healthcare

MaRS Innovation and GlaxoSmithKline Announce Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Translational Research in Health Sciences

TORONTO (May 31, 2011) — MaRS Innovation (MI) and GlaxoSmithKline Inc. (GSK) today announced a new development fund — the GSK-MaRS Innovation Fund — that will support and fast-track the commercialization of some of the country’s most promising translational research coming from 16 leading academic health sciences centres, hospitals and universities derived from MI’s member institutions.

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

“From the discovery of insulin in 1922 to the discovery of stem cells, Ontario has a rich, proud history of world-class medical and scientific breakthroughs,” said Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation. “Our partnership with GSK Canada furthers Ontario’s position as a major international research hub by providing much needed capital to fund exciting drug discovery and development technologies and bridging the gap to successful commercialization.

“Launching this development fund is also part of a global trend where government, researchers and industry are partnering at the early stage of translational research with an eye to achieving global impact and improving patient care,” Hofstein added.

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.”

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.

MaRS Innovation selects University of Toronto’s Diabetic Wound Healing Technology as second commercialization opportunity

TORONTO (June 30, 2009) – MaRS Innovation (MI) and the University of Toronto (U of T) are pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement to collaboratively commercialize a novel sustained release formulation of nitric oxide (NO) for applications in wound healing, including diabetic ulcers.

“There are 300 million diabetics worldwide, of which some 15 per cent develop troublesome foot ulcers. This wound healing technology is extremely exciting, making it an early commercialization opportunity that MaRS Innovation has identified as being a potential win for some 45 million diabetics globally,” said Dr. Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation.

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.