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Throughout this pandemic, the life sciences community has demonstrated tremendous scientific and business leadership. BC has been recognized for this leadership across all areas of the life sciences ecosystem. We’ve had great success, and have learned valuable lessons we can leverage as we continue to expand and grow as a sector. As I said to students at UBC’s School of Biomedical Engineering on their Interfaces podcast, leadership is about pivoting, not panicking.
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Next week, we hope you can join us for our virtual conference, Canada & UK: foundations for innovation webinar. In addition to providing an overview of the process and policies associated with introducing innovative therapeutics in Canada, we will be doing a deep dive into the UK life sciences strategy. We are thrilled to be welcoming Sir John Bell, the Canadian-born Regius Chair of Medicine at the University of Oxford as one of our keynote speakers. The agenda and a full list of speakers and registration are included here.
Thanks to UK Digital Health Trade Mission to North America, Life Sciences BC will present an overview of the BC life sciences ecosystem, showcasing our strengths and opportunities for business collaboration. In addition to LSBC, 16 of our digital health companies will participate.
In case you missed it, last week we released our joint BCLS and GVBOT report, B.C. Life Sciences Update 2021: Building on a foundation of innovation. The report has garnered considerable interest from the media. Visit here to read the report and click on the links to review the media coverage including Business in Vancouver Podcast with Tyler Olsen and The Simi Sara interview on the CKNW/GlobalTV (Click the May 7 item marked Chapter 1 and advance to bookmark 7/41:17).
In addition to the above media, Gordon Hoekstra from the Vancouver Sun wrote a lengthy article about the BC life sciences sector available here. Congratulations to BC Cancer researcher Dr. Connie Eaves, who was elected into the prestigious Royal Society. It is a very well-deserved honour.
Late last week, the BC Government announced the inaugural Board of Directors for InBC, the new $500 million investment corporation. Congratulations to Christine Bergeron, President and CEO of Vancity who has been named the Chair of the Board.
LSBC members receive a variety of benefits, and one we want to flag is a 90% discount on participation in the Greater Vancouver Cohort of the Trade Accelerator Program (TAP). Click here for information on upcoming cohort intakes.
Industry News
XCO Tech Inc. and Atlazo, Inc. have announced the formation of Recon Health Inc., a joint venture to commercialize a portfolio of next generation virtual healthcare products based on embedded artificial intelligence (AI) edge computing and medical based analytics.
Wendy Hurlburt
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Amgen announces its partner AstraZeneca submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for tezepelumab, a potential first-in-class medicine in severe asthma. The submission is supported by positive clinical trial results from the PATHFINDER clinical program including the pivotal NAVIGATOR Phase 3 trial; demonstrating a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in the annualized asthma exacerbation rate (AAER) in patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma compared to placebo.READ MORE
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Amphotericin B Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of iCo Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that two presentations related to research on the effectiveness of the Company’s Oral Amphotericin B formulation (“iCo 019”) on the SARS-Cov-2 virus have been accepted to the 2021 CSPS/PSJ/CC-CRS Joint Symposium – Pharmaceutical Sciences in a Pandemic World. The Symposium will be held virtually from May 31 to June 3, 2021, and is sponsored by the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Science. READ MORE
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VANCOUVER, BC, May 11, 2021 — Bold Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, is announcing that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted BOLD-100 an Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) in the treatment of gastric (stomach) cancer. BOLD-100 is a first-in-class ruthenium-based small molecule therapeutic that (1) alters the unfolded protein response (UPR) through selective GRP78 inhibition; and (2) induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) which causes DNA damage and cell cycle arrest. READ MORE
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Vancouver, BC – May 13, 2021 – InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage company developing pharmaceutical-based drug candidates and leading the way in the clinical development of cannabinol (“CBN”), today reported financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021 (“3Q21”) which ended March 31, 2021.The Company will be hosting a conference call to present the 3Q21 results,
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For this week’s podcast episode hosted by UBC’s School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME), our President and CEO, Wendy Hurlburt shares her story of Life Sciences BC. Providing insight into the contributions and impacts made by BC’s life sciences community, the podcast features the life sciences sector as an economic driver for BC and beyond.
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According to our new research study on “Organoids Market to 2027 – Global Analysis and Forecast – by Type, Application, and Source,” the organoids market was valued at US$ 689.47 million in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 3,420.40 million by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.1% during 2020–2027. The growth of the market is attributed to increasing demand for tumor modelling and biobanking, escalating adoption of personalized drugs, and growing focus on developing alternatives for animal testing models. READ MORE
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VANCOUVER, B.C., – May 10, 2021 – Qu Biologics Inc., a private clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSIs), a novel platform of immunotherapies designed to restore innate immune function, recently expanded its patent portfolio to include the perioperative use of Qu’s SSIs to overcome immune dysfunction in patients undergoing cancer surgery. READ MORE
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In the mid-1970s, immunologist Stuart Schlossman had a lab space problem. In order to unravel the ins and outs of T cell biology, he was working with a then-new and revolutionary method for purifying monoclonal antibodies. The hybridoma technique which Georges Köhler and César Milstein won a Nobel prize for in 1984 — involves inoculating mice with antigens, extracting spleen cells, fusing these with cancer cells and then growing up the immortalized antibody-secreting B cells.
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VANCOUVER, B.C. —“A new report developed jointly by LSBC and the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade is highlighting six recommendations intended to cement the future of the life sciences sector in B.C., including the implementation of competitive tax policies to keep the intellectual property in B.C. and Canada..
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The Province is providing the ALS Society of BC with $2 million for PROJECT HOPE to further support patients living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in British Columbia through research for a cure and clinical trials. PROJECT HOPE will establish an ALS research professorship in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC). This new, permanent ALS dedicated clinician/scientist will offer patient care and further improve patient outcomes and research, with the goal of increasing access to clinical trials in British Columbia for local patients. READ MORE
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Fusion Genomics is advancing molecular diagnostics by developing identification tests for pathogens using proprietary technologies in combination with Next Generation Sequencing.
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Acuitas Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that works with partners to develop new therapies to address unmet clinical needs based on internationally recognized capabilities in delivery technology.
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PERSPECTIVES ON GLOBAL HEALTHCARE INNOVATION |
What’s driving innovation in life science and healthcare? SVB is committed to serving the ecosystem by providing industry-leading reports featuring proprietary analysis and targeted outlooks to help companies and investors achieve their goals. Twice a year we publish deep-dive analyses describing fundraising, investment, M&A and IPO activity of private, venture-backed biopharma, medical device and diagnostic/tools companies. Our deep relationships with top life science and healthcare entrepreneurs and investors inform our insights and give us a vantage point unlike any other bank. To find out more about Silicon Valley Bank click here
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Posting A JOB on the LSBC Website |
LSBC Membership Discounts on Job Postings
As an LSBC member, your first five job postings EARNS a free repost on BioTalent Canada's The Petri Dish After your first five reposts, you will also receive 25% off all job postings on The Petri Dish. Want more info? CONTACT: Peter McLoughlin - talent@lifesciencesbc.ca
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