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It has been an exciting week at LSBC, having held our signature Invest in BC Presented by Lumira Ventures event. This dynamic two-day pitch event showcased the incredible healthcare innovation going on in our province, with 28 companies participating. As BC continues to secure its place on the global life sciences stage, watching our emerging companies take their next steps is like watching history in the making. Thank you to all our supporters for helping to make this event happen!
Keep an eye out early next week for the employer-focused survey we are sending to life sciences companies with employees in BC as part of our Labour Market Intelligence Study of BC's life sciences sector. Your company input is vital!
Member News
Applications for the Michael Smith Health Research BC 2023 Scholar Program and Research Trainee Program competitions open on November 9th. Join their webinars on November 15th and 16th to learn how to optimize your application. Learn more here.
The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has released its Future of Healthtech 2022 report, finding that the healthcare sector remains ripe for innovation. Get the report here.
Industry News
British Columbia’s Health Technology Assessment Committee (HTAC) has initiated its annual Call for Topics for 2023/2024 as part of the BC Health Technology Assessment (HTA) process.
HTAC’s mandate is to assess medical technologies, including procedures, devices, and/or equipment involved in the maintenance, restoration, and/or promotion of health that is expected to have a significant patient and/or health system impact. This includes technologies used at any stage of care, including risk detection and disease prevention, early detection of disease, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care.
Examples of past topics include:
1. Deep Brain Stimulation for Advanced Parkinson’s Disease
2. Offloading Devices for Diabetic Foot Ulcers
3. A stepped model of Care for Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder
LSBC members are invited to nominate topics that may be of interest for consideration in BC. Please keep in mind that nominated technologies must be: 1) mature technologies that have a robust evidence base (RCTs and systematic reviews preferable), and 2) licensed by Health Canada.
If you are aware of any such health technologies that are not in widespread use in BC but should be, please complete the BC HTA Nomination Form and forward it to HTA.Office@gov.bc.ca by November 18th. HTAC’s prioritization criteria will help you tailor the information to provide in your nomination. For further information on the BC HTA process and HTAC, click here.
In other industry news, The Canadian Venture Capital Association has released its Market Overview for H1 2022, which suggests that while the number of life sciences VC deals increased in Q2 of 2022, there was a drop in dollars invested. However, the sector is on track to exceed 2020 levels by the end of the year. See the full report.
Finally, the Ontario government has launched a $15 million Life Sciences Innovation Fund to help life sciences entrepreneurs and innovators bring their ideas and prototypes from the lab to the marketplace. Learn more.
Kudos
Congratulations to Acuitas Therapeutics, who recently received the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade‘s 2022 Business Distinction Award for Business Growth over $5M in revenue. See the full list of winners here.
Congratulations to our member companies recognized by the journal Science in their Top Twenty Employers 2022 list, celebrating the best life sciences companies from the employee’s perspective. Learn more about the survey and see the complete list of employers here.
It was wonderful to see so many of our members recognized for their excellent work by the Galien Foundation at their recent Prix Galien Awards Gala. See the list of winners here.
People on the Move
Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals has appointed Paul Brennan to the role of Chief Business Officer. After 30 years at Merck, Kenneth C. Frazier will retire on November 30th, and CEO and President Robert M. Davis will succeed him as Chairman, effective Dec. 1. Variational AI welcomes Jennifer Hamilton, Ph.D. as a company advisor. Lykke Hinsch Gylvin, MD, EMBA has been appointed Head of Medicine and Chief Medical Officer, at Boehringer Ingelheim. Nimbus Synergies welcomes Mathew Merritt as their new Director of Finance, taking over for Alfred Sequeira who will retire early next year. And Fiona Marshall joins the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research as President and new ECN member on November 1st.
A reminder to register for our upcoming events, including the Blakes Breakfast Speaking Series: Cell and Gene Therapy on November 16th and our next Showcase Series: Kelowna event featuring innovation in the Okanagan area on November 22nd. We hope to see you there!
Until next week,
Wendy and the LSBC team
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