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Transcript of LifeSciences BC 2010 Magazine
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 1
Official publication
Sponsored by Published by
PMA 40069240 R8876
B.C. incentives: From science to business
Global connections: Spurring partnerships
Clean pathways: Bioenergy and bioproducts
Ideas into profits: Translational research
Directory of corporate members
2010
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 1 3/22/10 12:51:20 PM
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or call 604-734-7275
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Bridging the Commercialization Gap
The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) guides and supports early-stage drug development from top academic and health research institutions to increase the successful commercialization of new therapeutics.
CDRD provides drug development expertise and infrastructure to enable researchers to develop promising drug candidates. Its commercial arm licenses technologies from CDRD-affi liated institutions, and advances projects to the clinical development stage. The goal is to move a promising therapeutic to a stage where it can attract licensing partners, support the creation of spin-off companies, or secure the funding necessary for ongoing clinical development.
Opportunities for unique partnerships exist at all levels for local and global organizations.
For more informationabout the work of CDRD, please visit: www.cdrd.ca
Key Partner Benefi ts
innovation network for development,
potential pipeline
and equipment
The Centre for Drug Research and Development bridges the gap between promising scientifi c discoveries and commercial development.
Proof of Concept
GLP PreclinicalToxicology Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
ClinicalBasic Researchand Discovery
AcademicResearchers
Health ResearchOrganizations
Pharmaceutical & Biotech Companies
Infrastructure,Expertise, Funding
Conducts critical studies
Applies projectmanagement
Builds business case
Mentors PI-driven projects
Commercialization Arm
Out-licensing to pharmaceutical and biotech partners
Creation of spin-off companies
Ongoing clinical development
CDRD — The Partner of Choice for Drug Development
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 3 3/22/10 12:51:22 PM
4 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
Features11 B.C. and Canada nurture life sciences14 Province’s life sciences go global18 Pathways to clean energy20 Health care goes wireless22 Students into scientists25 Stars of B.C.’s life sciences30 Translational research points to profit
Departments6 President’s report34 Year in review37 List: Biggest biotech companies in B.C.38 LifeSciences British Columbia corporate members43 LifeSciences British Columbia Awards46 In memoriam: Don Rix
Sponsored by
2010 Official publication
Published by
LifeSciences British ColumbiaSuite 900 – 1188 West Georgia StreetVancouver, B.C. V6E 4A2Tel.: 604-669-9909 Fax: 604-669-9912www.lifesciencesbc.ca
LifeSciences British Columbia 2010 is published for LifeSciences British Columbia by BIV Magazines a division of BIV Media Group, 102 Fourth Avenue East, Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1G2, tel. 604-688-2398,fax 604-688-1963 www.businessinvancouver.com
Publisher: Paul HarrisEditor-in-Chief: Naomi Wittes ReichsteinDesign Director: Randy PearsallProofreader: Baila LazarusWriters: Peter Caulfield, Lorne Eckersley, Wael Elazab,
Andrew Findlay, Noa Glouberman, Peter Mitham, Andrew Topf
Production Manager: Don SchuetzeProduction: Carole ReadmanSales Manager: Joan McGroganAdvertising Sales: Lori Borden, Corinne Tkachuk Administrator: Katherine ButlerList Research: Richard ChuOffice Manager: Dennis LeBlancController: Marlita HodgensPresident, BIV Media Group: Tom Siba
Copyright 2010, BIV Magazines. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or incorporated into any information retrieval system without permission of BIV Magazines. The publishers are not responsible in whole or in part for any errors or omissions in this publication.
About LifeSciences British ColumbiaGrowing Canada’s bioeconomy
LifeSciences British Columbia (LSBC)
represents B.C.’s life sciences through
leadership, promotion of B.C.’s world-
class science and industry, raising of the
industry’s international profile, facilitation
of investment and global partnering, ad-
vocacy and public-policy initiatives, and
nurturing of B.C.’s economic development.
Marketing and promotion
Among LSBC’s activities:
co-ordination of a strategic B.C. presence
at international life-science conferences;
annual LifeSciences BC Awards, given to
individuals and companies;
a robust website serving as a portal to all
things life-science in B.C.; and
“Biolinks,” a monthly electronic news-
letter going to more than 6,000 global
contacts.
Investment and partnering
LSBC’s efforts include:
online directory of companies, research
institutions and technologies;
regular targeted partnering days in-
volving top-tier multinationals;
annual co-production of BioPartnering
North America, the continent’s largest
stand-alone biopharma partnering event;
Life Sciences Ambassador Programme,
stationing a seasoned LSBC executive in
Europe to support international business
development and connect to fellow am-
bassadors world-wide;
hosting of additional international
conferences in B.C. such as the 2008
BIO Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial
Biotechnology & Bioenergy; and
regular hosting of incoming business
and research delegations from abroad.
Advocacy and public policy
LSBC ensures that life science is a priority
for every level of government. Activities:
development of position paper “Building
World-Class Biotech Businesses in BC”;
formal submissions to key consultations;
service on the PharmaCare Task Force;
work with the provincial government to
enhance federal intellectual property (IP)
and data protection; and
introduction of policy changes to pro-
vide tax savings to companies deriving
income from life-science patents.
Human capital
LSBC’s efforts:
LSBC’s “BC Excels” mentorship program,
helping executives from emerging com-
panies with professional development,
product plans and strategies for com-
mercialization and IP protection;
Breakfast Speaking Series, featuring in-
dustry leaders and local companies;
Medical Device and BioProducts and
BioEnergy Seminar Series;
delivery of “Biotech 101 – Biotechnology
and Beyond,” a course introducing non-
scientists to the life-science industry; and
delivery of the Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent
Challenge, a high-school competition.
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 4 3/22/10 12:51:24 PM
At Providence Health Care Research
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approaches are being used to fi nd
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For more information on all of our services,
visit our website: www.providenceresearch.ca
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 5 3/22/10 12:51:24 PM
6 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
President’s reportKarimah Es Sabar
LifeSciences British Columbia
From biopharmaceuticals and medical
devices to bioproducts and bioenergy,
from forest biotech to agricultural
and marine, life sciences play a crucial role
in British Columbia. LifeSciences British
Columbia (LSBC) is here to catapult the
province into global leadership by ensuring
that no life-science sector works in isola-
tion – that all sectors come together in a
comprehensive, co-ordinated fashion.
Through challenging economic times,
B.C.’s life-science industry has continued
to witness successes, examples of which
you will encounter throughout this pub-
lication. And it is during tough times that
strong industry associations are perhaps
more important than ever. LSBC has
therefore focused foremost on business
development, actively helping members
reach their varying goals.
At LSBC, we support such goals through
our strategic initiatives, projects and activ-
ities. Be it raising the industry’s profile via
a co-ordinated presence at international
events, nurturing human capital through
our “BC Excels” mentorship program or the
Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge or facili-
tating investment and partnering through
our BioPartnering North America confer-
ence or our Life Sciences Ambassador
Programme, we turn the environment into
an enabling one.
We would not be able to do any of this
without sustained support from all our
generous members, sponsors and part-
ners. This year in particular, we thank all
members and sponsors who continue to
support LSBC financially despite turbulent
economic times. Such support allows us
to continue bringing everyone involved
in life sciences to the same table: our
universities and Centres of Excellence for
Commercialization and Research, our gov-
ernments and our companies and service
providers. This coming-together has given
B.C. a unique competitive advantage and
allowed us to leapfrog over other loca-
tions and bring the world’s attention here.
Local, national and even international
bodies now consult us on a variety of
issues related to science, technology, re-
search and innovation, because they see
B.C. as a model of success. These consul-
tations and international collaborations
help us ensure that B.C. life sciences have
a credible united voice at the most im-
portant tables. We are not only committed
to the development of our own local
industry; we’re also deeply interested in
the impact of science and technology on
human lives globally.
In this context, we work with many
of our research-support organizations –
the Centre for Drug Research and
Development, Genome British Columbia,
the Michael Smith Foundation for Health
Research, the National Research Council,
Western Economic Diversification Canada,
the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada and others –
to align industry research more fully and
explore the expanded roles these organiz-
ations might play in supprting companies.
At a time of limited resources, it is critical
for us fully to leverage the collective
resources of industry, research and gov-
ernment, fostering commercialization at
every level and opportunity.
Commercialization cannot happen
without partners, and in biopharmaceut-
icals, partnerships are often global. At
LSBC, we spend much time and energy
working with partners to bring inter-
national investment to our province. These
efforts have borne fruit, with companies
like Merck, Pfizer and AstraZeneca making
new investments not only in our com-
panies but also in our public research
institutions, further fuelling the discovery
engine that powers our industry. I thank
these companies for being such great
partners for LSBC and our province. They
are critical and much-valued members of
our community.
Opportunities in life sciences far out-
stretch the area of human health alone.
By estimate, the current Canadian bio-
refinery plans will create 14,000 jobs and
generate 1.5–2.0 billion in new investment
in Canada and roughly 600 million in
annual economic activity. We are working
to bring a significant proportion of these
jobs and economic growth to B.C. as we
are naturally positioned to lead the world
in bioproducts and bioenergy. We cap-
italize on our large available supply of bio-
mass coupled with our leading research
expertise and our ability to translate
research into commercial opportunity.
We recognize the challenges that life
sciences have faced over the last year in
particular. We expect to encounter addi-
tional obstacles along the road ahead. I
remind you, though, that our mandate
is to do whatever we can to support our
members, the industry, the community
and our partners, be they across the street
or on the other side of the globe. Working
together, we will have the vision not only
to minimize the impact of an unpredict-
able economic climate, but moreover to
emerge a stronger, wiser and even more
successful industry that continues to bring
cutting-edge solutions to the challenges
of humankind.
Thank you all – our friends and partners.
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 6 3/24/10 1:36:33 PM
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| www.genomebc.ca | www.genomicseducation.ca
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 7 3/22/10 12:51:35 PM
8 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
BRONZESPONSORS
SILVERSPONSORS
GOLDSPONSORS
Our Sponsors
ADVISORS INC.
Suite 900 – 1188 West Georgia StreetVancouver, B.C. V6E 4A2Tel.: 604-669-9909 Fax: 604-669-9912www.lifesciencesbc.ca
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 8 3/22/10 12:52:56 PM
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BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 11
British Columbia’s magicProvincial and federal investment nurtures life sciences
Peter Mitham
Adecade ago, the flight of high tech
to the United States was a common
theme as acquisition-minded
American companies snapped up Canadian
firms or as more favourable tax regimes
made relocation necessary for growth.
Today the picture is different. Among
the 17 federally funded Centres of Excellence
for Commercialization of Research (CECRs),
five are headquartered in British Columbia,
representing a commitment of $66.4 million
in the province. Of these, three are affiliated
with the University of British Columbia: the
Centre for Drug Research and Development;
the Prostate Centre’s Translational Research
Initiative for Accelerated Discovery and
Development; and the Centre of Excellence
for the Prevention of Organ Failure. The
fourth, Advanced Applied Physics Solutions
Inc., is a spinoff of TRIUMF, the nuclear
physics research facility at UBC, while the
fifth is Oceans Network Canada Centre for
Enterprise and Engagement. Yet a sixth
CECR, the Pan-Provincial Vaccine Enterprise,
operates in various locations nationwide,
with the BC Centre for Disease Control
acting as its Vancouver participant. (For
coverage of the CECRs, see page 30.)
With international deals such as the
recent US $430-million commercialization
agreement between B.C.’s OncoGenex
Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Israel’s Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the sector
is seeing robust activity.
At UBC, president Stephen Toope says
the change has come in part from the
university’s shift away from being a direct
financial beneficiary of innovation to
serving the community and developing
relationships through its research.
“We are simply part of an innovation
ecosystem, and we need simply to de-
velop partnerships and relationships that
are continuing,” he says.
The approach is fundamental to the
cash-driven world of life-sciences research,
where connections are as important to
success as are the creative applications
of discoveries. It has paid off, garnering
UBC more than $285 million in external
research funding for life sciences and
placing B.C. among the country’s top
areas for life-science research, with more
funding available here per researcher than
anywhere else.
According to Toope, the funding
supports “the whole gamut of research
related to every living organism,” covering
the poplar genome to treatments for
visceral leishmaniasis, the Dumdum fever
that’s the world’s deadliest parasitic dis-
ease after malaria.
This breadth of research is owing to a
network of strong institutions including
universities, hospitals, agencies such as the
BC Cancer Agency and Genome British
Columbia and a local quality of life
attractive to international researchers.
Toope notes that B.C. offers “a very
strong cluster of existing strengths both
in … people and in … investment made
by public sources through research grants
etc.,” combined with “a business structure
that’s overall friendly to investment” and
“a wonderful quality of life in Vancouver.”
He says, “You put that together, and I
think you’ve got the capacity here to
attract outstanding people to get great
work done, and you’ve got a vision on the
world through places like UBC.”
A network of University-Industry
Liaison Offices (UILOs) also plays a critical
role in the province’s dynamic life sciences,
according to Michael Stevenson, president
LEFT: University of British
Columbia president Stephen
Toope sees research in
life sciences as serving
the community, while the
university also benefits from
commercialization
BELOW: Research occurring at
the Life Sciences Centre and
elsewhere at UBC garners
more than $285 million in
external funding annually
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 11 3/22/10 12:53:08 PM
12 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
of Simon Fraser University, whose main
campus is in Burnaby.
The UILOs were originally established by
Patrick McGeer, a UBC health scientist who
was a minister in B.C.’s Social Credit govern-
ment from 1975 to 1986 and spearheaded a
number of projects to foster innovation in
life sciences. The liaison offices in particular
were designed to link university faculty
with angel investors and facilitate commer-
cialization of university research.
Since then, a number of incentives
designed to boost B.C.’s life-science com-
panies have joined such early initiatives.
These include venture tax credits that
facilitate investment in local businesses
and the federal Scientific Research and
Economic Development tax credits, which
provide companies with rebates for invest-
ments in tech development.
Stevenson acknowledges that growing
companies sometimes come up against a
limited capacity in Canada for financing at
later stages. He doesn’t expect the search
for cash to become easier as the lingering
effects of the 2009 recession prompt
universities and other institutions to pare
budgets. (SFU alone will cut $9 million in
2010 and possibly more in 2011.)
“I think everybody hopes that we can
create incentives and a policy en-
vironment that will grow fairly sig-
nificant business enterprise in the life
sciences,” he says.
Where there’s space,
there’s action
Keen researchers and skilled lab
staff also drive innovation, and
the University of Victoria features
Western Canada’s largest co-op edu-
cation program.
“More than half the students in
our faculty of science are engaged in
the life sciences in some way,” says David
Turpin, UVic president. “Those students are
able to move out and transfer knowledge
to the private sector through their co-op
placements.”
Many of the students turn these
placements into full-time positions upon
graduation.
Victoria also offers space to tech
companies through the Vancouver Island
Technology Park (VITP), a 191,000-square-
foot facility through which the university
boasts more technology transfer space
than any other research institution in the
province, providing a focus for high-tech
business development in the region.
VITP’s intention: to increase the current
site with 235,000 square feet of new tech
space and 15,000 more for complementary
retail and amenities.
The expansion will strengthen the
park’s position as a hub for high-tech busi-
ness, already home to GenoLogics Life
Sciences Software Inc., Vifor Pharma (for-
merly Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corp.) and
the UVic Genome BC Proteomics Centre.
Creating space for companies is
likewise important at the University
of Northern British Columbia, where
president George Iwama is overseeing ef-
forts to revamp the industry liaison office
and tout UNBC’s ability to provide research
capacity and connections in northern
B.C., especially in forestry, to companies
seeking to locate in the province. A new
downtown campus in Prince George
promises to facilitate links with business.
“We’re expanding our campus into
the downtown area to engage with the
chamber of commerce and the business-
development agencies,” says Iwama. “We
are, front and centre, a very research-active
small university, whether you’re looking
at the medical and cancer frontier [or the]
outdoor. We’re quite active from the mo-
lecular to the population level.”
LEFT: Western Canada’s largest co-op
program for student placement is a
valuable link between university and
industry, says David Turpin, University
of Victoria president
BELOW, LEFT: Proteomics – the study of
proteins – is one of the bright lights of
Victoria’s life sciences, with a dedicated
UVic lab
ABOVE: George Iwama,
president and vice-
chancellor of the
University of Northern
British Columbia:
connecting research to
business
LEFT: UNBC’s Canfor Winter
Garden
Bottom photos: University of Northern British Columbia
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 12 3/22/10 12:53:17 PM
14 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
Reaching around the worldBritish Columbia’s life-science players find global partners
Andrew Topf
In life sciences, geographical borders
blur as researchers, institutions and
companies collaborate with international
partners pursuing common goals.
Karimah Es Sabar, president of
LifeSciences British Columbia (LSBC), says
facilitation of international linkages is a
critical mandate for the organization. LSBC
strives to make “the rest of the world”
aware “that B.C. is indeed a leading life-sci-
ence centre with truly world-class research
and companies and a proven track record
of commercial success. Secondly,” she says,
“we work directly with top-tier partners,
introducing them to the many specific op-
portunities that exist in B.C., and really make
certain that they connect with one another.”
One approach: Teams from global
companies visit British Columbia for one
to two dedicated “partnering days” of
meetings. “Through this kind of hands-on
facilitation, we have seen a number of
deals come about, and our companies
have been further enabled toward com-
mercial success,” says Es Sabar.
Another: With the Technology
Vision Group, LSBC co-produces the
BioPartnering North America (BPN) con-
ference, occurring in Vancouver each
February with approximately 1,000 dele-
gates representing about 500 companies
from more than 25 countries.
Now North America’s largest stand-
alone biotech-partnering event and one
of the world’s leading ones, BPN intro-
duces B.C. to leading partners and has
helped facilitate well over $100-million
worth of partnerships, asserts Es Sabar.
This year’s BPN, held January 24–26,
featured over 2,200 face-to-face meetings,
according to conference co-producer TVG.
According to Michael Barr, director of
business development at Critical Outcome
Technologies Inc. (COTI), BPN “fosters
meaningful collaboration discussions and
provides [an] opportunity to identify and
meet with a number of individuals or or-
ganizations” that may not arise otherwise.
Case in point: an initial meeting at BPN
2008 between Ontario-based COTI and
Arizona company TD2 led to COTI’s having
TD2 complete a series of experiments on
COTI-2, its lead oncology-drug candidate.
This relationship expanded into a formal
partnership in January 2010, when COTI
announced TD2 as its partner of choice for
drug development.
Scandinavian style
The Medicon Valley Alliance (MVA) com-
prises the Danish and Swedish life-science
cluster. It began in 2006 as a bridge to
counterpart clusters world-wide.
Says Morten Faester, the life-sciences
ambassador currently in Vancouver to
help cultivate relationships between B.C.
and Medicon Valley, “It’s about creating
collaborations in the life-sciences environ-
ment, whether business to business,” as
among biotechnological, pharmaceutical
or medical-technological companies; or
in academic institutions “such as hospitals,
Pierre Meulien, chief scientific officer of Genome BC: spearheading efforts to study
the genomics of yeast in fermentation and heading up a large project with Norway
and Chile to sequence the genome of Atlantic salmon (opposite)
Photo: Dominic Schaefer
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 14 3/22/10 12:53:24 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 15
universities or science parks.”
Only on the job since fall 2009, Faester
has already identified more than a dozen
leads that could result in partnerships in
biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and
bioproducts. Novo Ventures, a Danish
venture-capital fund, has invested in two
B.C. biotechs: Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.
and Zymeworks Inc.
While the importance of B.C. as a region
for life science has sometimes been over-
looked as compared to that of American
hubs such as Silicon Valley and the Boston
area, Faester says this is starting to change
through the work of institutions like the BC
Cancer Agency and its spinoff company
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc., which he
describes as a “gold mine.”
The MVA fosters academic partner-
ships too. Robert Sindelar, dean of the
faculty of pharmaceutical sciences at the
University of British Columbia, recognizes
the presence of Søren Harbel, B.C. life-
sciences ambassador in Medicon Valley,
as integral to the establishment of dia-
logue between UBC and the University
of Copenhagen.
Sindelar is excited about “synergies”
in “student learning, research” and the
possible prospect of sharing “faculty
members in … macromolecular drug
delivery.” The Medicon Valley Ambassador
Programme has allowed these inter-
changes to move “much more quickly”
than they would otherwise.
From AIDS testing to ayurvedics
B.C.’s demographic ties to India provide
fertile ground for collaboration. The BC
Premier’s Mission to India in 2008, which
included representation from prominent
Indo-Canadians such as former MP Herb
Dhaliwal, saw an important memorandum
of understanding signed between Simon
Fraser University and the International
Centre for Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology in New Delhi.
Led by Fiona Brinkman, head of the
Brinkman Laboratory at SFU, this effort
has the goal of improving computational
methods of identifying new drug targets
and vaccines that play essential roles
during infections. (A drug target is what
the drug is trying to inhibit, for example
an enzyme.)
Other SFU-India projects: the develop-
ment of hand-held diagnostic units that
can determine the correct antibiotic
prescription for infantile diarrhea, which
kills 40 per cent of Indian
newborns; Canadian-Indian
partnerships for the prevention
and treatment of oral cancer;
and work on an ayurvedic
remedy for diabetes headed
by Mario Pinto, SFU’s vice-
president, research.
Richmond-based BioLytical
Laboratories has been working
with the AIDS Healthcare
Foundation in India on AIDS
testing and followup. BioLytical
manufactures an HIV test kit
that doctors’ offices and clinics
can use without needing to
send samples to labs.
BioLytical also recently
received $1.39 million to de-
velop new technology with
the University of Toronto and St. John’s
Research Institute in Bangalore. The
money will go to a multi-disease test for
HIV, syphilis and herpes whose results
can be determined in 60 seconds from a
single drop of blood.
On January 21–23, 2010, Vancouver
was the site of the Canada-India B2B
Partnership Summit on Life Sciences,
conducted in conjunction with BPN.
Participants from academia, industry,
government and life-sciences groups
from B.C. and India assembled to net-
work, discover synergies and create
relationships for the purposes of bilateral
R&D and collaboration. The summit fea-
tured information-sharing, roundtable
conversation, sector-specific discussions
and other sessions.
Also importantly for B.C., June 19–23,
2010, will see the first-ever organized con-
ference for invited leaders in various fields
from India and Canada: the Canada-India
Cardiovascular Health Conference (CVH).
Hosted by the Canada-India Networking
Initiative (CINI), CVH will focus on health
and education. According to CINI, the rate
of cardiovascular disease is three to four
times higher among South Asian residents
than among other general populations of
the world. As stated in the conference’s in-
formational package, the event will bring
together leaders from both countries in
academia, research, health, innovation,
industry and public policy to address “the
current state of knowledge and research”
in what is a growing epidemic for both na-
tions. Occurring principally at SFU, CVH will
also have events at Kwantlen Polytechnic
University and British Columbia Institute of
Technology.
In Bangalore, BioPartnering India
(June 2–4, 2010) will feature aspects of
partnering with Indian companies. It will
showcase presentations by Indian and for-
eign companies interested in succeeding
in the economy of that country.
Far eastern bridges
Pacific Rim connections put B.C. in a
strong position to work with East Asian
life-science companies.
In Japan, the contact organization
BioBridge Kansai promotes alliances
Richmond-based BioLytical Laboratories is
working with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to
develop a program for AIDS testing and followup
in India
Top photo: Genome BC; bottom photo: BioLytical Laboratories
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 15 3/22/10 12:53:44 PM
16 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
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between the Kansai region and other
countries. Avi Salsberg, managing director,
Japan, of the BC Trade and Investment
Office says the Kansai unites universities,
life-sciences business parks and leading
Japanese pharmaceutical companies.
Among recent B.C. successes, Salsberg
points to the licensing by Takeda
Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to Xenon of the
right to commercialize pain product
XEN401 in Japan and other Asian coun-
tries; an agreement between Shionogi &
Co., Ltd. and Response Biomedical Corp.
to market a diagnostic test for congen-
ital heart failure (for further coverage of
Response Biomedical, see page 28); and a
landmark deal between Cardiome Pharma
Corp. and Astellas Pharma US, Inc., the U.S.
affiliate of the Japanese company. Back in
2008, Astellas also participated in a round
of venture-capital funding that raised $22
million for Burnaby-based Inimex Corp.
Salsberg says discussions are under
way among Osaka University, UBC and
the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA). He’s also
working with the technical licensing office
of the University of Tokyo to identify cross-
licensing opportunities and is introducing
the university to the Centre of Excellence
for the Prevention of Organ Failure (PROOF)
in Vancouver, which discovers biological
markers for the prevention and treatment
of diseases associated with organ failure.
(For coverage of PROOF and other Centres
of Excellence for Commercialization and
Research, see page 30.)
China holds promise for B.C.’s life sci-
ences, particularly in cancer research.
Motic China Group Co., Ltd. has developed
technology that enables screening for
cervical cancer, mostly by applying meth-
odologies developed at the BCCA, reports
Sam Abraham, the agency’s vice-president,
strategic relations. This technology has
been deployed successfully to a number
of Chinese provinces. It “allows a country
like China with a large and well-spread
population to approach early testing as a
means of effectively catching disease early
so you cure it,” explains Abraham.
China will showcase its life sciences to
the world when BioPartnering China – the
country’s first biopartnering event – takes
place in November 2010.
In Korea, LSBC has signed a memo-
randum of understanding with the
GyeongGi Bio-Center, a non-profit that
supports the biotech and pharmaceutical
industries in GyeongGi province. The MOU
will facilitate life-science partnerships be-
tween B.C. and GyeongGi.
Connections down under
The highest levels of government have
encouraged connections between B.C.
and Australia. Peter Beattie, former premier
of Queensland, led the way with his Smart
State vision, diversifying Queensland’s
resource-based economy to one that
showcased knowledge and innovation. In
the process, Beattie signed a statement of
intent with the B.C. government in 2008
pledging to capitalize on synergies be-
tween the two regions.
Beattie identifies a number of
collaborations that have taken place since
the time the statement was signed, in-
cluding a strategic partnership agreement
between Queensland company Clinical
Network Services Pty Ltd. and B.C.-based
ASKA Research; a drug-discovery alliance
between Queensland’s Eskitis Institute for
Cell and Molecular Therapies at Griffith
University, Queensland, and the Centre
for Drug Research and Development in
Vancouver; a whole-of-institution partner-
ship between SFU and Griffith University;
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 16 3/22/10 12:53:49 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 17
MC#
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and a spinal-cord-injury alliance involving
Queensland University of Technology, the
Queensland Clinical Trials Network Inc.,
the Rick Hansen Institute and the Michael
Smith Foundation for Health Research.
Other important connections include
the Australian-Canadian Prostate Cancer
Research Alliance and a joint research col-
laboration into heart and lung transplants.
The latter is between the James Hogg
iCAPTURE Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital in
Vancouver and the Princess Alexandra
Hospital in Queensland.
Genomics goes global
Genome British Columbia always fishes
for new international collaborative op-
portunities. It’s now heading up a large
endeavour by B.C., Norway and Chile to
produce a sequence that identifies and
maps all the genes in the genome of the
Atlantic salmon.
The aim: to give industry and aca-
demics a better understanding of the fish’s
migratory patterns and to facilitate the
development of stock more adaptable to
the environment. On completion, the se-
quence will be able to serve as a reference
for the genomes of other salmonid such
as the Pacific salmon and rainbow trout, as
well as those of more distantly related fish,
such as smelt and pike.
Researchers at UBC are working with
Danish bioenergy company Novozymes
to extract biofuel from the millions of hec-
tares of B.C. trees killed by the mountain
pine beetle. Novozymes also takes interest
in B.C.’s expertise in metagenomics (the
study of genetic material recovered from
organisms in their natural environments),
including work done through Canada’s
Michael Smith Genome Science Centre.
B.C.’s knowledge of such areas opens
the possibility of “collaborations with
Novozymes in industrial biotechnology in-
cluding and beyond the area of bioenergy,”
says Pierre Meulien, chief scientific officer,
Genome BC. Meulien considers the oil-
sands and aquatic environments as further
areas ripe for partnerships.
Winemaking is called an art, but it’s
the science of fermentation that’s behind
Genome BC’s foray into wine genomics.
The group is working with wineries in
B.C., the United States and New Zealand
to research the genomics of yeast in fer-
mentation. “Winemaking is a biological
process, and if you understand the under-
lying biology, you can control what you’re
doing in a much more scientific way,” says
Meulien. The findings could help wineries
make critical decisions about timing, grape
harvests and the kinds of yeast they use.
Meulien identifies “biobanking” as a
potential area of collaboration between
B.C. and Denmark, a world leader in the
banking of biological specimens used to
study human sub-populations: “There are
several biobanking initiatives in the pipeline
in B.C., and we could probably use some of
[the] know-how in Denmark in this area.”
Genome BC is working with wineries in
B.C., the U.S. and New Zealand on the
genomics of yeast in fermentation
Photo: Genome BC
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18 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
Clean-fuelling the futureBritish Columbia leads in bioproducts and bioenergy
Andrew Findlay
Solid governmental support is helping
British Columbia’s clean-energy
and biotechnology firms become
world leaders in converting biomass into
fuel and advancing the battle to reduce
carbon emissions.
In spring 2009, the provincial govern-
ment announced the allocation of $32.6
million in funding to follow upon the $25
million already set aside for the Innovative
Clean Energy (ICE) fund launched in 2008.
Times are thus exciting for the more than
200 B.C. companies in this rapidly evolving
sector, says Bob Ingratta, bioproducts
& bioenergy sector specialist with
LifeSciences British Columbia (LSBC).
“This additional funding for biofuels
and clean tech continues to demonstrate
the B.C. government’s commitment to ac-
celerating commercialization and creating
regional economic development across the
province,” Ingratta says. “This will benefit
critical areas [in] technology improvement.”
The BC Bioenergy Strategy of January
2008 set ambitious targets: to meet
50 per cent of the province’s renewable-
Photo: Dominic Schaefer
Ross MacLachlan, president and chief executive officer of Lignol Innovations, a pioneer in producing fuel from plant fibre
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 18 3/22/10 12:54:17 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 19
4th International
BioEnergy Conference & Exhibition
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION
June 8 – 10, 2010Prince George, British Columbia
Featuring:International Partnerships ForumBusiness-to-Business Meetings
Emerging Clean Technologies ProgramBioenergy and Cleantech Trade Show
www.bioenergyconference.org
fuel requirements
with biofuel by
2020; to develop
by 2020 at least
10 community
energy projects converting local
biomass into energy; to reduce green-
house gas emissions by 30 per cent by
2030; to increase the production and
use of biofuels such as biodiesel; and to
establish Canada’s most comprehensive
biomass inventory for turning waste into
energy. These aims spell big-time oppor-
tunities for innovative businesses.
Capacity is being built locally but with
enormous potential economic benefits.
Today’s global market for products derived
from renewable sources like agriculture,
forestry or municipal waste (bioproducts)
is estimated at $200 billion; the market for
bioenergy, which comes from biomass-
derived fuel, $175 billion. More than 1,100
experts from around the globe gathered
in Montreal for the BIO World Congress in
July 2009 to share knowledge of biotech-
nology and bioprocessing, with the aim of
growing the sector.
Ingratta says that governmental funding,
whether from provincial sources like the ICE
fund and the BC Bioenergy Network (BCBN)
or from federal programs like Sustainable
Development Technology Canada (SDTC), is
key to developing commercial-ready tech-
nologies, leveraging financing and meeting
the targets laid out in the bioenergy
strategy. January brought the news that
16 clean-tech projects, including six from
B.C., would receive $58 million in federal
funding through SDTC.
Among the projects are
technologies using
renewable energy
such as electricity
and hydrogen to power
vehicles, and
biomass tech-
nologies that
will add value
to Canadian
forestry and agriculture.
B.C. companies named for
this funding are Agrisoma
Biosciences Inc., Automotive
Fuel Cell Corp., Ballard Power Systems Inc.,
Exro Technologies Inc., HTEC Hydrogen
Technology & Energy Corp. and Pulse
Energy, Inc.
Capital ideas
Since its launch in 2008, the ICE fund has
leveraged $25 million into more than $80
million in investments in the B.C. economy.
The fund has been seeded with money
raised through an amendment to the
Social Service Tax Act that assesses a 0.4
per cent levy on sales of fuel oil (not used
for transportation), electricity, natural gas
and grid propane.
The levy will disappear when the
harmonized sales tax takes effect in July
2010, but Blair Lekstrom, minister of energy,
mines and petroleum resources, says
the fund will remain: “The province will
continue to support the ICE fund and will
review the fund’s budget annually.”
In June 2009, Lignol Innovations Corp.,
a pioneer in producing fuel from cel-
lulose (that is, plant fibre) completed the
first end-to-end production of cellulosic
ethanol at its plant in Burnaby.
A $3.4-million ICE grant will enable
Lignol to test its operations with a variety
of waste-wood products, optimizing
systems so that the firm can “finalize en-
gineering for large-scale plants,” says Ross
MacLachlan, president and chief executive
officer. At the same time, $1.18 million from
the BCBN will boost co-operative research
between Lignol and several B.C. universi-
ties delving into commercial applications
for cellulose-derived ethanol.
Meanwhile, Vancouver’s Canadian
Bioenergy Corp., which markets and dis-
tributes biodiesel, is in discussions with
Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland Co.
for a blockbuster deal to build a canola-
based biodiesel production facility in
Lloydminster, Alberta. Projected capacity:
265 million litres per year.
Ingratta believes that the Renewable
and Low Carbon Fuel Requirements
Regulation announced in December 2009
by the B.C. government will augment
demand. He says considerable challenges
still face clean energy, specifically the ef-
ficient availability of biomass feedstock for
energy conversion, the capacity to scale
up to commercial-size plants, incentives
for early adoption of clean energy and
access to capital for building plants. It’s in
addressing such challenges that funds like
ICE come into play, Ingratta says.
With continued funding in place and in-
creasing capacity to deliver bioproducts
and bioenergy systems domestically and
globally, B.C. is well on the way to capturing
a significant piece of this lucrative pie.
In a little more than a decade, LSBC
predicts that B.C. will be the “Silicon Valley
of renewable energy,” an epicentre of tech-
nical innovation, creativity and implementa-
tion as we find cleaner ways to heat homes,
fuel vehicles and drive industries.
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 19 3/22/10 12:54:35 PM
20 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
Tech convergenceWireless brings new tools and efficiencies to health care
Peter Caulfield
During your next medical appoint-
ment, the doctor grabs her cell,
punches some keys, then reads the
screen. She’s checking not her messages
but rather the medical-practice guidelines
that have a bearing on your treatment,
as posted on a website of the British
Columbia Ministry of Health Services.
Called CliniPEARLS, this new offering
results from collaboration between the
ministry and the eHealth Strategy Office of
the Faculty of Medicine at the University of
British Columbia. Information that has trad-
itionally occupied fat binders is now access-
ible by personal digital assistants as well.
Available now, CliniPEARLS is an ex-
ample of wireless medicine: what hap-
pens when health care embraces wireless
communication. Benefits include better
decision-making tools for practitioners
and greater cost-effectiveness for hospitals
and health-care systems.
New tech, new relationships
LifeSciences British Columbia (LSBC)
president Karimah Es Sabar says B.C. is
“poised for global leadership” in wireless
health. “Much of what happens” in the
field, she thinks, will “happen in B.C.”
To that end, LSBC and the Digital Media
and Wireless Association of BC (DigiBC)
are working together to establish relation-
ships with leading organizations active in
wireless health, such as the West Wireless
Health Institute in San Diego.
DigiBC president Michael Bidu says that
more than 20 of its member companies
are in the business of developing wireless-
health technologies and services. “And
there are another 20 or so that have ex-
pressed interest in expanding into wireless
health,” he adds. “It’s a good start.”
Bidu says the North American market
for the technology is “worth between 14
billion and 20 billion per year” and that
DigiBC intends in 2010 to look at “the ad-
dressable market for B.C. companies.”
In July 2009, Bidu and Es Sabar co-hosted
the Wireless Health Forum in Vancouver
to discuss the challenges and opportun-
ities faced by technological convergence
in B.C. In October 2009, a B.C. delegation
took part in the Wireless Health Pavilion at
the 2009 CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment
Conference in San Diego. Four B.C. wireless
companies attended.
In November 2009, LSBC and WINBC
sponsored a second Wireless Health Forum.
One speaker there, Rizwan Kheraj from
the National Research Council Industrial
Research Assistance Program, discussed
the demand from the United States for e-
health expertise and technology and how
to access the billions of dollars in stimulus
funds available for e-health.
UBC’s eHealth Strategy Office
The success of tech convergence in B.C.
will depend much on research conducted
by such groups as UBC’s eHealth Strategy
Office. Kendall Ho, its director and an as-
sociate professor in the division of emer-
gency health, says the office’s staff of 20
includes representatives from a host of
disciplines, including health, technology,
psychology, behavioural science and
health management.
“E-health is interdisciplinary,” Ho says. “It
needs groups working together, including
private industry.” Collaboration “leads to
new approaches to doing things.”
The office has 20–25 ongoing research
projects. “We want to use information
technology to its maximum potential in
medicine,” Ho says. “We don’t want to get
distracted by every new technology that
comes along. We need to find and use the
right ones.”
Future e-health capital
Bidu says B.C. could become Canada’s cap-
ital of wireless health and life sciences: “We
have technical expertise, a world-class life-
sciences cluster, excellent university labs
and a committed government. But the dif-
ferent parts need to be linked together to
enable B.C. wireless-medicine companies
to grow and export the technologies de-
veloped here.”
Says Bidu, “In five to seven years, I hope
to see 100 wireless-health companies in
B.C.”
Karimah Es Sabar,
president,
LifeSciences
British Columbia
(left) with Michael
Bidu, president,
Digital Media
and Wireless
Association of BC
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22 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
Youthful engagementWith exhibits and science fairs, British Columbia’s life
sciences send a strong educational message
Noa Glouberman
Using eyedroppers and Jell-O, stu-
dents visiting “Geee! in Genome”
learn how scientists extract DNA
samples and take steps toward discov-
ering what genomics mean to them.
Produced by the Canadian Museum of
Nature in Ottawa, this travelling exhibit is
presented nationally by Genome Canada.
Genomics is “a hot topic, with many
Canadians involved in research and in-
novations,” comments Deanna Wiebe,
program co-ordinator at Science World
in Vancouver, where the exhibit ran from
October 2, 2009, to January 4, 2010. “So
having the exhibit here was very timely. It
gave kids a chance to learn about genes,
DNA, [genomes] and stem cells in a fun,
interactive way.”
Science learning lead Sandy Eix, also
of Science World, adds that although the
show was “geared to older high-school
students … lots of little guys [came] in.”
This multi-age appeal underscored the
value of “lifelong learning” and “getting
even the youngest children comfortable
with science.”
The life-sciences community has sup-
ported the exhibit. Wiebe says, “We had
so many researchers, scientists [and] PhDs
wanting to volunteer and lend their exper-
tise to the program that we actually had
to turn some of them away.”
“It was great to see kids working along-
side these big, fancy researchers,” Eix
recalls. “The exhibit really pulled everyone
together toward the common cause of
“A science fair is one of the most amazing educational
and personal experiences you’ll ever have”
– Philip Edgcumbe, winner, B.C. region, 2006 Sanofi-Aventis Biotalent Challenge
Photo: Dominic Schaefer
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 22 3/22/10 12:54:57 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 23
spreading the message that science mat-
ters: that it’s for everyone, regardless of
age.”
One corporate advocate for this mes-
sage is Genome British Columbia, which
got involved with “Geee! in Genome”
during its first run in Vancouver in 2003.
“Besides our interest in and support of
research, we’re here to ensure [that] the
community’s involved with genomics and
life sciences,” says Alan Winter, president
and chief executive officer. “We’re always
looking for ways to make our knowledge
available and provide experiential learning
that’s hands-on and illustrates the value of
genomics to others.”
The Vancouver showing of the exhibit,
sponsored in part by LifeSciences British
Columbia (LSBC) and Sanofi-Aventis, was
unique in featuring Geneskool: educa-
tional workshops taught by graduate
and post-doctoral students trained and
recruited by Genome BC, which normally
runs the program as a week-long day
camp for Grade 10 to 12 students in the
summer and conducts outreach to class-
rooms throughout the province during
the school year.
The combination of the exhibit and
the workshops, Winter comments, en-
abled organizers “to drive the relevance of
genomics home to students. The demand
for [Geneskool] was extraordinary. … We
reached a substantial number of kids in
the Lower Mainland.”
In addition to its various interactive
learning stations and the Geneskool,
“Geee! in Genome” exposed students to
science-fair projects created by their peers,
plus a panel discussion about the impres-
sive scientific work being done by other
teens.
Fair game
Students Phillip Edgcumbe, Linda Liu and
Perri Tutelman agree: science fairs are one
of the best ways to foster interest in life
sciences.
Edgcumbe and Maxim Winther placed
first in B.C. in the 2006 Sanofi-Aventis
Biotalent Challenge (SABC) for their pro-
ject “Antioxidants to Reduce Free Radicals
in Cellular Environment” while they were
classmates at Kitsilano Secondary School.
“A science fair is one of the most
amazing educational and personal ex-
periences you’ll ever have in your life,”
Edgcumbe says. “It gives you a chance to
do far more than simply listen to a teacher
Top & centre photos: Canadian Museum of Nature; bottom photo: Science World British Columbia
Though geared to students in grades 9 to 12, “Geee! In Genome” offers fun,
interactive and hands-on learning for kids of all ages
The “Geee! in Genome” exhibit teaches students about genes, DNA, genomes and
stem cells interactively, encouraging reflection on the possibilities and ethics of
genomics. TOP: The section on genetic diseases and testing
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 23 3/22/10 12:55:14 PM
24 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
system – that, when tangled, can cause
neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Her project revealed the ability of rhubarb
extract to preserve the structure of this tau
protein by inhibiting its tangling.
“Science fairs allow us to practise active
learning,” she says. ”Instead of [only]
reading about scientific phenomena in
textbooks, we can gain hands-on experi-
ence and create innovative solutions to
the world’s problems.” Liu plans a career in
medicine.
Tutelman of Richmond’s R.C. Palmer
Secondary School grabbed gold in the
health-sciences category of the Canada-
Wide Science Fair in 2009 with her pro-
ject on combination therapies for breast
cancer. Now in Grade 11, Tutelman says
that the prestigious fair helped give her a
solid grounding for scientific process and
thought, affording her a unique oppor-
tunity to do research through work place-
ment at the BC Cancer Agency.
“I love it; it’s so much a part of me,”
Tutelman says of science. “Learning labora-
tory techniques and protocols is fascin-
ating to me and something I’ll definitely
call on with my post-secondary education.”
“Kids today are being exposed to sci-
entific concepts like genetics, DNA and
fingerprinting at an earlier and earlier
stage, and it’s appropriate for them to be
given the opportunity to learn and under-
stand what’s happening in the world
around them,” says Sally Greenwood,
director, communications and education,
Genome BC. “Through partnerships like
the one we have with Science World, for
example, the life-sciences community can
really come together and embrace the
advancement and enhancement of life-
sciences education for B.C. students, who
are, after all, our scientists of tomorrow.”
“Science fairs allow us to practise
active learning. Instead of [only]
reading about scientific phenomena
in textbooks, we can gain hands-on
experience and create innovative
solutions to the world’s problems”
– Linda Liu, winner, B.C. region, 2009 Sanofi-Aventis Biotalent Challenge
and study for tests in science class. It lets
you experience what it’s like to be a real
scientist, developing real experiments to
test your hypothesis.”
Now working toward his first science
degree at the University of British Columbia,
Edgcumbe volunteers in organizations like
Let’s Talk Science, which brings science edu-
cation to elementary-school classrooms. He
says B.C. is particularly fortunate in having
science fairs province-wide sponsored by
groups ranging from the British Columbia
Innovation Council to local biotechnology
firms and LSBC, which acts as the local co-
ordinator of the SABC each year.
“I’m sure each of the thousands of
students who do science-fair projects
every year has a story of [his or her] own,”
Edgcumbe says. Even students who “don’t
end up doing science … gain an apprecia-
tion for it and for the scientific process.”
Liu would agree. While a Grade 11 stu-
dent at Sands Secondary School in Delta,
she nabbed first place in the 2009 SABC,
B.C. region, for studying a protein – abun-
dant in neurons in the central nervous
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 24 3/24/10 12:28:35 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 25
Our life workFrom basic research to pharmaceuticals, from medical
devices to testing, British Columbia looks to the future
Noa Glouberman
With a financially challenging year
behind them, British Columbia’s
players in life sciences are for-
ging ahead, pursuing scientific advance-
ments and medical breakthroughs that
will create a brighter future for all.
AIDS adversary
Julio Montaner, director of the B.C. Centre
for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, remains stead-
fast in fighting a worldwide epidemic that
he and other experts deem unnecessarily
devastating.
“We have the means to suppress the
ability of the HIV virus to multiply in pa-
tients, and we now have data showing
[that] sexual and needle transmission can
also be dramatically decreased with ap-
propriate treatment of HIV through highly
active antiretroviral therapy [HAART],” he
says. “It’s the right thing to do, the smart
thing to do and the most cost-effective
thing to do. It makes good business sense,
and it’s good for patients.”
After working in the mid-1990s on
the question of how to suppress the
virus and seeing a resultant drop of 80
per cent in mortality from AIDS in B.C.,
Montaner began appealing for universal
access to treatment: “We’ve seen the treat-
ment become simpler, better and more
powerful, and we’ve done our best to roll
out this knowledge in world settings. We
don’t want to look back years from now
and say we should have made treatment
of HIV a priority in the developing world.”
HIV/AIDS has been devastating in its
social and economic impact, destroying
families, generating poverty and deci-
mating the workforce. “Just imagine: If we
treated every infected pregnant woman
with antiretroviral drugs, we’d eliminate
prenatal HIV and transmission from
mother to unborn child altogether,” says
Montaner. “We’ve done it in B.C. It’s time
to go global.”
Concerned that the United Nations
won’t achieve its goal of introducing
universal access to antiretroviral therapy by
its 2010 deadline and that support from the
G8 remains suboptimal, Montaner holds
the world accountable. “People say there’s
a financial crisis going on, but HIV is not in
recession. In fact, it’s expanding, and put-
ting it on hold is a bad idea. By the time we
come back to it, it will have expanded so
much [that] our ability to control it will have
been compromised.”
First country on his list: Canada,
whose contribution to the cause he calls
“fractional.” With the next G8 summit
scheduled for Ontario this summer,
Montaner calls on Prime Minister Stephen
Harper to ensure discussion of HIV: “This is
his opportunity. We want to remind him
[that] it’s not just about doing the charit-
able thing; it’s a wise investment.”
On February 26, 2010, international
leaders in HIV/AIDS – including UNAIDS
executive director Michel Sidibé; Mark
Dybul, co-director of the O’Neill Institute
for National and Global Health Law,
Georgetown University; Merck Research
Laboratories vice-president of virus
and cell biology Daria Hazuda; Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation HIV program
head Stefano Bertozzi; and NIH National
Photo: Dominic Schaefer
“We don’t want
to look back
years from
now and say
we should
have made
treatment
of HIV a
priority in the
developing
world”
– Julio Montaner, director, B.C. Centre
for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 25 3/22/10 12:55:26 PM
26 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
Institute on Drug Abuse director Nora
Volkow – met in Vancouver for the Impact
of Science & Innovation in HIV and AIDS
conference, co-hosted by LifeSciences
British Columbia (LSBC). The conference
marked three decades of HAART work.
Irene Day, director of operations for the
B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, who
helped organize the event, says Montaner
was instrumental in gathering such an
impressive and powerful group: “These
are some of the biggest names in the field
of HIV/AIDS, and Julio certainly has the
international presence and the contacts
to bring them in to talk about this very
important cause, and how they can keep
working to push it forward world-wide.”
On February 4, 2010, the B.C. govern-
ment announced a 48-million pilot pro-
gram called Seek and Treat, the first of its
kind in Canada, to bring HIV/AIDS medica-
tions to hard-to-reach populations. Indeed,
Montaner sees 2010 as a pivotal point in
the disease’s history, declaring, “It’s time to
remind everyone [that] we need Canada
to put AIDS back on the agenda to en-
courage the G8 and eventually the G20 to
act, or future generations will be saddled
with an enormous mortgage.”
Heart helper
In April 2009, Vancouver-based Cardiome
Pharma Corp. inked a major licensing deal
with pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Inc.:
the largest agreement of its kind in history
involving a Canadian life-science firm.
According to Cardiome’s president,
chief executive officer and director Doug
Janzen, multiple suitors expressed interest
in backing the company’s discovery
before Cardiome made a decision. The
development: a drug for atrial fibrilla-
tion (an abnormal heart rhythm) dubbed
“vernakalant.”
“We narrowed it down to Merck, the
number-1 cardiovascular company in the
world,” he explains. “It puts our discovery
in strong hands and our company in a
good financial position to commercialize
an oral version of the drug.” (For more on
the deal, see page 45.)
Cardiome has been named by LSBC as
its 2010 Company of the Year.
Cancer crusader
It’s been some year for Vancouver’s
OncoGeneX Pharmaceuticals Inc., which
is busy developing and commercializing
new therapies to address unmet needs in
cancer treatment.
OncoGeneX won the 2008 LSBC
Company of the Year Award, while its
president and chief executive officer, Scott
Cormack, was named Canada’s Pacific
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for
2009 in health sciences.
Accolades aside, 2009 saw OncoGeneX
complete a 9.5-million registered direct
offering of 475,000 shares of its common
stock to institutional investors; secure a key
United States patent on its method of using
its lead cancer-drug candidate, OGX-011, to
treat certain cancers; and announce posi-
tive preliminary results of a Phase 1 trial for
OGX-427, which is designed to treat solid
tumors including prostate, non-small-cell
lung, breast, ovarian and bladder cancers.
In December 2009, OncoGeneX en-
tered into a deal to license its OGX-11 to
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. of
Israel, while Teva made an equity invest-
ment in OncoGeneX as part of the deal.
“The awards put us on the radar screen,
and it’s nice to be recognized by our
peers,” Cormack comments, “but when
our work shows a significant improvement
in cancer survival, that’s the real reward.”
Power source
Users of battery-dependent medical
devices grapple daily with a hazard
potentially disastrous for patients: the
draining of power sources. Today, a B.C.
Scott Cormack, president and chief
executive officer of OncoGeneX and
Pacific Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of
the Year, 2009: “When our work shows
a significant improvement in cancer
survival, that’s the real reward”
Photo: Dominic Schaefer
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 26 3/23/10 9:47:07 AM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 27
business is advancing a tech-
nology that could prove crucial
in addressing this problem.
Burnaby’s Bionic Power is de-
veloping a device for military
use that, when strapped to the
knee of a foot soldier, harvests
the energy generated by his
stride to reduce the battery
load he needs for powering
GPS devices, radios, etc.
This technology, says chief
executive officer Yad Garcha,
could easily transfer into health
care for use with “things like
artificial limbs. … Our device
could be integrated into the
prosthetic or worn on a healthy
leg to extend the life of the
battery without taxing the in-
dividual or requiring any meta-
bolic work.”
Expecting to deliver the
Energy Harvester to buyers in
late 2010 or early 2011, Bionic
Power will fill the military
demand first, then turn its
attention to the medical
industry.
Infection fighter
Acting under the leadership of Neil Reiner,
head of the division of infectious diseases
at the faculty of medicine at the University
of British Columbia, a team discovered that
important structural differences existed
among certain proteins common to both
humans and parasites. Scientists can thus
identify parasites within the body by the
differences between their proteins and
our own.
Enter Indel Therapeutics Inc. Says chief
executive officer Malcolm Kendall, who
founded the company in 2008, “[Reiner]
opened the door, we were put together,
and it just made sense. It was a chance
to return to my entrepreneurial roots and
make a difference in people’s lives.”
With dangerous bacteria increasingly
plaguing hospitals, Indel targets the differ-
ences and deletions among the common
proteins as a means of generating new
antibiotics for combating hard-to-treat
and hospital-acquired infections.
“A critical protein in the pathogen
that causes MRSA [methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus], for example, is
missing a hairpin-loop sequence that’s
present in the same essential human
protein, creating a pocket we can target
with a small-molecule drug,” Kendall ex-
plains. “So the technology lets us attack
the bug-version of a protein without af-
fecting the human counterpart protein,
and that’s really going to help deliver
unique, novel antibacterial drugs to a
market that desperately needs [them].”
Life-saver
Sirius Genomics Inc. develops DNA-based
pharmacogenomic (PGx) diagnostics that
improve the safety and effectiveness of
drugs.
“By correlating patient genetics with clin-
ical outcomes, we’re able to develop prod-
ucts that enable better drug treatment,”
explains president and chief executive of-
ficer Chris Wagner, who took the company
reins from Brad Popovich in December
2009. “Basically, the goal is to be able to
give the right drug to the right person.”
One such PGx test developed by Sirius
aims to improve critical care
for patients with sepsis, a
severe blood infection. The
test acts as a genetic predictor
of response to recombinant
human-activated Protein C, a
controversial sepsis treatment
sold by pharmaceutical giant
Eli Lilly and Co. under the
trademark Xigris.
The test started making
headlines in January 2009,
when Sirius agreed to col-
laborate on its continued de-
velopment with the UK Critical
Care Genomics Group. Eight
months later, the Vancouver
firm celebrated yet another
gain, receiving funding for the
same cause from the National
Research Council of Canada
Industrial Research Assistance
Program.
“This financial support demonstrates
the willingness of the Canadian govern-
ment to sustain innovation in critical areas
of growth such as genomics and person-
alized medicine,” Popovich said at the
time. “The program provides an important
service for small, rapidly growing Canadian
companies such as ours.”
Yad Garcha, chief executive
officer of Bionic Power,
whose Energy Harvester
uses energy generated by
the human stride to power
portable devices
Malcolm Kendall, chief executive
officer of Indel Therapeutics, maker
of antibiotics that fight bacterial
infections spread at hospitals
Photos: Dominic Schaefer
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 27 3/23/10 9:47:23 AM
28 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
Research and Training opportunities in Life Sciences, including:
LSI …… A Place of Discovery
Blood and Blood ProductsCardiovascular Disease and StrokeCell, Developmental & Cancer BiologyDiabetes and Obesity
Chemical Biology of DiseaseInfection, Immunity, InflammationTuberculosisMolecular Epigenetics
L I F E S C I E N C E S I N S T I T U T E
www.lsi.ubc.ca
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.
Testing titan
Response Biomedical Corp. has enjoyed a
period of accomplishment: the formation
of major partnerships and recognition as
LSBC’s Medical Device Company of the
Year in 2009.
“I’m very pleased to be leading
Response Biomedical at this exciting time
in the evolution of the company,” says
Wayne Kay, chief executive officer. “With
partnerships in place with 3M Company,
Roche Diagnostics and Shionogi & Co.,
Ltd., we are poised for strong growth.”
In June 2008, this developer and
manufacturer of rapid point-of-care (POC)
diagnostic tests signed an agreement with
Roche to market Response’s line of cardio-
vascular POC tests globally. The Vancouver
firm also formed a strategic alliance with
3M to co-develop Response’s line of prod-
ucts relating to infectious diseases.
“Medical diagnostics is a small part of
the biotech sphere, and receiving rec-
ognition for our work brings welcome
visibility to the company and the industry
in Vancouver,” Kay says. “We’re looking
forward; we’ve got many exciting plans for
the year ahead.”
Picture provider
In 2002, McKesson Corporation purchased
Richmond’s ALi Corporation for 530
million. McKesson, a US 50-billion-a
year company headquartered in Atlanta
that produces diagnostic information
for health care, wanted ALi’s top-notch
digital medical-imaging and information
software but knew that simply swallowing
the company would probably destroy its
favourable market position.
Instead, McKesson turned ALi into
a division called the Medical Imaging
Group. It remained in B.C., with McKesson
injecting financial and business support
and retaining ALi experts like Rod O’Reilly,
who today is senior vice-president and
general manager of the much-expanded
division, one of McKesson’s fastest-
growing. For three consecutive years
(2004–06), the division captured the com-
pany’s coveted President’s Cup, awarded
to the unit that achieves high scores in
customer and employee satisfaction,
retention, operation income, sales growth
and other performance metrics.
“The key thing is that, while we now are
owned, we’ve been allowed to keep our
group together and in Vancouver,” O’Reilly
said in an interview. “There has been
some shifting of thinking, but it’s a good
one: we went from thinking how we can
build a company to how we can make an
impact on health care.”
Matchmaker
Through next-generation technology,
the bioinformatics group at Canada’s
Chris Wagner, president and chief
executive officer, Sirius Genomics:
relating patients’ genetics and clinical
outcomes to “give the right drug to the
right person”
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 28 3/23/10 9:47:28 AM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 29
Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre
is developing computational approaches
to analyze DNA-sequence information:
ongoing research that will provide in-
sights to the mutations and other DNA
rearrangements that occur within the
oncogenic processes that give rise to
cancer.
“New sequencing technology and ma-
chinery allow us to do work we couldn’t
have done five years ago, at least not
inexpensively,” explains Steven Jones,
head of bioinformatics and the centre’s
associate director. “The result will essen-
tially allow to be put into place the kind
of medicine that could be personalized,
so [that] a certain kind of tumour could
be matched up with the most effective
treatment for the patient.”
With grants in hand, Jones says the
facility will expand in 2010 to include
more of the hardware and software
that researchers need for doing this life-
saving work. “We’ve been charged with a
very challenging timeline, bodies of work
that need to be done and milestones
that must be met. We’re very excited to
have the challenge of meeting those
milestones.”
Spinal cord injuryA fluid approach
Prognoses for patients recovering from
spinal cord injuries (SCI) arise from the
fluid in their spines. Brian Kwon, a surgeon
with the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre,
Vancouver General Hospital, leads a team
of researchers doing clinical trials.
Says Kwon, “My focus is on very acutely
injured patients and what we can do to
improve neurological outcomes or mini-
mize the extent of paralysis.”
His team inserts a small catheter into a patient’s spine to remove samples of fluid
around the cord. The catheter also helps measure the pressure around the cord.
By “measuring the pressures, we can monitor how much blood is being supplied to
[the] injured spinal cord, because we think that’s an important determinant of outcome,”
says Kwon, explaining that the cord suffers from a lack of blood supply after injury.
The goals: to define the seriousness of injury, to prognosticate how much recovery
will occur and to identify targets for therapeutic agents.
“For example, if we find a protein that is highly expressed and we have a way to
block it, we’d further investigate that as a potential strategy for improving outcome,”
says Kwon.
Much of what’s known about SCI comes from research on animals like rats or mice,
with quite a bit less known about humans: “Taking this fluid gives us the next-best
description [of] what is really going on.”
By Andrew Topf
Brian Kwon (right) and graduate
student Jae Lee assess an injured
spinal cord for damage and the
effects of a new treatment
Photo: Kent Kallberg, Blusson Spinal Cord Centre
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 29 3/22/10 12:56:04 PM
30 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
In translationTuned to excellence, British Columbia’s scientists go commercial
Under Martin Gleave, executive director of the Prostate Centre, the Transitional Research
Initiative for Accelerated Discovery and Development relies upon “team science” to translate
research into practical applications
Photo: Dominic Schaefer
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 30 3/22/10 12:56:23 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 31
Wael Elazab
Whether focused on the human
genome, the ozone layer or
natural disasters, scientific collab-
oration involves the sharing of data, tech-
nique and expertise, giving researchers
the power to work at the limits of their
capabilities.
In 2007, the Government of Canada
established the Centres of Excellence for
Commercialization and Research (CECR)
program to foster collaboration-based
research and development. The goal: to
strengthen Canada’s economy and social
well-being.
The program provides grants to en-
courage the creation of organizations that
connect people and services for the pur-
poses of scientific innovation and break-
throughs. The year the program started,
the Canadian government invested
close to 300 million to be spent over
five years. Recipients get support for the
operating expenses of their centres and the commercialization of
their discoveries. The CECRs are known as translational research
centres; that is, places that conduct research from discovery to
commercialization.
British Columbia boasts a total of six CECRs to date. The first
four are Advanced Applied Physics Solutions Inc. (AAPS), the
Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), the Centre
of Excellence for the Prevention of Organ Failure (PROOF) and the
Prostate Centre’s Transitional Research Initiative for Accelerated
Discovery and Development (PC-TRIADD), each receiving nearly
15 million. In 2009, a fifth B.C. winner, Oceans Network Canada
Centre for Enterprise and Engagement (ONCCEE), received more
than 6.5 million. Still another CECR, the Pan-Provincial Vaccine
Enterprise (PREVENT), uses B.C. talent in reaching its cross-country
goals.
As laid out by the Networks of Centres of Excellence
Secretariat, the model for the CECRs is to increase business
through research-and-development partnerships; to engage ex-
perts within industrial sectors; to encourage academics and pro-
fessionals from various disciplines to collaborate on innovations
that ensure a bright and stable future for Canada; and to accel-
erate commercialization of technologies, products and services.
Physics TRIUMFant
One of the world’s leading laboratories in subatomic physics,
TRIUMF brings together interdisciplinary talent, sophisticated
resources and commercial partners in AAPS, its CECR offshoot.
With industry partners, AAPS is developing desktop cyclo-
trons with which hospitals will be able themselves to create
medical isotopes for diagnostics and therapeutics. Philip Gardner,
president and chief executive officer of AAPS, states, “The ap-
proach we take with AAPS and with TRIUMF is that [we] have a
scientific skill-set available [that we] build on.” After all, he believes,
there’s “no point doing things that you don’t have a great deal of
expertise in.”
PROOF against failure
PROOF diagnoses, prevents and treats heart, lung and kidney
failure by developing and commercializing biological markers.
These characteristic biomarkers, which can be measured, help
ensure that the right person gets the best treatment at the right
time.
Centre director Bruce McManus notes that B.C.’s scientific com-
munity was early in establishing an interdisciplinarity foundation
for itself. PROOF includes people from medicine, pathology, sur-
gery, pharmacology, computer science, statistics and engineering,
with exciting synergies unfolding. McManus observes that “trans-
lational research, to be effective, requires people to [work] outside
of their comfort zones, at the edges.”
Scott Tebbutt, chief scientific officer, explains that PROOF is
trying to personalize medicine, for prompter identification of
individual needs: “Right now, [people are] already well into organ
failure when they’re picked up in the health system, and there’s
often not much you can do.”
Ocean of knowledge
ONCCEE was founded on the vision of making Canada a global
leader in the science and technology of ocean-observation
systems. The intent: to maximize associated economic and social
benefits.
“What we’re trying to do is give a leg-up to Canadian industry
to prosper,” says Martin Taylor, president and chief executive of-
ficer of Ocean Networks Canada, the parent organization. Local
and international partnerships have always been key, he says, and
have furthered the research. “Pushing the envelope of science
pushes the envelope of technology.”
Navigating the long and winding road
PC-TRIADD steers anti-cancer therapeutics along the complex
path from discovery to use in patient care.
Since opening in the early 1990s, the Prostate Centre has
Philip Gardner, president and chief executive officer of TRIUMF offshoot Advanced
Applied Physics Solutions, beside a test stand during the initial stages of AAPS’s
innovative, patented approach to producing medical isotope Moly-99
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 31 3/23/10 9:48:16 AM
32 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
been moving genetic mechanisms from
discovery to manipulation for the creation
of new biomarkers and therapeutics. Says
Martin Gleave, executive director of the
Prostate Centre, PC-TRIADD takes discov-
eries from “the bench to the bedside” in
translating research into practical applica-
tions. Scientists “drown in data,” he says,
“but the end game isn’t about creating
data; it’s about creating knowledge,” spe-
cifically that which applies to useful ends.
“That’s where ‘team science’ is important:
you keep your eye on the goal and ultim-
ately help humankind.”
A PREVENTion better than a cure
Collaborating with the Vaccine and
Infectious Disease Organization at the
University of Saskatchewan and the
Canadian Centre for Vaccinology in
Halifax, the British Columbia Centre for
Disease Control created PREVENT.
As it helps identify Canada’s priorities
in public health, PREVENT focuses on
several promising vaccines, including
those for the prevention of human
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), E. coli
and salmonella. New compositions
to improve existing vaccines, reduce
side effects, ease delivery and stream-
line production costs are also under
development.
In promoting the expansion of
Canada’s vaccine industry, PREVENT has
pledged to license out vaccine candi-
dates, facilitate creation of four or more
products and develop a vaccinology
training program, all within five years.
Among vaccines currently fast-tracked
for commercialization are those for influ-
enza, pertussis (whooping cough) and
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE,
mad-cow disease).
Nurturing small into large
Christopher Ryan, executive director,
Pacific region, National Research Council
Industrial Research Assistance Program
The National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research
Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) is committed to helping small and
medium-sized companies “research and develop innovative …
products and services through a network of 240 industrial
technology advisers (ITAs) across the county,” according to
Christopher Ryan, executive director for the Pacific region.
ITAs are engineers, scientists and business advisers. An
ITA working in life sciences in British Columbia, Lesley Esford
provides a unique kind of support: “If you’re part of a small, two-
person company just out of university, what could be better
than having ITAs who might be two PhDs
and an engineer sitting round a table with you?”
Says Ryan, an ITA and a company develop a close working
relationship. Ultimately, “NRC-IRAP program is an investment
by the Government of Canada in small and medium-sized
Canadian firms.”
It’s your career.Get it right.
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 32 3/22/10 12:56:45 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 33
Cycling faster
The CDRD is expert at project manage-
ment. According to Natalie Dakers, co-
founder and chief executive officer, it
excels in assembling the complex frame-
work needed to put life scientists’ discov-
eries on track toward commercialization.
The CDRD comprises “experts in drug
screening, formulation, delivery, pharma-
cology and toxicology, as well as clinicians
that provide insight into what the real
From injury to possibilityThe Rick Hansen Institute (RHI), based
at the new Blusson Spinal Cord Centre
at Vancouver General Hospital, is
a national network committed to
minimizing disability and maximizing
quality of life for Canadians with spinal
cord injuries (SCI). A major part of RHI’s
work is SCI translational research, in-
volving the application of discoveries
generated during laboratory research
and pre-clinical studies to the develop-
ment of trials and studies in humans
and, following success, preparation of
such knowledge for implementation
into practice. Minimizing paralysis after
SCI and reducing the impact of the
many serious secondary complications
are central themes of RHI’s translational
research program.
unmet medical [needs are] for their patients.”
The centre’s commercialization arm, Drug
Development Inc. (DDI), interacts with industry. It de-
velops and licenses technologies from academic part-
ners. Dakers emphasizes that the CDRD’s relationship
with Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., the B.C.-based com-
pany specializing in discovery and development of gen-
etically based drugs, exemplifies the DDI’s ability to work
with local life-science and biotechnology industries. The
partnership is expected to help Xenon move its pro-
gram forward by reaching early-stage research goals and
project milestones.
Natalie Dakers, co-founder and chief
executive officer of the Centre for Drug
Research and Development, which
navigates therapeutics along the
complex road to production
Expert at project management, the Centre for Drug
Research and Development assembles the complex
framework needed to put life scientists’ discoveries
on track to commercialization
Knowledge to action.
From our home at Vancouver’s Blusson Spinal Cord Centre, the Rick
Hansen Institute is leading a Canada-wide effort to minimize disability
and maximize the quality of life of Canadians with spinal cord injuries –
through focused translational research, identification and implementation
of best practices, and development of community partnerships. Visit
www.rickhanseninstitute.org to learn more and get involved.
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 33 3/22/10 12:57:11 PM
34 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
YEAR IN REVIEWCompiled by Andrew Topf
March 9, 2009: LifeSciences British
Columbia Awards 2009 announced
Recipients: Ben Koop, Centre for Biomedical
Research, University of Victoria, and
William Davidson, professor, department
of molecular biology and biochemistry,
Simon Fraser University, won the Genome
BC Award for Scientifi c Excellence; John
Babcook, principal scientist, won the Amgen
British Columbia Innovation & Achievement
Award; Jack Saddler, dean, faculty of forestry,
University of British Columbia, and Julio
Montaner, director, B.C. Centre for Excellence
in HIV/AIDS, received Leadership Awards;
Response Biomedical Corp. was named
Medical Device Company of the Year;
and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and
Nexterra Systems Corp. were each named
Life Science Company of the Year.
April 3, 2009: British Columbia supports
bioenergy with $32.6 million
The provincial government invested $32.6
million to help commercialize B.C.’s bio-
fuel and clean-energy technologies and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Lignol
Innovations Corp. received a grant of
$3.4 million to produce cellulosic ethanol
and other products from under-used
forest resources, especially material from
lodgepole pines killed by the pine-beetle
epidemic. (For more on Lignol and other
companies in bioproducts and bioenergy,
see page 18.)
April 9, 2009: Surrey student wins prize
with research into Alzheimer’s disease
Research that could lead to an improved
treatment for Alzheimer’s placed fi rst
in the 2009 Sanofi -Aventis BioTalent
Challenge. Surrey student Linda Liu won
with her study into the tangling of a pro-
tein that can cause this and other neuro-
logical diseases (see page 23).
June 11, 2009: Xenon, Merck to
collaborate on cardiovascular disease
Burnaby-based Xenon Pharmaceuticals
Inc. announced a strategic alliance with
Merck & Co., Inc., through an affi liate, to
discover and develop small molecules for
the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
The agreement gives Merck the exclusive
option to license drug targets from Xenon
for development and commercialization.
In return, Xenon receives research funding
and is eligible for up to US $94.5 million for
the fi rst target and up to US $89.5 million
for each subsequent target.
July 7, 2009: Life-science companies
among Ernst & Young Entrepreneur
of the Year Awards
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the
Year Awards added a life-science category.
Recipients: Ross MacLachlan, president
and chief executive offi cer, Lignol;
Jonathan Rhone, chief executive offi cer,
Nexterra; Scott Cormack, president and
chief executive offi cer, OncoGenex; Brad
Miller, president, IMW Industries Ltd.;
Andrew Rae, president and chief executive
offi cer, iCo Therapeutics Inc.; and Simon
Pimstone, president and chief executive
offi cer, Xenon.
July 19–22, 2009: B.C. profi led at 2009
BIO World Congress, Montreal
The World Congress on Industrial
Biotechnology & Bioprocessing brought
delegates from around the world to
Montreal to share information and
business-partnering opportunities. Life
Sciences British Columbia (LSBC) par-
ticipated in the Queensland, Australia,
leadership luncheon and co-hosted the
Team BC Dinner with the British Columbia
Innovation Council (BCIC). LSBC and BCIC
shared an exhibition booth. They co-
hosted the BC Showcase & Networking
event, which, attended by more than 60
guests, featured BC Hydro, Genome British
Columbia, Lignol, Canadian Bioenergy
Corp. and international partnerships
with Queensland. (For B.C.’s role in bio-
energy, see page 18; for more on the B.C.-
Queensland connection, see page 16).
July 28, 2009: Companies collaborate
on heart-drug commercialization
Merck and Cardiome Pharma Corp.
of Vancouver announced a major
collaboration and licensing agreement for
the commercialization of vernakalant, a
candidate for the treatment of atrial fi bril-
lation (see pages 26 and 45).
September 18, 2009: Life Science
Ambassador Programme launched
LSBC launched a partnership with the
Medicon Valley Alliance (MVA), based in
Copenhagen, Denmark. The Life Science
Ambassador Programme facilitates the
exchange of representatives between the
MVA and leading life-sciences clusters
around the world. B.C. is one of 12 clusters
chosen to participate. LSBC’s ambassador,
Søren Harbel, is working in Copenhagen
for three years, promoting connections
among participating clusters. Meanwhile,
Morten Faester, MVA’s ambassador to B.C.,
is working with LSBC and the regional
local life-science community during this
same period. (See story on international
partnerships, page 14.)
September 22, 2009: Industry leaders
elected to LSBC board of directors
Two new board members were elected,
having demonstrated leadership in B.C.’s
life sciences: Jack Saddler, dean and pro-
fessor, faculty of forestry, UBC, and Ali
Tehrani, president and chief executive of-
fi cer, Zymeworks Inc. Outgoing directors
are Don Avison, past president, Research
Universities’ Council of British Columbia,
and Robert Butchofsky, president and
chief executive offi cer, QLT Inc.
October 2, 2009: Genomics exhibition
opens at Science World
A hands-on, 2500-square-foot exhibition
on genome sciences that ran at Science
World from October 2, 2009, to January 4,
2010, gave local high-school students the
opportunity to explore DNA, genes and
genomics (see page 22).
October 7, 2009: BC Bioenergy Network
signs MOU with Terasen Gas
The BC Bioenergy Network (BCBN) and
Terasen Gas entered into a strategic
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 34 3/22/10 12:57:13 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 35
agreement to further the commer-
cialization of bioenergy technolo-
gies in B.C. The parties agreed to
co-operate on increasing the under-
standing of bioenergy opportunities
in B.C., on increasing the number and
success of investment opportunities
for common projects and potentially
on leveraging funding for projects that
advance the bioenergy objectives of
Terasen and BCBN.
October 16, 2009: Federal grant
to support B.C.’s life sciences
The federal government expressed its sup-
port of the province’s life sciences with
the announcement of a $754,000 grant
through Western Economic Diversifi cation
Canada under the Western Diversifi cation
Program. This funding allows LSBC to
implement a multi-year strategic plan for
strengthening the workforce and the sec-
tor’s economic capabilities. Activities will
include marketing, public education and
outreach programs to increase research
collaboration and investment capital.
October 29, 2009: Conference
partnership explores wireless health
LSBC participated in the Wireless Health
Pavilion at the 2009 CTIA Wireless I.T. &
Entertainment Conference in San Diego.
November 2009: UBC professors elected
Royal Society of Canada fellows
Alan Mackworth, professor of computer
science, and Adele Diamond, professor in
the department of psychiatry, both at UBC,
were elected fellows of the Royal Society
of Canada. Mackworth, a world leader in
robotics, founded the robot soccer chal-
lenge, RoboCup. Diamond’s contributions
have signifi cantly improved the treatment
of phenylketonuria, autism and attention-
defi cit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Her
expertise in cognitive psychology and
neuroscience led to the creation of a new
subfi eld of psychology called develop-
mental cognitive neuroscience.
November 4, 2009: Genomic research
will enable greener clean-up of
military explosive test-sites
Lindsay Eltis, professor of microbiology
and immunology at UBC, is leading
a project funded by Genome BC
called Genomic Studies of Explosives
Biodegradation. This $3.45-million project
will study how bacteria degrade cyclotri-
methylenetrinitramine (RDX), a powerful
compound used to propel tank shells, and
determine how to maximize its potential
for bioremediation. The research, which is
also funded by the United States military,
presents a welcome alternative to the cur-
rent option for clean-up at these sites: a
costly, invasive process involving removal
of the top layer of soil by dump truck and
disposal by incineration.
November 16, 2009: Genomics to
provide more eff ective treatment
options for mining wastewater
Companies facing the challenge of
cleaning up toxic wastewater from
mining operations will soon have more
reliable bioremediation options. New
research from Genome BC will harness
the potential of microbes naturally
present in mine bioremediation to help
improve strategies for cleaning up con-
taminated mine sites. This method will
provide a valuable alternative to some
current mine effl uent-treatment methods
that require large-scale employment
of chemicals to treat water contamin-
ated by metal-leaching and acid rock
drainage. Susan Baldwin, professor in the
department of chemical and biological
engineering, UBC, is leading a $1.5-million
project titled Development of Genomic
Tools for Monitoring and Improving
Passive Mitigation of Mine Drainage.
November 30, 2009: MaRS Innovation and
CDRD announce strategic collaboration
MaRS Innovation (MI) and the Centre for
Drug Research and Development (CDRD)
entered into an agreement to collaborate
on projects of mutual interest, with the
goal of advancing and commercializing
early-stage health discoveries. The fi rst
joint project will involve technology
developed by Paul Fraser, professor in the
department of medical biophysics at the
University of Toronto, and Bruce Verchere,
associate professor in the department of
pathology and laboratory medicine
at UBC. The pair is investigating amyloid
aggregation inhibitors as a novel
approach to treating diabetes.
December 1, 2009: Es Sabar
announces decision to pursue
new opportunity at CDRD
President Karimah Es Sabar will leave
LSBC in April 2010 to become senior vice-
president, business and strategic aff airs,
CDRD. Es Sabar was appointed president
of LSBC in April 2005.
December 7, 2009: Genome BC
collaborates with Chile and Norway
to sequence salmon genome
A collaboration involving researchers,
funding agencies and industry from
Canada, Chile and Norway will sequence
the genome of the Atlantic salmon
(see story on international partnerships,
page 14).
January 12, 2010: Sunfl ower genome holds
promise for sustainable agriculture
A new research project funded by
Genome Canada, Genome BC, the U.S.
departments of Energy and Agriculture,
and France’s National Institute for
Agricultural Research will create a refer-
ence genome for the sunfl ower family,
currently the world’s largest plant family.
This US $10.5-million research project,
titled Genomics of Sunfl ower, will use
genotyping and sequencing technolo-
gies to sequence, assemble and annotate
the sunfl ower genome and locate the
genes responsible for agriculturally im-
portant traits such as seed-oil content,
fl owering, seed-dormancy and wood-
producing capacity.
January 15, 2010: Partnership
agreement accelerates BC Cancer
Agency Centre for the North
The BC Cancer Agency Centre for the
North project took a major step forward
with the signing of the fi nal partnership
agreement with Plenary Health. The
54,000-square-foot Centre for the North
will include two linear accelerators, which
are used in the delivery of radiation
therapy; one CT simulator; a chemo-
therapy-treatment unit; a pharmacy; gen-
eral outpatient clinics; professional staff
offi ces; and a parkade.
January 18, 2010: Scientists
unlock clues to lymphoma
Scientists from the BC Cancer Agency
have discovered a never-before-seen
“DNA spelling mistake,” or mutation,
in a gene called EZH2 in large B-cell
lymphoma and follicular lymphoma, the
two most common types of non-Hodg-
kins lymphoma. The groundbreaking dis-
covery was published in the international
science journal Nature Genetics.
January 19, 2010: Zymeworks
appoints David Tucker vice-
president of operations
Zymeworks, a privately held compu-
tational biotechnology company, has
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 35 3/22/10 12:57:15 PM
36 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
appointed David Tucker to the position
of vice-president, operations. Tucker
brings more than 20 years of experi-
ence in technology development. Before
joining Zymeworks, Tucker was director
of product development at PMC-Sierra,
where he managed major projects in-
volving more than 100 employees.
January 19, 2010: Tekmira
improves potency of its leading
RNAi delivery platform
Burnaby-based Tekmira Pharmaceuticals
Corp. announced that new research
published in Nature Biotechnology discloses the
development of a new lipid
component that provides a ten-
fold improvement in the potency
of the company’s SNALP delivery plat-
form. The research was led by Tekmira sci-
entists and conducted in collaboration with
UBC and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
January 21, 2010: Genome-sequencing
project to track origins of H1N1
The BC Centre for Disease Control
has launched an infl uenza genome-
sequencing project to create better
understanding of how the H1N1 virus has
evolved, and may continue to evolve, in
B.C. The project will capitalize on B.C.’s
expertise in genome sequencing to gen-
erate hundreds of complete genomes
from circulating infl uenza viruses collected
in B.C. during the H1N1 pandemic, as
well as during and after the 2010 Winter
Olympics. By comparing the evolution of
B.C.’s H1N1 to that of viruses sequenced
in other regions, researchers hope to
learn how a mass gathering such as
the Olympics can impact H1N1’s genetic
sequence. The project will also allow re-
searchers to track the geographic origins
of the H1N1 virus that entered B.C. in 2009.
January 27, 2010: Fast Track Referral
System for mammography
results expanded
The BC Cancer Agency’s Screening
Mammography Program (SMP) expanded
the Fast Track Referral System to provide
all physicians in the province with access
to the program, which is designed to
reduce the time between an abnormal
screening mammography and further
diagnostic investigation. Earlier, general
practitioners had to enrol actively in the
system, or women needed to choose a
Fast Track clinic to benefi t from referrals
to diagnostic imaging following abnormal
mammographies. Now all doctors and
SMP participants will automatically have
access to Fast Track.
February 15, 2010: Lignol and Novozymes
to collaborate on biofuel from wood
Lignol has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with Novozymes, the
world’s leading producer of industrial
enzymes. The multi-year agreement will
optimize Novozymes’ enzymes for use in
Lignol’s cellulosic biofuel process. Lignol
plans to construct large-scale biorefi n-
eries for production of cellulosic biofuel
from wood chips and forestry residues.
Novozymes supplies enzymes that con-
vert cellulosic biomass into sugars that can
be fermented into ethanol. The parties
plan to use Lignol’s pilot plant in Burnaby
to optimize enzyme performance across
a range of cellulosic feedstocks in Lignol’s
process.
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00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 36 3/22/10 12:57:18 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 37
Biggest life sciences companies in B.C.
Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in the List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu and Noa Glouberman, 604-608-5114.
Source: Business in Vancouver, March 2010
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 37 3/22/10 3:28:16 PM
38 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
Academic & Research InstitutionsBC Cancer Agency675 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1L3
604-877-2000 www.bccancer.bc.ca BC Preclinical Research ConsortiumUBC Centre for Disease Modeling 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-827-4325 www.bcprc.caBCIT3700 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5G 3H2
604-432-8920 www.bcit.ca BCIT – UBC Biotechnology ProgramSW9-208 3700 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5G 3H2
604-432-8324 www.health.bcit.ca/biotech/Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD)Suite 364-2259 Lower Mall, UBC, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
604-221-7750 www.cdrd.ca Child and Family Research Institute (CFRI)950 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4
604-875-2404 www.cfri.ca The iCAPTURE Centre#166-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
604-806-8346 www.icapture.ca ICORD6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
604-219-6871 www.icord.org PROOF Centre of ExcellenceRoom 166 Burrard Building, 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
604-806-8934 www.proofcentre.ca Providence Health Care Research InstituteSt. Paul’s Hospital, 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
604-806-9608www.providencehealthcare.org
Research Universities’ Council of British ColumbiaSuite 400 – 880 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC V8W 2B7
250-480-4859 www.rucbc.ca SFU Joint Major in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Business AdministrationRoom SSB 8166, 888 University Drive SFU, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
778-782-4152 www.sfu.ca SFU Management of Technology Program515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 5K3
604-291-3925 www.sfu.ca Simon Fraser University – UILO888 University Drive, UILO Office, Mulit-Tenant Facility, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
604-782-4292 www.sfu.ca/uilo Thompson Rivers UniversityBox 3010, 900 McGill Road, Kamloops, BC V2C 5N3
250-828-5740 www.tru.caTrinity Western University, Department of Biology7600 Glover Road, Langley, BC V2Y 1Y1
604-888-7511 www.twu.ca
TRIUMF4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2A3
604-222-1047 www.triumf.caUniversity of British Columbia – Faculty of Medicine317-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
604-822-2421 www.med.ubc.ca University of British Columbia – Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science2146 East Mall, Cunningham Bldg., Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-822-2343 www.ubcpharmacy.orgUniversity of British Columbia – MRI Research InstituteM10 Purdy Pavilion – 2221 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5
604-822-6938 www.mriresearch.ubc.ca University of British Columbia – Sauder School of Business2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
604-822-8555 www.sauder.ubc.ca/ University of British Columbia – UILO#103 – 6190 Agronomy Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-875-4111 www.uilo.ubc.caUniversity of British Columbia, Life Sciences Institute2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-827-3935 www.lsi.ubc.ca/ University of Northern BC3333 University Way, Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9
250-960-5555 www.unbc.ca University of VictoriaP.O. Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2
250-721-7002 www.uvic.ca Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI)Willow Chest Centre, Room 100, 2647 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 3P1
604-875-5641 www.vchri.ca
AssociationsAceTech900-1188 W Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 4A2
604-683-5852 www.acetech.org Ag-West Bio Inc.101-111 Research Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 3R2
306-975-1939 www.agwest.sk.ca BC Cancer Foundation600 – 686 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1G1
604-877-6098www.bccancerfoundation.com
BC Technology Industries Association (BCTIA)900 – 1188 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 4A2
604-683-6159 www.bctia.org/
BioTalent Canada1710-130 Albert Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5G4
613-235-1402 www.biotalent.ca
BIOTECanada130 Albert Street, Suite 420, Ottawa, ON K1P 5G4
613-230-5585 www.biotech.ca/
Canada’s Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D)55 Metcalfe Street, Suite 1220, Ottawa, ON K1P 6L5
250-478-6221 www.canadapharma.org
Genome BC500-555 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1C6
604-738-8072 www.genomebc.ca
IFC British ColumbiaSuite 1170 – Park Place666 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 2X8
604-683-6626 www.ifcbc.com
MITACSSuite 301 – Technology Enterprise Facility, University of British Columbia, 6190 Agronomy Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-822-9189 www.mitacs.ca
Student Biotechnology Network (SBN)The Accelerator Centre at UBC – Suite 200, 2386 East Mall, Gerald McGavin Building, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-767-4712 www.sbn.ubc.ca
Vancouver Board of TradeWorld Trade Centre, Suite 400, 999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E1
604-681-2111www.vancouverboardoftrade.com
Vancouver Economic Development Commission#1620 – 1075 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3C9
604-632-9668www.vancouvereconomic.com
Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association200 First Avenue West, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98119
206-624-1967 www.wabio.org
WINBC (merged to form DigiBC now)900-1188 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 4A2
604-604-5237 www.winbc.org
BioinformaticsGenomeDx Biosciences Inc.#201 – 1595 West 3rd Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6J 1J8
604-760-0160 www.genomedx.com/GenomeDx is a new genomics company developing clinical support tools for the management of chronic disease.
Kinexus Bioinformatics Corp.Suite 1 – 8755 Ash Street, Vancouver, BC V6P 6T3
604-323-2547 www.kinexus.caKinexus Bioinformatics Corporation maps the cell signalling networks of protein kinase enzymes for the treatment, diagnosis and prognosis of human diseases. Protein kinases are the key proteins for communication and control inside cells.
BiopharmaceuticalsAlectos Therapeutics8999 Nelson Way, Burnaby, BC V5A 4B5
604-628-7129 www.alectos.comAlectos Therapeutics is a chemistry-focusedbiotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of small-moleculedrugs.
Allon Therapeutics IncSuite 506, 1168 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 2S2
604-736-0634 www.allontherapeutics.comAllon Therapeutics Inc. (TSX:NPC) is a Vancouver-based biotechnology company developing drugs that protect against neurogenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis and neuropathy.
Amgen British Columbia7990 Enterprise Street, Burnaby, BC V5A 1V7
604-676-8300 www.amgen.comAmgen British Columbia Inc., one of several research facilities operated by Amgen Inc., specializes in the discovery and development of human therapeutic antibodies. The research center, located in Burnaby, became part of Amgen with Amgen’s acquisition of Abgenix, Inc. in April 2006. It employs approximately 65 people, including research scientists and a small support staff. Amgen is headquartered in the United States and has more than 17,000 staff members worldwide.
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc.1618 Station Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1B6
604-221-7676 www.angiotech.com/Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANPI; TSX:ANP) is a Canadian pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of medical device coatings and treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases through reformulation of paclitaxel. Several pharmaceutical therapies are in clinical development and the paclitaxel-coated coronary stent program is currently in multiple international clinical studies. Other medical device programs include paclitaxel-loaded surgical implants.
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 38 3/22/10 12:57:19 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 39
Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc.Suite 600 – 555 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 3X7
888-279-2782 www.aquinox.comAquinox Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel and targeted small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory disease. ARC Pharmaceuticals102-2386 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-222-9577 www.arcpharma.comARC Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing innovative medical products for the treatment of surgical adhesions, a major complication in a high proportion of common surgical procedures.
Augurex Life Sciences Corp1423 Dempsey Road, North Vancouver, BC V7K 1S7
778-839-3319 www.augurex.com Augurex Life Sciences Corp. develops biomarker technologies to screen people for diseases that when identified can be promptly treated, thereby delivering the benefit of earlier detection and greater treatment success.
Cardiome Pharma Corp.6190 Agronomy Road 6th Floor, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-677-6905 www.cardiome.comCardiome Pharma Corp. is a product-focusedcardiovascular drug development company with two clinical drug programs focused on atrial arrhythmia (intravenous and oral dosing), and a pre-clinical program directed at improving cardiovascular function.
Celator Pharmaceuticals1779 W 75th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6P 6P2
604-708-5858 www.celator.caCelator Technologies Inc. is a private biopharmaceutical company developing new carrier technology for targeting combinations of rationally selected chemotherapeutic agents to sites of disease.
Clera Inc.3428 West 26th Ave., Vancouver, BC V6S 1N5
604-684 2338 www.clera.comClera develops central nervous system drugs to treat psychosis and depression without significant side effects.
enGene Inc.2386 East Mall, Suite 100, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-221-4362 www.engeneinc.comenGene, Inc. is a private biotechnology company based in Vancouver, Canada. The Company’s novel approach to manufacturing and delivering therapeutic proteins either into the bloodstream or to specific diseased gut tissues offers significant advances over existing technologies. enGene is devoted to finding a cure for diabetes and its complications.
iCo Therapeutics Inc.Suite 760 – 777 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1S4
604-602-9414 www.icotherapeutics.com/iCo Therapeutics Inc. is a Vancouver-basedreprofiling company focused on redosing or reformulating drugs with clinical history for new or expanded indications. iCo has exclusive worldwide rights to three products, iCo-007,in Phase I for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema, iCo-008, a product with Phase II clinical history to be developed for severe ocular allergies, and iCo-009, an oral reformulation of Amphotericin B for sight and life threatening diseases.
Inimex Pharmaceuticals Inc.8540 Baxter Place, Burnaby, BC V5A 4T8
604-225-2251 www.inimexpharma.comInimex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a Vancouver B.C. based private biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of new medicines based on the up-regulation and control of the innate immune response.
Kalgene Pharma Inc.P.O.BOX 78536, University Postal Outlet, Vancouver, BC V6T 2E7
604-375-4519 www.kalgene.com/KalGene Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Kalgene”) is a privately-held Canadian company focused on the development of oncology therapeutics and companion diagnostics.
MSI Methylation Sciences Inc.Unit 108 4475 Wayburne Drive, Burnaby, BC V5G 4X4
604-926-5657www.methylationsciences.com
Methylation Sciences, Inc.(MSI) has patented a new formulation of a naturally occurring human molecule called S-Adenosyl Methionine (SAMe). SAMe has been produced and sold as a prescription drug in parts of Europe and as a dietary supplement (natural or food based treatment) in the US for more than 10 years. In physician trials, it is equally as effective as current antidepressant drug therapy (i.e. Prozac) but is free of some of the most intolerable side effects.
Network Immunology3311 Quesnel Drive, Vancouver, BC V6S 1Z7
778-846-7521www.networkimmunologyinc.com
Network Immunology is a Vancouver based biotech company that is developing an HIV vaccine. This vaccine is fundamentally different from all the previous failed attempts to develop an HIV vaccine. The underlying theory that led to this vaccine concept is the network theory of adaptive immunity.
Neurodyn Inc.1260 – 1188 West Georgia Street550 University Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6E 4A2
604-619-0990 www.neurodyn.caNeurodyn Inc, a Canadian biotechnology company, is developing and marketing early stage, pre-clinical, diagnostic and theraputic products to treat neurodegeneration.
Neuromed Pharmaceuticals301-2389 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
604-909-2530 www.neuromed.comNeuromed is a biopharmaceutical company developing new and improved pain therapies. Neuromed’s goal is to develop safer and more effective pain drugs. We are combining our pharmaceutical expertise in research, development and commercialization to improve existing and develop new pain therapies.
OncoGenex Technologies Inc.#400 – 1001 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6H 4B1
604-736-3678 www.oncogenex.caOncoGenex Technologies Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing targeted therapeutics for Cancer. OncoGenex has built a solid product portfolio, recruited a highly skilled and experienced management team and Board of Directors, and has established strategic alliances that enable rapid drug development and access to state-of-the-art technology.
Ondine Biopharma Corporation910 – 1100 Melville Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 4A6
604-669-0555 www.ondinebiopharma.comOndine Biopharma Corporation is developing non-antibiotic therapies for the treatment of bacterial, fungal and viral infections. The Company is focused on developing and commercializing innovative products using its patented light-activated technology.
Pacgen Biopharmaceuticals CorpSuite 1730, 1 Bentall Center, 505 Burrard St, PO Box 96, Vancouver, BC V7X 1M6
604-436-4388 www.pacgenbiopharm.comPacgen Biopharmaceuticals Corporation is an international biotechnology company specializing in the development of innovative peptide therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases and immune system regulations where current therapeutics are inadequate or ineffective.
Phyton Biotech1527 Cliveden Avenue, Delta, BC V3M 6P7
604-777-2340www.naturalpharmacanada.com
Phyton Biotech GmbH is the world leader in the application of plant cell culture technology for the commercial production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients.
Protox Therapeutics1210-885 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E8
604-688-4369www.protoxtherapeutics.com
Protox Therapeutics uses genetic engineering to transform naturally occurring proteins into novel targeted therapeutics for the treatment of prostate diseases and various cancers. Protox is advancing a pipeline of clinical-stageproduct candidates derived from its PORxin™ and INxin™ technology platforms.
QLT Inc.887 Great Northern Way, Suite 101, Vancouver, BC V5T 4T5
604-707-7000 www.qltinc.comQLT Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing treatments for cancer, eye diseases and dermatological and urological conditions. The brightest minds in science and business combined with a corporate culture that values teamwork, creativity and innovation, have brought us to the leading edge in the field of world health.
Qu Biologics Inc.1116 Ironwork Passage, Vancouver, BC V6H 3P1
604-734-1450 www.qubiologics.comBased on more than 25 years of clinical experience in the use of Site Specific Immunotherapy (SSIs) to stimulate the innate immune response to cancer, with compelling clinical and animal study data, Qu Biologics is poised to become a leader at the cutting edge of an innovative revolution in cancer treatment.
Sirius Genomics Inc603 1125 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K8
604-484-7195 www.siriusgenomics.comSirius Genomics Inc. (SGI) strategically discovers and patents important variations of the genes which are involved with drugs used in treating critically ill patients having severe infections or other critical illness. This information can be used to select the right drug for each individual patient. SGI’s discoveries will make possible dramatic improvement in the results of clinical care and clinical trials through the better selection of appropriate patient populations.
Sirona Biochem Corp950-789 West Pender Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 1H2
604-641-4466 www.sironabiochem.comSirona Biochem Corp. has intentions of becoming a biotech company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative biochemical molecules. We are committed to improving the quality of life through innovative research and therapeutics. Our current focus is on treatments for Type II Diabetes and Obesity.
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation200 – 8900 Glenlyon Parkway, Burnaby, BC V5J 5J8
604-419-3200 www.tekmirapharm.com/Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a Burnaby, BC-based biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing proprietary drugs and drug delivery systems to improve the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
TrichoScience Innovations Inc.200 – 455 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V7G 2L3
604-248-8732 www.trichoscience.comTrichoScience Innovations Inc. is a privately-held corporation based in Vancouver BC, Canada. The company is engaged in the ongoing development of its patent-pending hair cell replication procedure and the management and administration of human clinical trials.
Twinstrand Therapeutics Inc.Suite 309 – 267 West Esplanade, North Vancouver, BC V7M 1A5
604-415-7180 www.twinstrand.comTwinstrand Therapeutics Inc. is a privately owned biopharmaceutical company with modern laboratories and offices in Burnaby, British Columbia. Twinstrand specializes in the development of recombinant therapeutics for the treatment of human diseases.
Upstream Biosciences Inc.200-1892 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J 1Y9
604-638-1674 www.upstreambio.comUpstream Biosciences Inc. is a biotechnology company, founded in 2004. We discover, develop, and license genetic based diagnostics for cancer susceptibility and drug response. Our proprietary data mining pipeline enables us to locate and analyze genetic variations in the regions of DNA ‘upstream’ of the gene, the ‘gene switches,’ which control the quantities and timing of expression of the genes and proteins important to disease and drug response.
Valocor Therapeutics Inc.1300 – 777 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC V7Y 1K2
604-295-0729 www.valocor.comValocor Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage private biotech company dedicated to developing new therapies to treat dermatological conditions with unmet medical needs
Welichem Biotech Inc.316-4475 Wayburne Drive, Burnaby, BC V5G 3L1
604-432-1703 www.welichem.com/Welichem Biotech Inc. (“Welichem”, TSX-V: WBI) is engaged in the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics. Using its Symbiochem technology platform, the Company has developed a robust pipeline of patent-protected compounds that target autoimmune/inflammatory diseases and cancers.
Wex Pharmaceuticals Inc.1601-700 West Pender Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 1G8
604-683-8880 www.wextech.caWex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of moderate to severe pain, symptom relief associated with addiction withdrawal from opioid abuse, and medicines designed for local and regional anaesthesia.
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.3650 Gilmore Way, Burnaby, BC V5G 4W8
604-484-3300 www.xenon-pharma.com/Xenon Pharmaceuticals is a privately owned, clinical genetics-based drug discovery and development company engaged in developing small molecule therapies based on the genetic causes of select metabolic, neurological and cardiovascular diseases.
Zymeworks Inc.540-1385 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6H 3V9
604-678-1388 www.zymeworks.comZymeworks Inc. is a privately held computational biotechnology company focused on optimizing therapeutic antibodies and other protein-based therapeutics. Zymeworks is entering into strategic collaborations to optimize existing therapeutics, and is committed to building a pipeline of antibody-based therapeutics through improving failed or abandoned assets
Bioproducts & BioenergyBC Hydro333 Dunsmuir Street, 9th Floor, Vancouver, BC V6B 5R3
604-623-3514 www.bchydro.comAs the third largest electric utility in Canada, BC Hydro serves customers in an area containing over 94% of British Columbia’s population. BC Hydro endeavours to provide energy solutions to its customers in an environmentally and socially responsible way by balancing British Columbians’ energy needs with the concerns of the environment.
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40 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
BC Milk Producers Association3236 Beta Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5G 4K4
604-294-3737 www.bcmilkproducers.ca British Columbia Milk Producers Association (BCMPA) is the voice of all dairy farmers in British Columbia, since it was founded in 1936 under the name of BC Federation of Agriculture.Brinkman Forest Ltd.520 Sharpe St., New Westminster, BC V3M 4R2
604-521-5771 www.brinkman.caBrinkman & Associates Reforestation Ltd is Canada’s oldest and foremost reforestation company. Since 1970, the company has planted over 900 million trees and currently manages approximately 1 million hectares of forest land. Although its roots are in reforestation, the company has grown into a broader forestry services management company, remaining a leader and innovator in Canadian forestry. Canadian BioenergySuite #310 – 221 West Esplanade, North Vancouver, BC V7M 3J3
604-960-0354 www.canadianbioenergy.comCanadian Bioenergy Corporation is Western Canada’s leading supplier of biodiesel, a cleaner-burning diesel fuel made from natural, renewable resources. Biodiesel can significantly reduce emissions without sacrificing performance and reliability and it works in regular diesel-powered vehicles, so no engine modifications are necessary. Canadian Pacific Algae3145 Headland Road, Nanaimo, BC V9X 1N8
604-538-6650 www.pacificplankton.comCanadian Pacific Phytoplankton Ltd. is located in Nanaimo, BC, with partners located in nine countries. The company has the ability to grow phytoplankton using its patent pending technology. Carbon Credit Corp.Suite 1910, 777 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC V7Y 1K4
604-628 2494 www.carboncreditcorp.bizCarbon Credit Corp (CCC) is a BC incorporated technology and ecosystem services company, providing comprehensive technology solutions, consultancy and services related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate protection to organizations worldwide.
Lignol InnovationsUnit 101 – 4705 Wayburne Drive, Burnaby, BC V5G 3L1
604-222-9800 www.lignol.caLignol is a Canadian company based in BC which is undertaking to construct biorefineries for the production of fuel-grade ethanol and biochemicals from Canadian forests and vast supplies of biomass feedstocks. Linnaeus Plant Sciences244 – 4438 West 10th Ave., Vancouver, BC V6R 4R8
604-224-5700 www.linnaeus.netAt Linnaeus Plant Sciences we are engineering specialized plants to provide oils that can be used to replace entire families of petroleum-based industrial feedstocks. Terasen Gas16705 Fraser Highway, Surrey, BC V4N 0E8
604-576-7000 www.terasengas.comTerasen Gas delivers natural gas and piped propane to homes and businesses throughout BC. They’re focused on connecting our customers safely, efficiently and reliably to the energy and services they need.
Business ConsultantsBioPharma Solutions1277 Nelson Street, Suite 1502, Vancouver, BC V6E 4M8
604-408-4310www.BioPharmaSolutions.com
BroadReach BioSystems Inc.206-420-0306 www.broadreachbio.com
Gigha Consulting800 – 15355 24th Avenue, White Rock, BC V4A 2H9
604-531-7363 www.gighaconsulting.com h2h Clinical Research Services3728 West 22nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6S 1J6
778-235-2528 www.h2hclinical.ca
Malachite Management Inc.375 West 5th Avenue, Suite 201, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1B3
604-874-4004 www.malachite-mgmt.com
McCarthy Consultant Services Inc.8 – 1151 Gorham Street, Newmarket, ON L3Y 8Y1
905-836-0033 www.mccarthyconsultant.com PharmEng Technology210 – 10691 Shellbridge Way, Richmond, BC V6X 2W8
604-303-0445 www.pharmeng.comPrime Strategies475-425 Carrall Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 6E3
604-689-3446 www.pr1me.ca/ Rocket Builders300 – 1275 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6H 1A6
604-839-5388 www.rocketbuilders.comSnowdon & Associates3074 Spencer Place, West Vancouver, BC V7V 3C9
604-926-9111Technology Vision Group LLC5200 Soquel Ave., Suite 202, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
831-464-4230 www.techvision.com Tees Consulting Corp2880 Trimble Street, Vancouver, BC V6R 4L4
604-839-4284 www.teesconsulting.com True North Synergy5371 Kew Cliff Road, West Vancouver, BC V7W 1M3Wisdahl Consulting Group14988 82A Avenue, Surrey, BC V3S 7R9
604-916-4452
CommunicationsBusiness in Vancouver102 East 4th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5T 1G2
604-608-5160 www.biv.comCanister Creative Inc.2440 East Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V5K 2J5
604-803-6853 www.canistercreative.com
Contract Research & Scientific ServicesAcclivity Enzymes2275 132A Street, Surrey, BC V4A 9W5
604-612-1418 www.acclivityenzymes.com Alberta Research Council – ToxTestPO Bag 4000, Vegreville, AB T9C 1T4
780-632-8354 www.arc.ab.ca/toxtest Alphalyse Inc.Ste 375 101-1001 W. Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6H 4H9
604-566-3554 www.alphalyse.com ASKA Research#300 – 601 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4C2
604-736-3166 www.askaresearch.comAurora Biomed Inc.1001 E. Pender Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1W2
604-215-8700 www.aurorabiomed.com/ BRI Biopharmaceutical Research Inc.#101-8898 Heather Street, Vancouver, BC V6P 3S8
604-432-9237 www.bripharm.comCanadian External Quality Assessment Laboratory (CEQAL)307 – 2083 Alma Street, Vancouver, BC V6R 4N6
604-222-1355 www.eqa.com. CANTEST Ltd.4606 Canada Way, Burnaby, BC V5G 1K5
604-734-7276 www.cantest.com
Fulcrum Regulatory ServicesPO Box 20035 Mission Hills RPOMission Hills RPO, Mission, BC V2V 7P8
604-820-9336 www.fulcrumpharma.comGE Healthcare500 Morgan Blvd., Baie d’Urfe, PQ H9X 3V1
514-457-7000www.gehealthcare.com/lifesciences
Globe Laboratories Inc.1-8755 Ash Street, Vancouver, BC V6P 6T3
604-325-9643 www.globelaboratories.comI.G. MicroMed Environmental Inc.190-12860 Clarke Place, Richmond, BC V6V 2H1
604-279-0666 www.igmicromed.com/
i3 CanReg4 Innovation Drive, Dundas, ON L9H 7P3
905-689-3980 www.canreginc.com
ImmunoPrecise3204-4464 Markham Street, Victoria, BC V8Z 7X8
250-812-8514 www.immuno-precise.comLifebank Cryogenics Corp.Suite 200 – 4475 Wayburne Drive, Burnaby, BC V5G 4X4
604-738-2722 www.lifebank.com Northern Lipids Inc.8855 Northbrook Court, Burnaby, BC V5J 5J1
604-222-2548 www.northernlipids.comPacific Rim Laboratories#103, 19575 – 55A Avenue, Surrey, BC V3S 8P8
604-532-8711 pacificrimlabs.com
PBR Laboratories Inc.9960 – 67 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 0P5
780-450-3957 www.pbr.caPenn Pharmaceutical Services1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801
925-787-6886 www.pennpharm.com SignalChem Pharmaceuticals Inc.Suite 550 – 5600 Parkwood Way, Richmond, BC V6V 2M2
604-232 www.signalchem.com
Syreon Corp.450 – 1385 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6H 3V9
604-676-5900 www.syreon.com
Wax-it Histology Services202 – 2386 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
604-822-1595 www.waxitinc.comWorld Courier of Canada Ltd.91 Skyway Avenue Unit 104, Toronto, ON M9W 6R5
800-387-3381 www.worldcourier.com
Facilities and Real EstateChernoff Thompson Architects110 – 1281 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3J5
604-669-9460 www.cta.bc.ca/
Canada’s National Laboratoryfor Particle and Nuclear Physics
For the past 40 years, TRIUMF has been a leader in subatomic physics and nuclear medicine.
Applications of TRIUMF accelerator technology in thelife sciences includePET imaging,proton therapy,and medical research.
radiochemistry, nuclear medicine, andsuperconducting radio-frequency cavities for the next generation of particle accelerators.
For the next decade, TRIUMFis focusing on the
development of
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BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 41
Colliers InternationalSuite 1910, 200 Granville Street, Surrey, BC V3T 5T3
604-661-0893 www.colliers.comDiscovery Parks Trust100-887 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, BC V5T 4T5
604-734-7275 www.discoveryparks.comVancouver Island Technology Park Trust2201 – 4464 Markham Street, Victoria, BC V8Z 7X8
250-483-3203 www.vitp.ca
Financial Services & InsuranceAbnousi Financial Consultants
604-218-4594 www.abnousi.comAON900 Howe Street, PO Box 3228, Vancouver, BC V6B 3X8
604-688-8591 www.aon.com ARCH Venture Partners1000 Second Avenue, Suite 3700, Seattle, WA 98104
206-674-3278 www.archventure.com/BDC-Venture Capital505 Burrard Street, Suite 200, PO Box 6, Vancouver, BC V7X 1V3
604-666-7815 www.bdc.ca
Deloitte & Touche LLP2800-1055 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC V7X 1P4
604-669-4466 www.deloitte.ca Ernst & Young LLPPO Box 10101, 2300-700 West Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V7Y 1C7
604-891-8449 www.eycan.com Growth Works Capital Ltd.PO Box 11170 2600 -1055 W. Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3R5
604-633-1418 www.growthworks.caLions Capital Corp.Suite 1280 – 885 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E8
604-688-6877www.bcadvantagefunds.com/
PricewaterhouseCoopersSuite 2000 – 250 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 3S7
604-806-7000 www.pwc.comRBC Knowledge Based Industries1055 West Georgia St., 36th Floor, Vancouver, BC V6E 3S5
604-665-3135www.rbcroyalbank.com/kbi/
Ventures West Management Inc.Suite 2500-1066 West Hastings Street, P.O. Box 12539, Vancouver, BC V6E 3X1
604-688-9495 www.ventureswest.com
Government
BC Innovation Council900 – 1188 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 4A2
604-602-5204 www.bcic.ca British Consulate-General Vancouver800-1111 Melville Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3V6
604-683-4421 www.britaincanada.org Michael Smith Foundation For Health ResearchSuite 200, 1285 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6H 3X8
604-714-6336 www.msfrg.org New Zealand Consulate/New Zealand Trade and Enterprise1200-888 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 3K4
604-684 7388 www.nzte.govt.nz/ NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP)650-1185 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V5G 3H2
604-602-5254 irap-pari.nrc-cnrc.gc.caNSERC PacificSuite 407 – 138 Melville Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 4S3
604-666-8818 www.nserc.caState of Illinois Canada Office1 Eva Road, Suite 301, Toronto, ON M9C 4Z5
416-695-9888 www.commerce.state.il.us
Human ResourcesATP Scientific Recruiters Inc.100 King Street, 37th Floor, Toronto, ON M5X 1C9
877-556-0344www.atpscientificrecruiters.com
Goldbeck Recruiting510-475 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 4M9
604-684-1428 www.goldbeck.com
International Pharmaceutical CorporationsAstraZeneca Canada Inc.1004 Middlegate Rd., Mississauga, ON L4Y 1M4
800-565-5877 www.astrazeneca.ca
Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada4590 Windsor Street, Vancouver, BC V6V 4P7
604-675-9091 www.bms.com COVIDIEN7300 Trans-Canada Hwy, Pointe-Claire, PQ H9R IC7
1877-664-8926 www.covidien.comEli Lilly Canada Inc.5120 Wilson Drive, Delta, BC V4M 1P4
604-948-1297 www.lilly.ca GlaxoSmithKline7333 Mississauga Rd, Mississauga, ON L5N 6L7
905-819-3000 www.gsk.com/ Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.2455 Meadowpine Boulevard, Mississauga, ON L5N 6L7
905-542-5718 www.rochecanada.com/Merck16711 Trans Canada Highway, Kirkland, QC H9H 3L1
514-428-8599 www.merckfrosst.ca Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.385 Bouchard Blvd, Dorval, QC H9S 1A9
514-631-6775 www.novartis.ca Pfizer Canada Inc.17300 Trans-Canada Highway, Kirkland, QC H9J 2M5
514-695-0500 www.pfizer.ca sanofi pasteur1755 Steeles Avenue West, Bldg. 83, Room 214J, North York, ON M2R 3T4
416-667-2439 www.sanofipasteur.com sanofi-aventis2150 St. Elzear Blvd. West, Laval, PQ H7L 4A8
514-331-9220 www.sanofi-aventis.caVifor Pharma1203-4464 Markham Street, Victoria, BC V8Z 7X8
250-744-2488 www.aspreva.comWyeth Canada50 Minthorn Blvd., Markham, ON L3T 7Y2
905-470-3960 www.wyeth.com/
Legal ServicesBlake, Cassels & Graydon LLP595 Burrard Street, P.O. Box 49314, Suite 2600, Three Bentall Centre, Vancouver, BC V7X 1L3
604-631-3362 www.blakes.ca Borden Ladner Gervais LLP1200 – 200 Burrard Street, PO Box 48600, Vancouver, BC V7X 1T2
604-687-5744 www.blgcanada.comBull, Housser & Tupper LLP3000 Royal Centre, PO Box 11130, 1055 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3R3
604-687-4936 www.bht.com/DuMoulin Black LLP595 Howe Street, 10th Floor, Vancouver, BC V6C 2T5
604-687-1224 www.dumoulinblack.com Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP25th Floor, 700 W Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V7Y 1B3
604-684-9151 www.farris.com
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLPBentall 5 2900 – 550 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 0A3
604-631-3131 www.fasken.com Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP1055 Dunsmuir Street, Suite 2300, PO Box 49122 Bentall IV, Vancouver, BC V7X 1J1
604-683-6498 www.gowlings.comKPMGSuite 900 – 777 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC V7Y 1K3
604-691-3000 www.kpmg.ca McCarthy Tétrault LLPPO Box 10424, Pacific Centre, 1300-777Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC V7Y 1K2
604-643-7100 www.mccarthy.ca
Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP480 – 601 West Cordova Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 1G1
604-669-3432 www.patentable.comSeed Intellectual Property Law Group PLLC701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5400, Seattle, WA 98104
206-622-4900 www.SeedIP.com
Smart & Biggar/FetherstonhaughBox 11560, 2200 – 650 W. Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 4N8
604-682-7780 www.smart-biggar.ca
Medical DevicesBalbo Medical Systems#216 – 1311 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2P3
604-691-1782www.balbomedicalsystems.com
Balbo Medical Systems provides consultation service to medical equipment firms that are planning to develop new products, for the installment and organization of new manufacturing companies, and for the reorganization of existing activities. Biolux Research Ltd.220-825 Powell Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1H7
604-669-0674 www.bioluxresearch.comBiolux Research is a world leader in the development of light activated bone regeneration systems for dentistry and implantology. BioMers Products, LLC3425 Radio Road, Unit 204, Naples, FL 34104
604-727-4145 www.biomersbraces.com
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42 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
Bruker Daltronics Inc.7700 Barrymore Drive, Delta, BC V4C 8G5
604-591-7299 www.bruker.caBruker Daltonics is a leading manufacturer of mass spectrometry (MS) instruments and accessories for life science, pharmaceutical, biochemical and chemical research as well as for more routine analytical tasks in forensics and food safety. Daan Diagnostics200 – 5050 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC V5H 4H2
604-451 7588 www.daandiagnostics.comDaan Diagnostics Inc is a leader in the development and commercialization of innovative technology-based products and services for clinical laboratory, veterinary, and food applications.
evasc – a division of evYsio Medical Devices ULC107 – 1099 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6H 1C3
604-742-3811 www.evysio.comEvasc Medical Systems is a medical device company focused on developing technologies for the treatment of vascular disease. With a strong background in interventional cardiology, Evasc’s mandate is to refine early stage intellectual property and take new endovascular products from concept to pilot production. Farabloc Development Corp.#211 – 3030 Lincoln Avenue, Coquitlam, BC V3B 6B4
604-941-8201 www.farabloc.comFarabloc’s mission is to develop their product, Farabloc, as a mainstream international fitness and rehabilitation product that can be used to reduce pain and to assist in healing. As an electromagnetic shielding fabric, Farabloc contains extremely fine stainless steel fibres and nylon, with an appearance similar to linen. This drug-free product has a significant shielding effect on high frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF) while permitting low frequency EMF through which stabilize the cell by polarization. Guardian Engineering#8-21579-88B Ave, Langley, BC V1M 2X4
604-614-5561 www.guardian-eng.comGuardian Engineering provides versatile and energetic mechanical design expertise to support your company’s product development efforts. Heart Force Medical Inc.Suite 305 – 1818 Cornwall Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6J 1C7
604-566-8200 www.heartforcemedical.comHeartForce Medical Inc. is an early stage medical devices company dedicated to researching and development of products and services in the field of Ballistocardiography. This field of study has been in existence for over thirty years and now through innovations in technology greater capabilities can be achieved in the early detection of heart disease.
iData Research200-5455 West Boulevard, Vancouver, BC V6M 3W5
604-266-6933 www.idataresearch.netiData Research is an incorporated international market research and consulting group focused on providing market intelligence, monitoring and competitive insight for the medical device and pharmaceutical companies around the world. Innovatek Medical Inc.#3 – 1600 Derwent Way, Delta, BC V3M 6M5
604-522-8303 innovatekmed.comInnovatek Medical Inc. is a Canadian company selling rapid diagnostic kits in the areas of women’s health, drugs of abuse and infectious diseases.KardiumSuite 100 – 12851 Rowan Place, Richmond, BC V6V 2K5
604-248-8891 www.kardium.comKardium is a technology pioneer developing new medical devices to address cardiovascular diseases. The company was founded in 2007 by a team that has a track record of excellence in medicine, business, and engineering. A highly skilled development team and sophisticated rapid prototyping facility have been assembled in order to commercialize several patent pending concepts. LED Medical Diagnostics#201-15047 Marine Drive, White Rock, BC V4B 1C5
604-541-4614 www.velscope.com Lifescan Canada Ltd.#300 – 4170 Still Creek Drive, Burnaby, BC V5C 6C6
604-320-2904www.onetouch.ca/english/index.asp
LifeScan Canada Ltd. is committed to improving the quality of life for people with diabetes and have created a unique system of products and services tailored to meet the needs of people with diabetes and health care professionals. As a leader in blood glucose monitoring and customer care, LifeScan is working to bring important advances in diabetes care. LightIntegra Technology4401 West 9th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6R 2C9
604-827-5993 www.lightintegra.comLightIntegra Technology Inc. is an emerging medical device company. LightIntegra’s ThromboLUX technology measures the entire spectrum of particles in blood plasma that tells the story of the donor s health or the quality of a platelet or plasma product for transfusion. Particle types such as platelets, microparticles and bacteria each have a characteristic profile. Fast, simultaneous access to platelet and microparticle profiles through LightIntegra’s ThromboLUX technology provides clinical information that can save lives. Neovasc#2135-13700 Mayfield Place, Richmond, BC V6V 2E4
604-270-4344 www.neovasc.comNeovasc provides innovative medical device solutions for vascular intervention. We develop and market a suite of products to advance the treatment of heart and vascular disease.
NeuroKinetics Health Services (B.C.) Inc.3195 Granville Street, Suite 60, Vancouver, BC V6H 3K2
604-736-3963 www.neurokinetics.comNeuroKinetics integrates Western medical neuroscience with traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and acupuncture, along with the principles of neuroplasticity (changes that occur in the organization of the brain as a result of experience) to provide an innovative new method of treatment. Perceptronix555 West 8th Avenue, Ste. 400, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1C6
604-629-8785 www.perceptronix.comPerceptronix is a diagnostic and medical device company specializing in products designed to detect cancer at early stages of the disease, thereby improving patient outcomes. The laboratory services of Perceptronix are targeted towards smoking-induced cancers in high-risk lung and oral cancer groups. Progressive Health Innovations Inc.293 Harvard Drive, Port Moody, BC V3H 1S9
604-644-9971 www.progressivehealth.caProgressive Health Innovations Incorporated (PHI) is a health technology company that develops user-friendly and affordable products for the rehabilitation, sports medicine and fitness markets. Response Biomedical Corp.1781 – 75th Avenue W, Vancouver, BC V6P 6P2
604-456-6010 www.responsebio.comResponse Biomedical is commercializing a new class of diagnostic with the world’s only immunoassay platform that provides lab quality information in a matter of minutes, anywhere, every time. RAMP® tests are commercially available for three cardiac markers used in the early detection of heart attack, environmental detection of West Nile virus, and biodefense applications including the detection of anthrax, ricin, smallpox, and botulinum toxin. Romich Medical15157 Roper Avenue, White Rock, BC V4B 5C9
604-531-8707 www.romichmedical.comRomich Medical Inc. is dedicated to providing precision equipment for medical professionals.
Sorin Group Canada Inc., Mitroflow Division5005 North Fraser Way, Burnaby, BC V5J 5M1
604-412-5650 www.mitroflow.comThe Mitroflow Division of Sorin Group Canada Inc. is part of the Sorin Group, a leader in medical technology focused on the development of products used to treat cardiovascular diseases. The Mitroflow Aortic Pericardial Heart Valve is made from biological material derived from bovine tissue and normally requires no long-term anticoagulant therapy, making it preferable for many patients. Mitroflow provides quality-of-lifesolutions in line with patients’ needs.
StarFish Medical#5 – 555 Ardersier Road, Victoria, BC V8Z 1C8
250-388-3537 www.starfishmedical.comStarFish provides medical device development services, from business, market, and product planning to proof of concept to manufactured devices. Our focus is on great design. Successful development projects include high frequency ultrasound eye imaging devices, specialty ophthalmic instruments, a knee brace, a lumbar traction system, an electrosurgical device, a radiotherapy calibration system, and lab automation equipment.
Urodynamix Technologies Ltd.Suite 1485 Bentall Centre Two, 555 Burrard Street, Box 213, Vancouver, BC V7X 1M9
604-694-7770 www.urodynamix.comUrodynamix Technologies is a Canadian medical device company that develops and commercializes non-invasive medical devices based on proprietary applications of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for the diagnosis of urological diseases and condition.
Scientific SuppliersCanadian Life Science Inc.365 Lansdowne Street East, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X9
888-226-2775 www.lifescience.ca/
EnWave CorporationSuite 2000 – 1066 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3X2
604-806-6110 www.enwave.net/
StemCell Technologies Inc.400 – 570 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1B3
604-877-0713 www.stemcell.com
VWR International Ltd.2360 Argentia Road,Mississauga, ON V6L 1E6
800-765-3316 www.vwrcanlab.com
Systems & SoftwareHealthmetrx2083 Alma Street, Suite 307, Vancouver, BC V6R 4N6
604-222-3912 www.healthmetrx.com
SageKey Software1531 Fairview Road, Penticton, BC V2A 4S6
250-770-8878 www.sagekey.com
OtherArbutus Dental Centre#203 – 4255 Arbutus Street, Vancouver, BC V6J 4R1
604-731-4188
Biotechnology at Trinity Western University: A co-op program that meets entry requirements for medical school and other professional schools while providing work experience in life science.
BSc in biotechnology with honours option
Multidisciplinary BSc in biotechnology and chemistry
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Intern and paid co-op placements that provide hands-on, super-vised work experience in medicine, business, and industry
Find out more at twu.ca/biotechnology
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BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 43
2010 LIFESCIENCES
BRITISH COLUMBIA AWARDSRecognizing the best in research and business
Each year, LifeSciences British Columbia
(LSBC) presents the LifeSciences British
Columbia Awards to individuals and
organizations that have made outstanding
contributions to the development of B.C.’s
life sciences. The awards are presented at an
annual gala that has become the premier
event of the year for B.C.’s life-science com-
munity, and 2010 is no exception. This year’s
theme is “Bridges to the Future” as B.C.’s
foremost innovators lead the way to a bright
future, bringing innovative technologies to
people world-wide and new impetus to the
provincial and national economies.
The 2010 LifeSciences British Columbia
Award recipients are:
GENOME BC AWARD FOR
SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE
Robert Holt, Steven Jones and Marco
Marra – Canada’s Michael Smith Genome
Sciences Centre
INNOVATION & ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Andy Hoffer – Lungpacer Medical Inc.
LEADERSHIP AWARD
Don Avison
MEDICAL DEVICE COMPANY
OF THE YEAR
Neoteric Technology Ltd.,
a Haemonetics Company
LIFE SCIENCES COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Cardiome Pharma Corp.
Karimah Es Sabar, president of LSBC,
commented, “The theme of our 2010
LifeSciences BC Awards is ‘Bridges to the
Future,’ and each of these recipients has
brought us knowledge, leadership, innova-
tion and technologies to create a better
future for humankind. We thank and
applaud each of them for their tremen-
dous efforts, insight, and commitment to
a better future and for proving that great
science and the commercialization and
adoption of that science continue to be
achieved right here in British Columbia.”
ABOUT THE RECIPIENTS
Robert Holt, Steven Jones and
Marco Marra – Genome BC Award
for Scientific Excellence
Robert Holt, Steven Jones and Marco
Marra hold key leadership roles at
Canada’s Michael Smith Genome
Sciences Centre (GSC) at the BC Cancer
Agency (BCCA), which they have collect-
ively helped transform into one of the
world’s most advanced and productive
centres for development and applica-
tion of genomics, bioinformatics and
related technologies. Their combined
efforts, along with collaborations with
the BCCA and other local, national and
international researchers and organiza-
tions, have led to several major scientific
breakthroughs over the past decade.
By becoming the world’s best at early
adoption of genomics technologies in a
rapidly emerging field and by including
all scientific disciplines, they have estab-
lished a unique resource that has been
and will continue to be the foundation
upon which B.C. scientists and com-
panies can build their achievements in
the ongoing genomics revolution.
Holt, Jones and Marra gained inter-
national attention when they became the
world’s first team to sequence the SARS
coronavirus genome. Since then, they
have played pivotal roles in international
consortia to sequence a variety of organ-
isms, including the mouse, rat, poplar and
bovine genomes, as well as pioneering
the use of indispensable genomic tools
for experimental medicine and drug
development. In partnership with clin-
icians at the BCCA, the team played a key
role in the first discovery ever of a gene
mutation occurring in a prevalent type
of ovarian cancer: findings published in
the New England Journal of Medicine. The
team also led the first sequencing of a
breast cancer genome: a breakthrough
featured on the cover of Nature. Most
recently, it was
first to identify
a mutation in
a specific gene
linked to B-cell lymph-
omas: a significant finding subse-
quently published in Nature Genetics.
Apart from cancer research, the GSC
team has supported or overseen key
advances in genomics affecting a broad
range of areas. Such advances have in-
cluded the deciphering of the genome
of the Atlantic salmon for better under-
standing of reproduction, growth and
disease resistance; the uncovering of
the biological processes that regulate
wood formation and pest resistance in
forest trees (the team has done seminal
work with the vector responsible for
the devastating mountain pine beetle
outbreak); and the identification of traits
underlying the quality of grapes.
All these efforts have enabled them,
along with researchers in B.C. and world-
wide, to tackle scientific questions for-
merly untouchable and to ensure that
B.C. has the capabilities to lead in the
translation of genomics technologies to
end-users, both in the public and in the
private sector.
Andy Hoffer – Innovation
& Achievement Award
During the period of his doctoral work
at Johns Hopkins University in the 1970s,
Simon Fraser University biomedical
physiologist Andy Hoffer developed the
first implantable device that recorded
peripheral nerve activity and used it to
study how muscles are controlled during
normal movements. Hoffer devoted the
next 30 years to perfecting nerve activity
sensing methods and developing clinical
applications to help people with motor
disabilities. He pioneered ways to make
safe, stable, permanent connections with
nerves, to re-animate paralyzed muscles
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 43 3/22/10 12:57:32 PM
44 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
by delivering small electrical currents, and
to control movements by extracting feed-
back information from signals in sensory
nerves. Hoffer subsequently developed
advanced multi-channel nerve cuff elec-
trodes that both pick up signals from, and
selectively activate, targets within a nerve
bundle. These breakthroughs led to the
formation of the SFU spinoff Neurostream
Technologies Inc. and the development of
the Neurostep assistive system for people
with hemiplegia and foot drop.
Neurostep is the first and only medical
device that activates the paralyzed foot
to enable walking, and it is implanted
inside the thigh. Another unique feature
is that Neurostep automatically stimulates
the nerves that activate the paralyzed
leg muscles when weight is taken off the
foot, causing them to flex the ankle and
lift the foot.
Following the first patient trial in 2003,
Neurostream was bought in 2004 by
Victhom Human Bionics Inc., a publicly
traded Canadian company. Victhom car-
ried out Neurostep trials in three sites and
obtained the first CE mark approval of its
kind for a closed-loop system that uses
signals sensed directly from peripheral
nerves. Otto Bock HealthCare, the world’s
largest prosthetics company, acquired 55.6
per cent ownership of Neurostream in
2009 and is marketing the Neurostep, with
first sales in Europe expected in 2010.
Neurostream is now working with
the United States Food and Drug
Administration to begin clinical trials in
the U.S. And by the technology’s exten-
sion to applications for people affected
by loss of control functions such as
urinary incontinence, spinal cord injury,
epilepsy, cerebral palsy and multiple
sclerosis, more than 2.5 million patients
world-wide could potentially benefit.
Meanwhile, in 2007, Hoffer conceived
a new therapeutic approach to preserve
the strength of the diaphragm in mech-
anically ventilated patients. Ventilation
can be life-saving but can also cause
rapid, profound disuse atrophy of the
diaphragm muscle. Of 1.8 million ICU
patients in the U.S. and Canada who
were mechanically ventilated in 2008,
about 30 per cent failed to wean and
became ventilator-dependent.
Hoffer’s goal is to keep the
diaphragm muscle strong by
rhythmically “pacing” the
phrenic nerves connected to
it with a proprietary minimally invasive,
disposable, intravenous electrode in order
to facilitate weaning from ventilation.
With initial proof of concept, safety and
stability data obtained in animals in 2009,
Hoffer and SFU founded a new spinoff,
Lungpacer Medical Inc., and reunited
key Neurostep design engineers to
accelerate the commercial development
of the transvascular diaphragm pacing
technology. Lungpacer’s “weaning
solution” aims to help mechanically
ventilated patients breathe independently
again and leave the ICU sooner, in better
health and at far lower overall cost to
hospitals and health-care payers.
Don Avison – Leadership Award
Don Avison has been respected highly not
only in B.C.’s life sciences but across indus-
tries, demonstrating leadership through
numerous contributions over many years.
Throughout his years of public service,
Avison has garnered the highest level of
respect from his peers. In his most recent
service, as president of the Research
Universities’ Council of British Columbia
(RUCBC), he represented B.C.’s leading
academic institutions, ensuring that they
served the people of the province as
effectively as possible, while also being
home to the world-class research forming
the basis of our province’s knowledge-
based industries.
Avison studied at Thompson Rivers
University and SFU before obtaining a
law degree from the University of British
Columbia in 1980. After practising law
in the Yukon and in B.C., he joined the
Department of Justice Canada and was
subsequently recruited to the Office of the
Assistant Deputy Attorney General. In 1994,
he was appointed deputy minister of jus-
tice of the Government of the Northwest
Territories, where he would also serve as a
deputy in the Office of the Premier. Avison
returned to B.C. in 1997, when he was
appointed deputy minister of education,
skills and training. He would later hold
deputy minister positions in the Crown
Corporation Secretariat and Ministry of
Health before leaving government in
1999 to become the first president of the
University Presidents’ Council of British
Columbia. That organization evolved into
what is now the RUCBC.
President Stephen Toope of UBC com-
mented, “Don Avison has been a superb
leader … and an articulate and passionate
voice for higher education in Canada.”
In 2008, Avison served as chairman of
the B.C. Pharmaceutical Task Force that
was assembled to explore the province’s
pharmaceutical policy in order to advise
government on how to maximize value
both for patients and for cost, as well as
to examine ways of continually improving
the process of pharmaceutical approval.
The government accepted in their entirety
all 12 of the task force’s recommendations.
George Abbott, then minister of health,
commented, “The task force provided
us with insightful analysis on improving
patient care and enhancing the quality,
safety and value of our world-class
PharmaCare program. [Its] advice and
recommendations will strengthen our
significant investments in this vital area of
the public health system, so that patients
in B.C. continue to benefit from a public
drug plan that is based on the best sci-
entific evidence and [is] sustainable for
future generations.”
In 2006, TRU granted Avison its
Distinguished Alumni Award for his
contributions to public service. He also
received the BCNET Lifetime Achievement
Award for his exceptional participation in
raising the awareness of the importance
of advanced networks.
Avison has dedicated his time
to numerous non-profit boards,
including those of LSBC, the
Vancouver Island Advanced
Technology Centre and the
Michael Smith Foundation for
Health Research.
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 44 3/22/10 12:57:39 PM
BIV Magazines LifeSciences/2010 45
Neoteric Technology Ltd., a
Haemonetics Company – Medical
Device Company of the Year
Neoteric is a B.C.-based company with
offices in Vancouver and the United
Kingdom. In 1997, it set out to provide
hospital blood-chemistry laboratories a
better way of capturing test orders accur-
ately at the bedside. Attempts to solve this
problem revealed a fundamental problem
with accurate identification of patients.
In 1999, a report titled “To Err is Human”
estimated that as many as 98,000 patients
die every year in U.S. hospitals because of
medical errors. Neoteric set a long-term
goal of ensuring that everything taken
from or given to a patient in a hospital is
linked to electronically readable positive
patient identification.
This goal has resulted in a family of
products for acute-care hospitals that
ensure that critical treatments are given to
the right patients in the right way. Neoteric
is now recognized as the world leader in
blood-transfusion management, mothers’
milk management and blood-sample
collection. In April 2009, Neoteric was ac-
quired by Haemonetics Corp. Neoteric’s
BloodTrack products now form a key part of
Haemonetics’ blood-management strategy.
By using very well-established tech-
nology platforms, Neoteric provides highly
reliable, stable products that require little
user training. This is reflected in the rapid
adoption of Neoteric’s systems at new
sites. The Neoteric Enterprise Architecture
has proven its scalability in installations
ranging from one computer in small
hospitals with a few hundred beds to
regional blood-management systems
existing across entire cities and involving
hundreds of client and hospital groups of
up to 3,800 beds. Neoteric’s BloodTrack
is the most advanced blood-transfusion
management suite on the market, pro-
viding full control over movement, storage,
handling and administration of transfusion
blood. The newest module of the system
(BloodTrack OnDemand) has been proven
to reduce greatly the waste and use of
blood in surgery by providing just-in-time
inventory of blood in operating rooms.
The company has had one or more
products installed in more than 180 hos-
pitals in five countries. In the U.K., systems
are installed in more than 25 per cent
of hospitals. Having entered the North
American market in 2007, Neoteric now
has 10 sites in the U.S. and Canada. A
partnership with Mediware Information
Systems, Inc. and the recent acquisi-
tion by Haemonetics promise rapid
growth in the U.S.
A study published in
Transfusion, the AABB journal,
showed dramatic time and cost
savings achieved at hospitals that
implemented the BloodTrack system.
At John Radcliffe Hospital, the time to
access blood in the operating
room was reduced from
24 minutes to 59 seconds,
while the time required
for blood-bank and clin-
ical staff to manage blood
preparation and delivery was
reduced from 117 minutes to 34
minutes each day. At the same time,
the number of blood units issued from
the hospital blood bank was reduced by
52 per cent. The BloodTrack system thus
helped the hospital reduce the time to
make blood available to patients and
improve the efficiency of the transfusion
process.
Other Neoteric products:
LacTrack ensures that mothers’ milk
in intensive-care nurseries is properly
stored, ordered, prepared and fed to the
right babies.
PathCollect ensures that blood samples
for testing are collected from the right
patients in the right way and are accur-
ately labelled.
Cardiome Pharma Corp. – Life
Sciences Company of the Year
Cardiome Pharma Corp.’s demonstrated
leadership in B.C. biotechnology and its
multiple successes in 2009 garnered it the
title of Life Sciences Company of the Year.
The company’s most significant suc-
cess in 2009 was the licensing agreement
signed with Merck & Co., Inc. for verna-
kalant, Cardiome’s investigational drug for
treatment of atrial fibrillation. The agree-
ment includes up to US$700 million in
milestone payments, a US$100 million line
of credit and attractive royalties on sales. It
is the largest licensing deal ever signed by
a Canadian biotechnology company and
the second-largest deal ever for a cardio-
vascular drug in North America.
The agreement provides Merck, a
global leader in cardiovascular drug de-
velopment, with exclusive global rights to
the oral formulation of vernakalant for the
maintenance of normal heart rhythm in
patients with atrial fibrillation. It also grants
exclusive rights outside the U.S., Canada
and Mexico to the intravenous formula-
tion of vernakalant (vernakalant [iv]) for
rapid conversion of acute atrial fibrillation
to normal heart rhythm. Merck will be
responsible for all future costs associated
with the drug’s development, manufac-
turing and commercialization. Cardiome
has retained an option to co-promote
oral vernakalant with Merck through a
hospital-based sales force in the U.S.
Following the signing of the Merck
agreement, Cardiome announced in July
2009 that Merck had filed a marketing
authorization application to the European
Medicines Agency (EMEA) seeking mar-
keting approval for vernakalant (iv) in the
European Union. Cardiome also announced
receipt of a US $15 million milestone pay-
ment under the licensing agreement.
Finally, in late 2009, Cardiome an-
nounced successful trial results from the
Phase III AVRO study for vernakalant (iv),
achieving statistical significance in dem-
onstrating the superiority of vernakalant
(iv) over amiodarone in the conversion
of atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm. With
the European review well under way,
Cardiome and Merck look forward to an
EMEA decision in 2010 and the potential to
have vernakalant (iv) on the market by the
end of the year.
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 45 3/22/10 12:57:48 PM
46 LifeSciences/2010 BIV Magazines
In memoriam
Farewell to Don Rix, leader in medical testing, entrepreneurship and philanthropy
Lorne Eckersley
From his beginnings as a general
practitioner in Vancouver, Donald B.
Rix, CM, OBC, devoted his life to an
astonishing number of enterprises and
philanthropic endeavours. His passing on
November 6, 2009, left a hole in the hearts
of those who knew and worked with him.
Highly regarded in technology and
biotech, Rix founded CanTest Ltd., recently
purchased by Maxxam Analytics Inc.,
and was an entrepreneur and innovator
of the highest order. He also founded
and chaired MDS Metro Laboratory
Services (now known as LifeLabs Medical
Laboratory Services). Inducted into the
Order of British Columbia in 2004, he
became a member of the Order of
Canada in 2007. He held several honorary
doctorates from Canadian universities
and was awarded the Canadian Medical
Association’s highest honour, the Frederic
Newton Gisborne Starr Award, in 2009.
Describing Rix as “a truly great British
Columbian, a man whose generosity
has left a lasting legacy for our province,”
Premier Gordon Campbell considers him
to have been the very example of a con-
tributor to his city, province and country.
“A successful career in the life-sciences
sector led to Dr. Rix becoming one of
British Columbia’s most dedicated phil-
anthropists, giving back to strengthen
the development of health research,
education and care. His support for sci-
ence, technology and research in British
Columbia has helped to lay a foundation
that will create progress and results for
decades to come,” says Campbell.
The premier adds, “Dr. Rix believed
strongly in giving back. He believed that
a truly successful business was one that
took an active role in improving the com-
munity. Corporate citizenship and per-
sonal involvement in building his province
was his passion and an important focus
in his life, and he made a point of encour-
aging his peers to do the same.”
Carole Taylor says, “For me, Don Rix
represented so much that we all aspire to
be,” a person “totally dedicated to using
his talent and his financial support to
make the world a better place. He was
hands-on, involved in his causes morning
‘til night, not just writing cheques. We will
all miss his help and influence.”
Taylor knew and worked with Rix in
several capacities, including during her
tenures as BC minister of finance and
governor of the Vancouver Board of Trade,
which he chaired in 2008.
“Don Rix engaged you at a very human
level and always made himself accessible
to anyone needing his guidance,” says
Karimah Es Sabar, president, LifeSciences
British Columbia. “He was also always
ready to listen and look at new ways of
doing things.”
“Don was a giant,” says Darcy Rezac,
managing director, Vancouver Board of
Trade. “He was a role model to everybody
in business and in the broader community
as well. He was a consummate volunteer,
an engaged community leader. He was
a philanthropist and a model corporate
citizen.”
As relayed by Gillian Shaw in an article
in the Vancouver Sun that ran after Rix’s
passing, Rezac told a story about a courier
killed while making a delivery to one of
Rix’s labs by a driver who had veered into
oncoming traffic, hitting the courier’s van.
After the accident, according to Rezac, Rix
lobbied the City of Vancouver to put a
median on the bridge and also helped the
driver’s wife and child financially. The son
went on to attend university on a scholar-
ship Rix established.
“Dr. Rix, to me, had integrity beyond
[that of] most people and a humility
that was inspiring,” says Dave Roels,
official photographer in residence at the
Vancouver Board of Trade. “When I went
to his office to photograph him for his
chairman’s portrait, he showed me a por-
trait that he had hanging on the wall: a
Karsh portrait of Sir Winston Churchill. We
talked a while about Churchill, and then a
few weeks later, he sent me a list of books
that I might like to read on Churchill.
“What inspired me the most about Dr. Rix
was that he was very personal and had
your best interest at hand when he spoke
with you. The portrait I made of Dr. Rix is
one of my favourites because I was able to
capture him in a Karsh-like pose,” and Rix
“said [it] was one of the best portraits he
had of himself. Dr. Rix was a true artist as
only an artist could appreciate.”
“Dr. Rix was a business and community
leader who had reached the pinnacle of
success. Yet notwithstanding his countless
professional and personal achievements,
he had no intention of letting up,” says
Jon Hantho, chief executive officer of
Maxxam Analytics. “His boundless energy
and his unwavering commitment to cre-
ating successful businesses that would
contribute to British Columbia and Canada
were remarkable. Dr. Rix was a Canadian
success story personified.”
In his inaugural address as chairman of
the Vancouver Board of Trade, Rix related
the following: “I once received a letter
from a student who quoted a Chinese
proverb [that] to me illustrates an ap-
proach to life that we should all aspire to:
‘If you want happiness for an hour, take a
nap. If you want happiness for a day, go
fishing. If you want happiness for a year,
inherit a fortune. But if you want happi-
ness for a lifetime, help someone else.’”
Don Rix was a giant, a leader who set
an example for others to follow. He is
much missed.
Photo: Dominic Schaefer
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 46 3/22/10 12:57:50 PM
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. is one of the world’s leading healthcare companies committed to improving patient health.
At Novartis Pharmaceuticals, innovation is the heart of our research strategy.
00.3_R2_2010_Life Sciences.indd 47 3/22/10 12:57:50 PM
Company Page Web
Amgen pg 21 www.amgen.ca
BC Centre for Excellence pg 26 www.cfenet.ubc.ca
BC Innovation Council pg 24 www.bcic.ca
BCIT pg 32 www.bcit.ca/health
Bio Energy pg 19 www.bioenergyconference.org
BRI Biopharmaceutical pg 16 www.bripharm.com
CDRC pg 3 www.cdrd.ca
Discovery Parks Inside front cover www.discoveryparks.com
Eppendorf pg 10 www.eppendorf.com
Genome BC pg 7 www.genomebc.ca; www.genomicseducation.ca
IG MicroMed pg 36 www.igmicromed.com
KalGene pg 9 www.kalgene.com
Novartis Inside back cover www.novartis.ca
Oyen Wiggs pg 41 www.patentable.com
PBC Laboratories pg 32 www.pbr.ca
Proof Centre for Excellence pg 36 www.proofcentre.ca
Providence Health Care pg 5 www.providenceresearch.ca
Rick Hansen Institute pg 33 www.rickhanseninstitute.org
Rx & D pg 29 www.canadapharma.org
SFU Business pg 13 www.business.sfu.ca/mot
Thompson Rivers pg 17 www.truopen.ca
Trinity Western pg 42 www.twu.ca/biotechnology
Triumf pg 40 www.triumf.ca
UBC Life Sciences pg 28 www.lsi.ubc.ca
World Courier Outside back cover www.worldcourier.com
Xenon pg 16 www.xenon-pharma.com