Alberta Life Sciences Showcase
June 15, 2021
Join us and attendees from around the world at Bio Digital for an afternoon of live pitches and virtual networking showcasing the best of what Alberta companies offer.
Hear from the Hon. Doug Schweitzer, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation plus pitches from our leading companies including: Resverlogix, AazeinTx, 48Hour Discovery, Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology and more.
June 15, 3:00 - 5:30 PM MDT
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Alberta’s Life Sciences - State of the Industry 2021
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State of the Industry 2021 - Your Company Matters: Be Counted!
BioAlberta and Deloitte are preparing to launch the definitive survey on Alberta’s Life Sciences - State of the Industry 2021.
You can help show the life sciences industry is a key contributor to Alberta’s economic growth and diversification.
State of the Industry 2021 captures key data on all aspects of life sciences from startups to large public companies, from pharmaceuticals and medical devices to industrial biotechnology, and functional foods & natural health products. Your company and the work you do matters!
The survey provides a snapshot of the health and growth of the industry, and is used by policy makers and industry stakeholders to develop policies, programs and initiatives to grow the sector.
Watch for your link to complete the survey. The survey will be open June 7 – 30.
State of the Industry is completed biannually.
Don’t miss your opportunity to be counted as a critical part of Alberta’s bioeconomy!
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Member Focal Point: MagnetTx
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Edmonton healthcare companies make history with pioneering cancer care technology
A revolutionary device from Canadian-based MagnetTx Oncology Solutions is advancing cancer care.
MagnetTx is the culmination of a successful partnership between clinical and scientific research by the University of Edmonton, Cross Cancer Institute (CCI) and Alberta Health Services (AHS) to improve the quality of treatments and survival for cancer patients.
Over 10 years of research and development has enabled MagnetTx Oncology Solutions to introduce to the market the Aurora RT — a groundbreaking radiation therapy linear accelerator (LINAC) with MRI guidance.
For decades, the goal of radiotherapy has been to improve the precision and accuracy of radiation delivery to ensure that tumours in cancer patients are irradiated while minimizing the dose and damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Improvements began to come to fruition with the advancement of digital imaging technology through the 1990s and early 2000s.
In 2001, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Alberta Cancer Foundation (ACF) provided a grant to CCI and the University of Alberta (UA). The grant enabled the organizations to conduct research with a new treatment machine that introduced CT scanning on the same machine as the LINAC, which brought 3D imaging to the treatment delivery system for the first time.
MagnetTx co-founder Dr. Gino Fallone, who was the Principal Investigator (PI), also received another CFI grant to purchase one of the first 3T MRI scanners around the same time. As the research on both systems progressed, the CCI team recognized the limitations of the on-board CT scanner and began investigating how the MRI could be used to overcome these limitations.
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They explored moving the patient between the MRI scanner and the LINAC with CT — but it soon became clear that the best way to resolve the issues was to implement an MRI scanner directly on the treatment machine. Solving this problem would lead to far superior treatment accuracy, as the MRI provides better soft tissue contrast and the ability to image during the radiation delivery. However, that feat was considered to be impossible due to significant engineering challenges.
“We had a unique opportunity to resolve significant physics and engineering problems to better treat all solid cancers,” remarked Dr. Fallone. “We had bright medical physics graduate students ready to attack the problems — and that’s exactly we did.”
After considerable work and progress, Dr. Fallone and his team, including MagnetTx co-founder Brad Murray, were granted several initial patents in 2005. As development persisted, additional patents and team members followed.
In 2008, with more ACF funding acquired by PI Fallone, he, Murray and their team built the world’s first proof of principle prototype that merged a LINAC with an MRI. As their work continued, the team received additional funding from the ACF and Canada’s Western Economic Diversification to build a whole-body prototype in 2014, and then further funding from Alberta Innovates CRIO Team to build the clinical system in 2020.
It took several years and millions of dollars in research grants, plus moral and financial support from Alberta Health Services — Cancer Care Alberta to produce the most complete LINAC MR hybrid designed to treat solid tumors anywhere on the body.
The remarkable team has published over 90 peer-reviewed publications on this Alberta technology with Fallone as lead author.
Working with the AHS, Dr. Fallone and Mr. Murray developed a licensing agreement and formed MagnetTx. Though MagnetTx as a corporation is relatively new, it comes with almost a decade of determination, hard work and innovation.
In 2018, MagnetTx Oncology Solutions brought on industry veteran Mike Cogswell to serve as President and CEO. Cogswell and the team successfully raised the first round of major capital — and the company’s endeavors finally took flight. MagnetTx’s new offices in Edmonton allowed space and means to hire new team members and grow, while staying close to the team and technology foundation of its roots at the University of Alberta.
“As someone who has spent his career in the Silicon Valley area of California, I have been impressed by the overall quality of talent we have been able to hire locally,” noted Mr. Cogswell. “We have proudly hired software development, quality assurance, and engineering all from the Alberta talent pool.”
Aurora RT is now available on the commercial market for purchase- inquiries for Aurora RT can be directed to MagnetTx here.
MagnetTx Oncology Solutions Ltd. designs, manufactures and markets the MagnetTx Aurora RT™ . Aurora RT is a cancer treatment system that combines high-quality MRI and simultaneous linear accelerator-based radiation therapy treatment. Unlike other MRI-guided systems, Aurora RT was designed with patented parallel and rotation magnet capabilities that eliminate the main issue of other systems —electron return effect (ERE). Aurora RT is built upon a proprietary open-air MRI imaging system designed to address the unique challenges and clinical workflow for advanced radiation oncology procedures. Aurora RT integrates with existing department software programs, and due to its patented parallel RT to MRI field alignment, it doesn’t require clinicians and physicists to compromise from standard treatment protocols. For more information consult the MagnetTx website here.
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Digital Health Integration Readiness Platform (Pre-HaTCh)
Health City and Brightsquid announced the second cohort of their Digital Health Integration Readiness Platform (Pre-HaTCH), an initiative aimed to better prepare small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to reach commercialization of their products and service. The initiative increases entry and integration in the health system, allowing multiple companies to scale at once. Interested SMEs must submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) to Health City by June 4, 2021. For more information and to apply, see here.
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Natural Products Canada Ventures
A new $50M investment fund to invest in early-stage Canadian companies developing naturally-derived alternatives to synthetic products. Learn about this new opportunity here.
Proof of Concept Program
Designed to help establish the commercial feasibility of innovative natural products and technologies, and attract and de-risk subsequent investment- research institutes, start-ups and SMEs, see details here.
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Student Work Placement Program
Building Skills for Canada's bio-economy
Canadian universities and colleges are placing highly-
educated students in the bio-economy. If you are looking to hire young and eager talent, BioTalent Canada’s Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) can help.
SWPP will support you to hire, train and retain employees in a variety of sectors. See program details here and contact Colleen at chayes@biotalent.ca.
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AGE-WELL’s funding has been renewed through the federal Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program to the end of fiscal year 2022-2023. They have $21.9 million over three years from GoC to provide Canadians with technology-based solutions to improve quality of life for older adults and caregivers. If you have an idea apply for these exceptional funding opportunities now. Details can be found at: http://ow.ly/fgsL50zE3oO Y
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Western Economic Diversification Canada
Alberta businesses unable to access existing relief measures can apply to Western Economic Diversification Canada's Regional Relief and Recovery Fund worth $304 million.
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Expander Energy Inc. announced on May 26 they are moving forward with plans to build the Slave Lake 22 million liter/year Biomass/Gas to Liquids plant (BGTL™), the first of its kind in North America, which will produce NET ZERO carbon intensity diesel fuel, jet fuel, and blue hydrogen. This $35 million facility is the first in a series of plants planned for the Slave Lake area which could ultimately reach over 200 million liters/year with an estimated total project cost of $800 million.
Expander has completed feasibility engineering and a detailed Carbon Intensity study for the implementation of Carbon Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) at the facility. Read the full details here.
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Bast Fibre Technologies (BFT) completes CAD$8.5 million series A equity financing to begin manufacturing and commercial phase of growth
BFT, a cleantech natural fibre engineering company, will now enter its next phase of growth focused on the full-scale manufacturing and commercialization of natural bast fibres for nonwoven products. For details visit their website here.
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Scispot.io, a life science digitization and automation company, announced on May 19 that HelaPlex, a commercial shared office and lab space, chose Scispot as their exclusive digital platform to create the world’s first digital life science accelerator.
As part of this partnership, HelaPlex will gain access to a white label digital operating platform powered by Scispot. HelaPlex will allocate a secure digital space to each of its members that will enable them to manage their research, resources, and partners in one spot per commercial regulatory requirements. See details here.
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Health City and the Institute of Health Economics (IHE) welcomed Merck Canada as a new partner on May 11 to an innovative Alberta collaboration aimed at exploring the potential uses for synthetic health data. Merck Canada will be joining existing partners Alberta Innovates and the University of Alberta, and will support the acceleration of research in the field of synthetic data use with the ultimate goal of helping improve health outcomes for Canadians. Read the full details here.
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The extraordinary development of the COVID-19 vaccines now being deployed globally is a testament to collaboration and innovation by governments, industry, and other stakeholders.
On May 6, Innovative Medicines Canada issued a press release indicating that waiving TRIPS Intellectual Property (IP) protections will not address the real issues of trade barriers, global supply chain bottlenecks, and scarcity of raw materials that are impacting the supply of COVID-19 vaccines. IP protection is a crucial element for a thriving life sciences sector and therefore we urge Canada and other nations to ensure that any negotiated agreement effectively addresses the problem of global vaccine access and does not undermine vaccine production or negatively impact public health. Read the full release here.
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