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Friday | July 8th 2022
CEO MESSAGE
Yesterday, we were honoured to announce the recipients of the 24th Annual Life Sciences BC Awards presented by Farris. Each year, these awards recognize the contributions of people, companies and organizations that have successfully advanced health innovations within our province’s life sciences ecosystem.

This year’s award winners include:

  • Dr. Don Rix Award for Lifetime Achievement in Life Sciences - Dr. Simon Pimstone
  • Genome BC Award for Scientific Excellence - Dr. Lauchlan Fraser 
  • Deal of the Year - Precision NanoSystems
  • Emerging Life Sciences Company of the Year Award - Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals
  • Medical/Digital Technology Company of the Year - Thrive Health
  • Milton Wong Award for Leadership - adMare BioInnovations
  • Strategic Life Sciences Partner of the Year - Genome BC
  • Life Sciences Company of the Year - Acuitas Therapeutics

This year, we also included a unique Global Impact Award to recognize Dr. Pieter Cullis.

Congratulations to all award recipients! The 2022 Life Sciences BC award winners will be recognized at this year’s 24th Annual Life Sciences BC Awards, presented by Farris on September 22, 2022.

Last night, we were also pleased to co-host the UK-Vancouver Innovation Showcase for Biomanufacturing of Advanced Therapies with Innovate UK, a collaborative networking event that showcased the UK innovation ecosystem and created opportunities for partnerships across both our regions. LSBC was honored to give the opening remarks, and showcase what an exciting time it is in BC’s life sciences sector. Thank you to LSBC's Claire Nelson and Board member Dr. Pieter Cullis for representing our sector at this event.

On that note, opportunities for ongoing learning and growth continue to abound within our sector. The UBC Academy of Translational Medicine has partnered with UBC Extended Learning to offer a new micro-certificate in regulatory affairs for life sciences. With the fastest growing life science sector across Canada, regulatory expertise is vital to our ongoing success. To learn more and register, click here. Additionally, adMare BioInnovations is now accepting applications for Cohort V of the adMare Academy Executive Institute.

This past week, the Government of Canada unveiled new nutrition labelling regulations for packaged foods to help Canadians make informed food choices. This simple, yet effective nutrition symbol will be an added tool to help promote healthy eating for all Canadians. Evonik celebrated the start of construction of the world’s first commercial rhamnolipid production facility! Additionally, AbCellera announced that Lilly has entered into a modified purchase agreement with the U.S. government to supply an additional 150,000 doses of the AbCellera-discovered antibody, bebtelovimab, to provide ongoing COVID-19 treatment options. Also, Xenon Pharmaceuticals announced the closing of a previously announced public offering.

People on the Move 

A heartfelt congratulations to Suzanne Gill, who was recently appointed to the role of President and CEO of Genome BC. Over the years, Suzanne has been a true trailblazer for all women within our sector. Congratulations, Suzanne!

Kudos

In addition to our LSBC award winners, a number of UBC faculty of medicine members were appointed to the Order of Canada for 2022 this past week. And, The Gairdner Foundation is currently accepting nominations until July 15th for The Canada Gairdner Momentum Awards.

Until next week,

Wendy and the LSBC team
PLATINUM SPONSORS
SBME Capstone Design Course – Call for Submissions
UBC’s School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) invites LSBC members to propose a project for our Capstone Design Course, to be undertaken by 4th-year undergraduate student teams from Sept 2022-May 2023, by filling out this submission form by August 1st. Participating organizations have benefitted by promoting their organization to UBC students and researchers, working with potential future employees, as well as receiving custom solutions and prototypes for evaluation. Please reach out to us at capstone@sbme.ubc.ca with any questions or to discuss further...READ MORE
Algernon Pharmaceuticals Discloses Novel DMT Salt Patent Strategy Includes Bioactive Nicotinate and Pamoate
Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical development company, is pleased to disclose that as part of its intellectual property patent applications filed in early 2021 for AP-188 (“N,N-dimethyltryptamine” or “DMT”), the Company included nicotinate and pamoate as novel salt forms of DMT. Nicotinate and pamoate are commonly used counterions when producing salts...READ MORE
Evonik Launches Non-Animal-Derived Collagen Platform Vecollan® at Commercial Scale for Medical Device Applications
Evonik’s recombinant, non-animal-derived collagen platform is now available at commercial scale. Vecollan® is highly pure and soluble collagen that is produced via fermentation. It features a triple-helix structure to mimic the properties of natural collagen, making it suitable for use in medical, pharmaceutical, cell culture, tissue, and other life science...READ MORE
UBC’s Newest Life Science, Lab & Office Building
Located at UBC ’s renowned Vancouver campus, this purpose-built life science and office building is designed to meet the needs of today’s leading Life Science and Research companies. UBC is an epicentre of research and innovation, with TEF4 at its heart, bringing another 200,000 SF of much needed space to the Life Science sector....READ MORE
The ATM Receives Funding from the BC Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training to Develop a New Micro-Credential in Regulatory Affairs in the Life Sciences
UBC’s Academy of Translational Medicine (ATM) is excited to announce that its proposal, Micro-credentials in Regulatory Affairs for the Life Sciences, has been awarded $157,093 by the BC Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training (MAEST). British Columbia has the fastest growing life sciences sector in Canada, and regulatory expertise is vital to the continued growth of the sector...READ MORE
Evonik Marks Start of a Revolution in Cleaning and Personal Care with Groundbreaking Ceremony
Evonik is celebrating the start of construction of the world’s first commercial rhamnolipid production facility with a groundbreaking ceremony. The new biosurfactant plant is a triple-digit million-euro investment in Evonik’s biotech hub in Slovakia...READ MORE
Genome British Columbia is Pleased to Announce the Appointment of Ms. Suzanne Gill as President & Chief Executive Officer
A homecoming of sorts, Gill returns to Genome BC where she served in numerous roles in the organization from 2005-2018 including Vice President of Corporate Development. Prior to this appointment, Gill was Vice President, Government Relations and Public Affairs and a founding executive with Digital Supercluster where she built essential relationships with private, academic and government stakeholders to invest and grow Canadian global industry leaders. She also led the development and launch of...READ MORE
Lilly to Supply an Additional 150,000 Doses of AbCellera-Discovered Antibody, Bebtelovimab, to the U.S. Government in Ongoing Effort to Provide COVID-19 Treatment Options
AbCellera announced that Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) has entered into a modified purchase agreement with the U.S. government to supply an additional 150,000 doses of bebtelovimab, the second antibody developed through AbCellera’s collaboration with Lilly, for approximately $275 million. The existing U.S. government supply of bebtelovimab, including the new purchase, is expected to meet present demand through late August 2022...READ MORE
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Announces Closing of $287.5 Million Public Offering Including Full Exercise of the Underwriters’ Option to Purchase Additional Shares
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, announced the closing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 9,098,362 common shares, which includes 1,229,508 shares sold upon the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, and pre-funded warrants to purchase 327,868 common shares...READ MORE
INDUSTRY NEWS
Government of Canada Unveils New Front-of-Package Nutrition Symbol
Keeping Canadians healthy is one of the Government of Canada’s top priorities. Having clear and easy to access information on the foods Canadians find in their grocery stores is an important part of that. The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced new nutrition labelling regulations for packaged foods to help Canadians make informed food choices. These regulations will require a new symbol to...READ MORE
Meet the Winners of the 2022 Nexstream Tech Competition
NexStream 3.0 winners will be awarded investment amounts determined by CRAAG, pursuant to final due diligence, with total investments of up to $300,000. In addition, several local Campbell River businesses and nonprofits brought their innovative, community-focused projects to NexStream 3.0’s Community Stream, which ran alongside the mainstream challenges. Prizes were awarded to community stream participants...READ MORE
CDL’s New Global Advanced Therapies Stream Brings Together Industry Leader CCRM, Four Top Universities on Two Continents
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is launching a new Advanced Therapies stream for pre-seed and seed-stage ventures at the forefront of biotech. To bring this program to life, CDL has partnered with CCRM, a leader in accelerating the development and commercialization of regenerative medicine-based technologies...READ MORE
LSBC IN THE NEWS
Life Sciences BC Announces 24th Annual Award Winners
Life Sciences BC is pleased to announce the recipients of the 24th Annual Life Sciences BC Awards, presented by Farris. These awards recognize the achievements of individuals, companies, and organizations that have had success in advancing successful health innovations and contribute to BC’s life sciences ecosystem...READ MORE
GOLD SPONSORS
Lead Scientist, Protein Engineering

Reporting directly to the R&D Manager, the Lead Scientist, Protein Engineering is an important member within the department and the company as a whole. The role is responsible to lead the development, optimization, and production scale up of proteins needed for IVD products on-time and on-budget:
You have rich experience of upstream and downstream protein engineering processes and experience with protein production under GMP requirement. You have strong planning skill to prioritize tasks and to adapt the changes when necessary. You have effective problem-solving skill to remove roadblocks and provide technical advice for the team members.


Executive Assistant


This position provides executive level support for the Executive Director/Assoc Dean Research (VCHRI), Faculty of Medicine and directed administrative support for certain senior staff in the Administration Office of the VCHRI. The EA will manage the schedule of the ED/Assoc Dean including preparing meeting materials, briefs, and written communication on behalf of the Ed/Assoc Dean. The EA will also support institute senior leadership team members with scheduling of complex meetings and logistical and administrative tasks required for specific projects, initiatives and events. This position handles highly confidential and sensitive matters.


Senior Scientist, Analytical Chemistry

At Abdera Therapeutics, we are looking for curious and committed individuals who are ready for the opportunity to transform the way people living with cancer can be treated. We are relentless in our focus to offer new hope to families facing devastating diagnoses. We are in search of team members who work collaboratively with a diverse group of colleagues, respectfully engaging one another while collectively and inclusively tackling any challenges we may face. We are building an exciting and fast paced company passionate about discovering and developing tomorrow’s most innovative cancer therapies.



SILVER SPONSORS
Pender & Howe Executive Search solutions are always fully tailored to meet the specific needs of your business, whether you are raising capital for the first time, preparing for an IPO or expanding beyond your domestic market. They build a strategic plan to ensure your executive leadership team is at its strongest.

4M Biotech addresses global health challenges through developing technology that lies at the interface of cellular biology, biomaterials, mechanical engineering, and AI. Their interdisciplinary team takes promising ideas and progresses them through research, development, and commercialization.

BRONZE SPONSORS
Post 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 posts, you will also receive 25% off all job postings on The Petri Dish. Want more info? Contact talent@lifesciencesbc.ca