July 27th, 2023

Life Sciences BC seeks to raise the profile of our members and supporters, highlight their achievements, and promote BC's dynamic life sciences ecosystem. If you have news or a story to share, let us know. You can find previous editions of BioLinks newsletters and other resources on our website at News/Publications

Participants benefit from individual mentoring, educational workshops, goal setting, peer-to-peer feedback, networking opportunities, group meetings, and more. The program culminates in a pitch session to a group of pre-qualified investors. Learn more and apply here.

"There is no other program like it. IRP is very focused on moving the most promising companies forward by matching them with some of the most experienced biotech executives in the province to get them investor ready and accelerate their business development. There is also a significant benefit to them going through the program as a cohort and being able to cross-fertilize and help each other. – Malcolm Kendall, Microbiome Insights and Former EIR

Member Highlights 

Benjamin Lightburn of Filament Health recently spoke to Stockhouse Publishing about plans to list on Nasdaq and Filament’s $2.5 million private placement. Watch it here.

PharmaAla Biotech has been published in the journal Psychedelic Medicine featuring their foundational scientific work and drug development strategy. Read it here.

Industry Highlights

Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has announced changes to his cabinet, moving or shifting 31 portfolios to reset the government’s front bench before Parliament’s return in the fall and set the stage for the Liberals in the lead-up to the next federal election. Read the government news release here.

In May 2022, the 75^th World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to Strengthen Clinical Trials to Provide High-Quality Evidence on Health Interventions and Improve Research Quality and Coordination. One action requested of the Director-General was to develop World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on best practices for clinical trials. To this end, the WHO has launched a public consultation to obtain input from all relevant stakeholders, spanning all diseases and health conditions. The submission deadline for this consultation is September 15, 2023; additional information can be found here.

Canada has launched a 60-day public online consultation to support the development of a Safe Long-term Care Act. The deadline to submit comments is September 21. Learn more.

Canada has announced the first eight businesses to lead Canadian innovation as part of the Global Hypergrowth Project, a new scale-up service powered by Innovation Canada to help Canadian-based companies grow. Learn more.

Applications Open

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Awards competition, which supports scholars to fully focus on their doctoral studies, seek out the best research mentors in their chosen fields, and contribute to the Canadian research ecosystem, is accepting applications until October 17. Learn more.

BioTalent Canada’s Science Horizons Youth Internship Program, which covers the cost of a participant’s salary by 80% up to a maximum of $25,000, is accepting applications to help employers offset the cost of hiring and provide opportunities for new graduates. Learn more. 

We invite you to explore our expanded list of current life sciences application opportunities by clicking on the following link. Applications Open.

Kudos

Congratulations to the CIHR-IPPH 2023 Trailblazer Award Winners, including BC's Dr. Julio Montaner, recipient of the Senior Career Researcher Trailblazer Award and Travis Salway, recipient of the Early-Career Researcher Trailblazer Award. Learn more.

Kudos to Negin Farivar, co-founder and CTO of SnapCyte Solutions, who has received the distinguished Dr. Frank Forward and Dr. Gordon Forward Commercialization Fellowship, recognizing contributions to the field.

To mark BC Tech’s 30th anniversary year, it has established the BC Innovators Hall of Fame, in partnership with the Government of BC. Learn more about this year's 8 inductees here.

Kudos to BC Cancer's Dr. Florian Kuchenbauer and Dr. François Bénard, in collaboration with TRIUMF Innovations and led by Dr. Robert Britton from Simon Fraser University, who have secured a grant from the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC) to conduct ground-breaking research in cancer imaging. Learn more.

People on the Move

BCIT has appointed Jennifer Figner as Provost and Vice President, Academic.

Dr. Modestus Obochi has joined Sernova as Chief Business Officer. 

The BC SUPPORT Unit, part of Michael Smith Health Research BC, welcomes Dr. Linda Li as its scientific director.

Claudius Sokenu has joined Avantor as EVP, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary.

The Last Word

While the main gala room is sold out for the 25th Annual Life Sciences BC Awards presented by Farris on September 14, tickets are still available for the adjacent Networking and Viewing Reception room, featuring a relaxed and elegant environment that allows guests to enjoy the awards ceremony via live stream and mingle with all event honourees and attendees during programming breaks. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of a special evening celebrating outstanding achievements in the life sciences sector. Learn more here and secure your spot now.

Until next week,

Wendy and the LSBC team

WELL Launches ‘WELL Health USA’ to Deepen Integration Between US Lines of Business and Facilitate Further Growth

WELL Health Technologies Corp., a practitioner focused digital health company that is positively impacting health outcomes by leveraging technology to empower healthcare practitioners and their patients globally, is pleased to announce the formation of its new WELL Health USA business unit, a re-branding of what was previously CRH Medical Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of WELL...READ MORE

Sernova Expands Leadership Team with Appointment of Modestus Obochi, Ph.D., MBA, as Chief Business Officer

Sernova Corp., a clinical- stage company and leader in cell therapeutics, announced the appointment of Modestus Obochi, Ph.D., MBA, a veteran dealmaker and strategic leader with 25+ years of biotech and pharmaceutical industry experience, as Chief Business Officer effective September 8, 2023...READ MORE

Gemina Labs Announces Major Breakthrough in Environmentally Friendly Lateral Flow Test Design by Removing the Requirement for Nitrocellulose

Gemina Laboratories Ltd. is excited to announce another major innovation in lateral flow assay (“LFA”) test design resulting from its innovative, patented Gemina Bridge chemistry platform. Gemina Labs has deployed cellulose (paper) test strips in the lateral flow assay format, a fully biodegradable, environmentally friendly alternative to the industry-standard nitrocellulose strip...READ MORE

Investment of $5.2 Million Supports STEM Grads in Green Economy

BioTalent Canada is pleased to announce that it has reopened its popular Science Horizons program that provides employers in the environmental and clean-technology sectors with wage subsidies to hire post-secondary STEM graduates. The program has been run by BioTalent Canada for several years and has been well-received by many bio-economy employers. The reopening of the Science Horizons program has been made possible by a $5.2 million commitment from Environment and Climate Change Canada...READ MORE

Invitation! Exit Readiness Workshop, Vancouver (September 20th)

We invite Life Sciences BC members to join us for a practical Exit Readiness Workshop presented by boutique M&A advisory firm, Aqua, with insights from Osler. Aqua works with early-stage and growth-stage companies to develop exit strategies, run M&A processes, and negotiate exit transactions to close. The workshop will be followed by an informal networking reception. There is no cost to attend the workshop, however registration is required, and spaces are limited...READ MORE

AbCellera Announces that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board Has Denied Berkeley Lights’ Request for Rehearing

AbCellera announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board has denied a rehearing request in an Inter Partes Review filed by Berkeley Lights, Inc. that challenged AbCellera’s U.S. Patent No. 10,087,408 (the ‘408 Patent). AbCellera’s ‘408 Patent is directed to microfluidic devices and using such devices to culture cells, monitor a response, and recover selected cells, an important part of AbCellera’s end-to-end monoclonal antibody development engine...READ MORE

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Announces New Integrated Program For Those Diagnosed With Opioid Use Disorder Living With Chronic Pain

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) launched an integrated program in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side for individuals living with chronic pain who are diagnosed with opioid use disorder. This program, made possible with funding from Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP), will provide clients with an interdisciplinary team made up of a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, psychiatrist, family physician, peer, and nurse specialist...READ MORE

Filament Health Announces Upsizing and Closing of $2,500,000 Non-Brokered Private Placement Financing

Filament HealthCorp., a clinical-stage natural psychedelic drug development company, is pleased to announce an increase in the size of its previously announced private placement offering and that, further to its news release dated July 19, 2023, the Company has closed on the private placement financing for gross proceeds of C$2,500,000...READ MORE

Rostrum Medical Announces and is Excited to Share the Publication of Initial Validation Results of its Novel VQm® System.

Management of mechanically ventilated patients can be complex due to the difficulty in directly assessing the impacts to the heart and lung following clinical interventions. Rostrum Medical, which has developed and designed the VQm® System to address these challenges in patient management and is excited to announce the publication of its initial clinical validation in a porcine model...READ MORE

United Therapeutics Wins Appeal in Dry Powder Inhaler Patent Litigation

United Therapeutics Corporation, a public benefit corporation, announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court decision in the patent litigation United Therapeutics brought against Liquidia Technologies, Inc. The Federal Circuit affirmed that Liquidia’s proposed Yutrepia™ product infringes a United Therapeutics’ patent, U.S. Patent No. 10,716,793 (the ’793 patent). As a result, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot grant Liquidia final approval for its Yutrepia product until expiration of the ’793 patent, May 14, 2027, except in certain circumstances discussed below...READ MORE

Health Canada Approves Trodelvy® (Sacituzumab Govitecan) in Pre-treated HR+/HER2- Metastatic Breast Cancer

Gilead Sciences Canada, Inc. announced that Health Canada has issued a Notice of Compliance for TRODELVY® (sacituzumab govitecan) for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative (IHC 0, IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/ISH-) breast cancer who have received endocrine-based therapy and at least two additional systemic therapies in the metastatic setting. This decision is based on statistically significant and clinically meaningful progression-free survival and overall survival data from the Phase 3 TROPiCS-02 study...READ MORE

WELL Health to Enter into Strategic Alliance with MCI Onehealth, Acquire Clinical Assets, and Invest in AI-Focused Data Science Business to help Doctors Improve Disease Detection

WELL Health Technologies Corp., a digital health company focused on positively impacting health outcomes by leveraging technology to empower healthcare practitioners and their patients globally, is pleased to announce that as of July 19, 2023 it has entered into an agreement to acquire clinic assets form MCI Medical clinics Inc., a subsidiary of MCI Onehealth Technologies Inc. and a subscription agreement for a convertible debenture financing in MCI which will strategically focus the MCI business around its leading AI, Data Science and Rare & Complex Disease Detection platform...READ MORE

BC SUPPORT Unit Welcomes Dr. Linda Li as New Scientific Director

BC’s health research community will benefit from a new scientific director who will advance health evidence to improve BC’s health system. The BC SUPPORT Unit, part of Michael Smith Health Research BC, welcomes Dr. Linda Li as its scientific director, effective August 1st. Linda is an experienced scientific leader and an expert in patient-oriented research...READ MORE

Delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier and into the brain has been the single greatest challenge to treating hundreds of common and rare neurological diseases, including brain cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic disorders. At Bioasis, they undertake this challenge by focusing on a single goal: revolutionizing science by transporting therapeutic payloads across the blood-brain barrier and into the brain. Bioasis has developed and is commercializing our proprietary brain delivery technology, the xB3 platform, to make life-saving drugs brain-penetrant and deliver those therapies at a therapeutically relevant dose.

LEARN MORE

Prime Minister Announces Changes to the Ministry

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced changes to the Ministry. The new Ministry, adding to a strong core economic team, is ready to deliver on what matters most to Canadians: making life more affordable for the middle class, growing the economy, and building a strong future for people from coast to coast to coast...READ MORE

Minister Ng Announces First Businesses to be Part of Global Hypergrowth Project

The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, joined by Rechie Valdez, Member of Parliament for Mississauga—Streetsville, and a selection of panel members, announced the first eight businesses to lead Canadian innovation as part of the Global Hypergrowth Project...READ MORE

Government of Canada Launches Online Consultation for the Safe Long-Term Care Act

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Seniors, announced the launch of a public online consultation to support the development of a Safe LTC Act.

The development of the Safe LTC Act builds on the Government of Canada’s commitment to support seniors and persons with disabilities across the country. On January 31, 2023, the Government of Canada welcomed the release of two independent LTC standards from CSA Group and the Health Standards Organization (HSO), which provide guidance for delivering services that are safe, reliable and—most importantly—centred on residents’ needs...READ MORE

New Centre Will Prepare People for High-Demand Jobs in Clean Economy

Thousands of workers and people in British Columbia will get the opportunity to enter the clean economy and learn electric vehicle (EV) automotive trades at a new innovative centre at Vancouver Community College (VCC) following a significant investment from the Province...READ MORE

Public Consultation on WHO Guidance for Best Practices for Clinical Trials

In May 2022, the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly adopted a resolution on Strengthening clinical trials to provide high-quality evidence on health interventions and to improve research quality and coordination, in which one action requested of the Director-General was to develop WHO guidance on best practices for clinical trials. Please see action 2 under section “Requests the Director-General” at the end of WHA 75.8 resolution here. WHO is launching a public consultation on draft guidance developed in line with this request...READ MORE

RA/QA & Testing Specialist

The RA/QA & Testing Specialist will report to the CEO. They will lead all Quality and Regulatory Affairs efforts within the company. Currently, GuideStar are in the process of seeking FDA clearance in the United States, with plans to enter other global markets including Europe, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. This role also includes ownership of Quality Assurance processes related to the production of our device, including managing our QMS and reviewing engineering documentation. Furthermore, the successful candidate will coordinate all necessary ongoing testing activities with external vendors...LEARN MORE

Manager, Commercialization

The Manager, Commercialization assists in managing Praxis’ Commercialization Program (including SCI Incubate and SCI Accelerate programs) to expand and strengthen Praxis’ network for commercialization, helps to evaluate technologies and implement mechanisms for mentorship and coaching for SCI technologies based on their specific needs. This position is expected to execute on Praxis’ fundraising strategy to meet initial targets for the Commercialization Program/Innovation Fund from various sources, including government, people of high net worth, and corporate giving from industry...LEARN MORE

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