men are infertile, according to clinician-research Dr. Keith Jarvi. As a urologist who treats men with infertility, he knows how valuable this simple, inexpensive test could be. “Testing a semen sample can be done in the doctor’s clinic as it’s noninvasive and much easier for the patient than surgery,” he says.
Dr. Jarvi directs the Murray Koffler Urologic Wellness Centre, is head of Urology, and associate scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. He is a professor of Surgery at University of Toronto.
MaRS Innovation, which commercializes discoveries made by University of Toronto hospitals and research institutes, is already working on the project, which Jarvi believes may lead to commercial tests within the next couple of years. [For more information, contact Barry Elkind].
CAMH, Assurex Health Partner to Bring Personalized Care to More Canadians
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Assurex Health combine resources to bring personalized medicine in psychiatry, reducing the current trial-and-error approach
TORONTO – The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s leading hospital for mental health, and Assurex Health, a global leader in personalized medicine, have signed an agreement for a joint venture to bring the benefits of this treatment approach to more Canadians.
The personalized approach helps to match the right medication at the right dose for each patient, based on their genetic makeup. Using Assurex Health’s GeneSight panel, physicians can easily see which psychiatric medications are likely to be effective for each patient and which ones are not, often avoiding treatment failure and side effects.
“This partnership between CAMH and Assurex Health is essential to advance the widespread use of personalized medicine in psychiatry, and improve health care for Canadians who need medications for mental health problems,” said Dr. James Kennedy, head of the Tanenbaum Centre for Pharmacogenetics at CAMH. This approach is a game-changer from the current trial-and-error approach to prescribing, which results in many patients having to try different psychiatric medications, each with potential side-effects, before the best medication for them can be determined.
AssureRx Canada (ARxC) has been established as a subsidiary of the U.S. company, with its Canadian office and laboratory on CAMH premises. Assurex Health will provide backing for ARxC operations. CAMH holds a minority equity share in AssureRx Canada and will receive royalties on the sale of genetic tests that incorporate CAMH-discovered genetic markers.