LAB150 adds project with focus on mental health
Toronto, ON, June 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- It is estimated that 5% of the global population is affected by Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) at any given time. While there…
MaRS Innovation collaborating with Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Janssen to advance Cardiac, Diabetes and Depression technologies
TORONTO, Jan. 12, 2015 — MaRS Innovation, the commercialization agent for Ontario’s 15 leading academic institutions, today announced that it has formed a research collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation, LLC and its Canadian affiliate, Janssen Inc., to advance three technologies focused on cardiac, diabetes and depression, respectively.
This announcement was covered in Lab Product News.
“These three projects reflect the quality of innovation present in Toronto’s research community for our industry partners, and Toronto’s progress in addressing healthcare issues of international concern,” said Dr. Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation. “Johnson & Johnson Innovation is a long-term strategic partner of MaRS Innovation and of our members; our collaboration reflects the benefits to accessing our members’ deal flow through MaRS Innovation. Through these deals and other scientific exchanges, we see increased interest in Toronto’s innovation and entrepreneurship community.”
The projects’ principal investigators are researchers from the University Health Network (UHN), the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the University of Toronto. This announcement follows Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s December 2013 commitment to collaborate on early-stage drug development projects.
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.
CAMH researcher’s leading-edge therapy targets brain chemistry of addiction
CAMH and MaRS Innovation partner on innovative approach to nicotine addiction
TORONTO (Dec. 17, 2009) — Grappling with nicotine addiction is never easy, but a new drug therapy – developed by Dr. Fang Liu at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) – brings promise to one of our great public health challenges.
The experimental medication in development at Dr. Liu’s lab targets the brain chemistry associated with addiction by disrupting a specific receptor-receptor interaction.
Proof-of-concept data demonstrate that this therapy decreases addictive behavior associated with nicotine and alcohol in preclinical models.