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…
MaRS Innovation’s President and CEO, Dr. Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein, was appointed to the Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM) Board of Directors on February 18.
CQDM is a Quebec-based not-for profit that funds and supports joint projects in private and biopharmaceutical sectors.
Here’s an excerpt from CQDM’s announcement:
Dr. Hofstein, actively involved in the field of biotechnology, partnerships and technology transfer for over 30 years, greatly contributed to defining Israel as a world leader in biotechnology. In Israel, Dr. Hofstein held various positions including R & D Manager and Chief of Immunochemistry with the International Genetic Scientific Partnership, Scientific Director at Biotechnological Applications Ltd., Scientific Director and Vice-President, Business Development at Ecogen Inc., prior to becoming President of Mindsense Biosystems Ltd., and then founder, President and CEO, and chairman of the Board of Hadasit Ltd.
Dr. Hofstein was also president of BIOMED, the annual biomedical conference of Israel for many years. He was also co-founder and member of the Israeli Life Sciences Industry Organization and co-founder and executive of Israel’s Tech Transfer Network. Dr. Hofstein now serves on various boards, including Life Sciences Ontario, Clinical Trials Ontario as well as the Organizing Committee of the Public Policy Forum on venture capital and innovation. Dr. Hofstein holds a Ph.D. in the life sciences and chemistry, and completed his postdoctoral studies at the Harvard Medical School.
Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation, was interviewed by Huffington Post Canada business reporter Rachel Mendleson for an article about Canada’s innovation gap and the shortage of Canadian venture capital:
One of the best ways to [raise venture capital], said Raphael Hofstein, President and CEO of Toronto-based MaRS Innovation, is to increase government investment, a lesson he learned while helping to create a life sciences early-stage fund in Israel several years ago.
“Everybody told us — institutions, industry — that they will not participate unless government has a piece of the pie. So governments have to participate, certainly in the early stage,” he said.
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.
Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus, West Tower
108 College Street, Suite 530
Toronto, ON M5G 0C6
info@tiap.ca
