Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE)

U of T med students participate in mass medical simulation exercise

OtoSim Night revolutionizes how students learn to identify ear pathologies

On Feb. 13, 2013, almost 100 second-year University of Toronto (U of T) medical students participated in an optional, intensive, one-hour otoscopy workshop using the OtoSim™ — a training and simulation system that is radically changing the way students in Canada and around the world learn this poorly-acquired medical skill.

And, if you want to use simulation technology to change the way medical professionals are taught, ear disease is a good place to start.

Additional photos from this event are posted on OtoSim Inc.’s Flickr account. A longer version of the OtoSim Night at U of T video is also available on the company’s YouTube channel.

“Historically, otoscopy simulation involved looking at an image of an eardrum on a piece of film at the end of a rubber ear,” said Dr. Andrew Sinclair, CEO of OtoSim Inc. “OtoSim™ has a digital image bank that is orders of magnitude more extensive. The instructor can electronically point to areas within the image and confirm that the student sees the pathology of interest. Diagnostic accuracy goes up enormously.”

MaRS Innovation awarded $15 million to further commercialize world-leading Canadian innovations

February 6, 2013
Susanne Staer
Awards

Networks of Centres of Excellence recognizes strength of partnership between MI and its 16 member institutions

TORONTO, February 5, 2013 — How do you make sure the brilliant ideas emerging from Toronto’s academic research community get the best possible chance to succeed?

MaRS Innovation (MI), created in 2008, bridges the chasm between these early-stage technologies and successful start-up companies and licensable technologies. By offering early-stage funding in tandem with hands-on management, mentorship and IP strategy protection, MI acts as a commercialization agent for its 16 member institutions.

This announcement was covered by TechVibes, Yonge Street Media and CanTech Letter.

The Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) has recognized the increasing strength of this novel partnership by awarding MI $14.95 million in funding through the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program.

OCE invests $250,000 in ScarX Therapeutics’ revolutionary anti-scarring medication

TORONTO, ON (Jan. 24, 2013) – ScarX Therapeutics, a start-up company commercializing a groundbreaking treatment to dramatically reduce post-operation scarring, is receiving a $250,000 investment from Ontario Centres of Excellence.

This story was covered in Yonge Street Media on January 30, 2013.

ScarX, a topical medication, emerged from Dr. Benjamin Alman‘s research. Alman, head of orthopedic surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children, is developing his invention in conjunction with MaRS Innovation.

Benjamin Alman, founder of ScarX Therapeutics. — **Dr. Benjamin Alman**, founder of ScarX Therapeutics. Photo courtesy of The Hospital for Sick Children.

Each year, doctors worldwide perform 240 million surgeries. Currently, no clinically-proven prescription therapeutic exists to reduce post-surgical scarring. Given this critical need for its technology, ScarX Therapeutics believes sales of the ScarX product could potentially reach into the billions of dollars.

“ScarX is a true game-changer when it comes to reducing the scarring associated with many surgeries,” said Dr. Tom Corr, president and CEO of Ontario Centres of Excellence. “Through our Market Readiness program, OCE is pleased to be supporting both the commercialization of this revolutionary research-based product and Ontario’s economy.”

OICR and MaRS Innovation announce funding to develop Cellax™, a nanotechnology-based cancer drug

TORONTO, ON (November 13, 2012) — The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and MaRS Innovation (MI) today announced $1.5 million in funding from OICR over three years to further develop Cellax™, a nanoparticle drug that could offer an alternative to chemotherapy with fewer side effects.

“Cellax is promising because it provides a more targeted strategy for treating tumours, killing tumour cells while minimizing the effect on healthy tissue,” said Dr. Rima Al-awar, director, OICR’s Medicinal Chemistry Platform. “OICR is proud to invest in a technology that has such potential to one day improve quality of life for cancer patients.”

Cellax, invented by Dr. Shyh-Dar Li and his research team in OICR’s Medicinal Chemistry Platform group, is a drug-polymer conjugate based on Dr. Li’s proprietary NanoCMC™ technology. These polymers self-assemble into defined nanoparticles and, when injected, selectively accumulate in tumours. Because of this property, the drug is released where it is most needed, increasing therapeutic benefits and reducing the side effects associated with conventional chemotherapy.

Bedside Clinical Systems aims to bring better healthcare to children

Each year, 5,000 children in North American hospitals experience code-blue incidents; a code blue is an event where patients require immediate resuscitation. One quarter of these incidents result in death,…

Business Without Borders highlights ScarX Therapeutics’ Chinese co-development partnership

September 27, 2012
Susanne Staer
Industry Partners

ScarX Therapeutics, a spin-off company created by MaRS Innovation and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), was profiled by Business Without Borders on September 25, 2012.

Sean Fine‘s article examines the strategic funding partnership MI pursued with NovoTek Therapeutics Inc. (NovoTek) in China to develop the anti-scarring cream, which was discovered by researchers at SickKids.

A multibillion-dollar market may await ScarX, a Toronto biomedical start-up, but first it had to figure out how to finance the development of its unique cream that reduces scarring after surgery.

Its answer to the shortage of Canadian venture capital in life sciences turned out to be a partnership with a drug company in China.

Hossein Rahnama, CEO of Flybits, on CBC’s Lang & O’Leary Exchange

August 29, 2012
Susanne Staer
Flybits

Hossein Rahnama on Lang & O'Leary — **Hossein Rahnama**, CEO of Flybits Inc., on CBC’s *Lang & O’Leary Exchange*. Rahnama is also a professor at Ryerson University.

Hossein Rahnama, CEO of Flybits, a MaRS Innovation spin-off company, appeared on CBC’s Lang and O’Leary Exchange on August 24, 2012.

Watch Rahnama’s interview on CBC’s Media Player. The interview begins at the 13:40 mark and runs to 19:30.

Rahnama, who is also a professor at Ryerson University and and research director at Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone, was recently named to the MIT Technology Review’s prestigious 35 Inventors Under 35 list for 2012 along with fellow MaRS Innovation inventor Joyce Poon.

He describes his context-aware mobile technology, the importance of adapting research to solve real-world problems, the advantages to running a start-up in Toronto, and growing Flybits while keeping the business in Canada.

This week, MaRS Innovation (MI) announced a new partnership agreement with The Québec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM), the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) and Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) to launch the Québec/Ontario CQDM Funding Program.

The funding program will support collaborative life science research projects between the two provinces that seek to develop new tools for biopharmaceutical research.

U of T med students participate in mass medical simulation exercise

OtoSim Night revolutionizes how students learn to identify ear pathologies

OCE invests $250,000 in ScarX Therapeutics’ revolutionary anti-scarring medication

OICR and MaRS Innovation announce funding to develop Cellax™, a nanotechnology-based cancer drug

Bedside Clinical Systems aims to bring better healthcare to children

Business Without Borders highlights ScarX Therapeutics’ Chinese co-development partnership

Hossein Rahnama, CEO of Flybits, on CBC’s Lang & O’Leary Exchange

MaRS Innovation’s Lead Start-Up Completes $20 Million Series B

Business Without Borders features Encycle Therapeutics, Raphael Hofstein

Montreal’s La Presse covers life science research funding project among MI, CQDM, OCE and OBI

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