Friday | November 19th, 2021
CEO MESSAGE
After a successful Invest in BC virtual summit, the Events team here at Life Sciences BC is moving on to our next big event, Career Connect Day coming up towards the end of January. This signature event surpassed expectations last year, despite being held online. We’re presenting a day of networking, 1:1 meetings, and interactive career workshops that will bring BC life science companies together with the skilled talent they need to thrive. 

As noted in our June 2021 sector update with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, skilled talent is one of the key factors for success as life science companies grow and thrive. BioTalent Canada’s Student Work Placement Program (SWPP), addresses this.
The initiative helps increase the job-readiness of students registered in STEM, healthcare, business, and other programs at Canadian post-secondary institutions. There are some great wage subsidy programs that cover the cost of a student’s salary by 75% to a maximum of $7,500. You can check them out in the links below: 

Personal endorsement here; may I introduce two of our four current SWPP co-op placements; Madeleine, our Communications Specialist, compiles and formats BioLinks each week for your reading pleasure, and Joanna, our Operations Specialist, who ensures smooth running systems each day! Stay tuned for next week and I’ll introduce our remaining two co-ops. Visit visit biotalent.ca/Co-opFunds for more details on the program. 

In order to thrive, talent needs role models, and this is especially true for underrepresented groups. Innovate BC Innovator Skills Initiative funding provides up to $100,000 to hire an employee from an underrepresented group and thereby increase exposure. Seeing someone who looks like you in the role is important; finalists in Fierce Pharma’s 2021 Fiercest Women in Life Sciences agree. Even they note that “women are not just demanding space in Life Sciences anymore. They're taking it”, many of the winners cited mentors and role models as important for success in the sector. You can see the impact of visibility, even at an early age, in Ed Yong’s 2018 piece on the Draw A Scientist Project for The Atlantic.
 
Nurturing talent is a vital step too. If you know a young scientist, let them know about LSBC member, Cytiva’s Young Scientist Network; the first event takes place on December 9.
  
Nurturing talent leads to leadership; it’s great to see LSBC members in action. Gordon McCauley (adMare Bioinnovations) and Pamela Fralick (Innovative Medicines Canada) are both contributing to The Walrus Leadership Forum on Life Sciences on December 1. I’d also like to welcome BC Cancer Agency’s new head of clinical research, Dr. Stephen Chia.

And effective leadership translates into success. Congratulations to LSBC member, Chinook Therapeutics on closing a successful public offering and to Thrive Health as finalists in the Spirit of BC Tech Resilience awards 2021. Congratulations also to LSBC member, Variational AI on raising $US3.5 million ($CDN4.3 million) in seed funding for developing its state-of-the-art generative AI technology and accelerate the discovery of novel and optimized small molecules. 

-Wendy and the LSBC team
Platinum Sponsors

The “Making More Health Together 2021″ convention took place last week. This two-day open and virtual event, organized by Boehringer Ingelheim and Ashoka, focused on the empowerment of social entrepreneurship and topics relevant to human and animal health, as well as social innovation. Over 1,400 participants from across academia, non-profit, industry, and political sectors are expected to engage, collaborate and network towards one common goal: to find more sustainable solutions for the most pressing healthcare issues of our time. READ MORE

BC Cancer’s interdisciplinary summit provides critical education, professional development and unique relationship-building opportunities for oncology professionals from all specialties and disciplines. The 2021 Summit is fully virtual event. Please register by 5 p.m., November 17. READ MORE

The Young Scientist Network, designed for graduate students and early-career scientists focusing on molecular and immunodiagnostics and next-generation sequencing (NGS).Here you will find content and community — and even special offers — to support your work as you put theory into practice.

adMare BioInnovations is pleased to announce a collaboration with the University of Ottawa to bring new resources and focus to the building of life science companies and talent at the University. READ MORE

Evonik now offers a broader range of RESOMER® PrintPowder polymers to enable the 3D printing of personalized implantable medical devices. The new powders are available globally for 3D printing through selective laser sintering (SLS). READ MORE

Variational AI, developer of state-of-the-art generative AI technology to redefine the economics of drug development by accelerating the discovery of novel and optimized small molecules, announced that it has raised $US3.5 million ($CDN4.3 million) in seed funding. The investment round was led by Flying Fish Ventures, Alliance of Angels and A&E Investments, with participation from Lip-Bu Tan and Amarjit Gill, Silicon Valley. READ MORE

adMare BioInnovations is pleased to announce the nine women and nine men from diverse backgrounds and representing a wide range of life science businesses across the country, selected to join this year’s adMare Academy Executive Institute. READ MORE

Join Mitacs and leaders from industry, academia, and government for an evening of celebration as we honour the outstanding achievements of students, professors, and partner organizations who have participated in Mitacs programs. READ MORE

The Innovator Skills Initiative provides up to $10,000 to help employers hire a new employee. The program helps under-represented people get their first job in B.C.’s tech sector and supports companies facing skills shortages to grow and expand. READ MORE

The Office of the Vice-President, Health is pleased to announce that the competition for the 2021 UBC Health Awards and Scholarships is now open. These awards and scholarships recognize the academic and research excellence of faculty and students from various health disciplines at UBC as well as the achievements of health educators, professionals, and community partners across BC. READ MORE

This year we will be selecting a cohort of four, innovative life science companies from Canada to participate in the 6-month long mentoring program (kick-off in February, mentoring engagement March through September 2022), which we anticipate to be a hybrid program with in-person events in Chicago as well as some virtual meetings. Deadline to apply is December 1, 2021. READ MORE
Gold Sponsors
EMPOWER is developing access to psychedelics for First Responders and Medical professionals.

Their team is establishing research related to mental and physical rehabilitation using psychedelic substances.

Their new HQ is located at the Healthtech District in Surrey BC.

InMed Pharmaceuticals is a global leader in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of rare cannabinoids. Together with their subsidiary, BayMedica, they have unparalleled cannabinoid manufacturing capabilities to serve a spectrum of consumer markets, including pharmaceutical and health and wellness. InMed is a clinical-stage company developing a pipeline of rare cannabinoid therapeutics and dedicated to delivering new treatment alternatives to patients that may benefit from cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical drugs.

Silver Sponsors
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.

The position will provide the candidate with exposure to immunotherapy and translational research approaches, and lead various animal care programs such as health monitoring and colony management. .

 The position would involve the isolation and manipulation of primary B-cells; hybridoma generation; the optimization and execution of novel screens and assay development and so much more.

The successful applicant will lead research efforts and participate within a team in a funded research collaboration with a leading multinational pharmaceutical company. 
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 reposts, you will also receive 25% off all job postings on The Petri Dish. Want more info? Contact Peter McLoughlin - talent@lifesciencesbc.ca