It was fantastic to see so many of you at last night’s memorable - and sold out! - Summer Social! After two+ years of virtual events, it was our immense pleasure to connect with you at our first in-person event for an evening of networking, connection, and fun. Thank you to Acetech for supporting the event.
To kick things off, there are several member companies to congratulate this week. Best Startup Canada announced B.C.’s top 35 CEOs in the health care space - and several CEOs from LSBC member companies were named to this list. Kudos to all! Congratulations to Dr. Zabrina Brumme who was announced as this year’s winner of Providence Research’s Research and Mission Award! And, congratulations also to LSBC Board Member, UBC Medicine professor and co-founder of Acuitas Therapeutics, Dr. Pieter Cullis, who was awarded the 2022 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science for his role in developing the lipid nanoparticle technology that enabled mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines.
On that note, awards and grants remain a key part of everything our sector is able to accomplish to push health care innovation forward - especially for the next generation of aspiring youths in STEM. This week, Sanofi Canada awarded four, $50,000 Sanofi Biogenius Canada Grants to public high schools across the country to help provide better access to hands-on STEM equipment and education.
In more member news this week, Xenon Pharmaceuticals announced next steps in its clinical program evaluating XEN1101 for the treatment of patients with focal onset seizures following a positive outcome of end-of-phase 2 meeting with the FDA. Novartis Pharmaceuticals also announced the launch of Novartis Pro Portal, a comprehensive digital resource for health care practitioners, giving them access to tailored, real-time support, digital knowledge and resources to improve their daily practice and drive progress for Canadian patients. Also, Zucara Therapeutics reported positive results from its proof-of-concept Phase 1b trial of ZT-01 in people with Type 1 diabetes ("T1D"), confirming ZT-01’s mechanism of action in restoring glucagon release in these patients.
We also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge some fellow sector colleagues on their new appointments: Innovative Medicines Canada has recently announced that Rhonda Pacheco, President & GM of Lilly Canada, has joined the Board as their new Vice-Chair. This follows last month’s announcement welcoming Alok Kanti, President & CEO of Bayer Canada, as Board Chair.
Another opportunity we want to share involves Life Sciences Ontario (LSO) and Shift Health who are leading a study to understand the status of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in the Canadian life sciences sector. They are looking for additional participants and if you are interested, please fill out this questionnaire here.
Finally, a reminder to make the most of your LSBC membership - including our exclusive discounts, benefits, events, and resources, such as our job board, to recruit and search for jobs in our province’s exciting, world-class sector.
Until next week,
Wendy and the LSBC team
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Zucara Therapeutics Reports Positive Results from Phase 1b Trial of ZT-01
Zucara Therapeutics Inc., a diabetes life sciences company developing the first therapeutic to prevent insulin-induced hypoglycemia (low blood glucose levels), announced that its Phase 1b proof-of-concept trial demonstrated ZT-01’s ability to restore glucagon release in people with Type 1 diabetes. Data from 18 subjects that completed all three hypoglycemic challenge procedures demonstrated that nearly 90% of subjects had a meaningful increase in glucagon following ZT-01 compared to placebo... READ MORE
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AbbVie Submits Supplemental New Drug Application to U.S. FDA for Atogepant (QULIPTA™) to Support Label Expansion for the Preventive Treatment of Migraine
AbbVie announced that it has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application for atogepant (QULIPTATM) to the U.S. FDA to support the preventive treatment of chronic migraine in adults. If approved, atogepant (QULIPTA) would be the first gepant (oral calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist) approved for the broad indication of the preventive treatment of migraine, including episodic and chronic... READ MORE
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STEMCELL Technologies Receives ISO 14001 Certification of Environmental Management System
STEMCELL Technologies, Canada’s largest biotechnology company, announced today that it has received ISO 14001:2015 certification of its Environmental Management System at its Canadian operations in Vancouver, BC. STEMCELL’s now-certified Environmental Management System will enable the company to monitor, measure, analyze, and evaluate its environmental performance... READ MORE
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Algernon Announces Patients Requested Ongoing Supply of Ifenprodil after IPF and Chronic Cough Phase 2 Study Ended
Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Canadian clinical stage pharmaceutical development company, announced that patients from multiple sites participating in its Phase 2 proof of concept study of NP-120 (“Ifenprodil”) for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic cough, being conducted in Australia and New Zealand, have requested ongoing supply of Ifenprodil for their personal use beyond the study’s treatment period... READ MORE
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Xenon Pharmaceuticals Announces Positive Outcome of End-of-Phase 2 Meeting with the FDA
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a neurology-focused biopharmaceutical company, announced next steps in its clinical program evaluating XEN1101 for the treatment of patients with focal onset seizures following the completion of an End-of-Phase 2 (EOP2) meeting with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The outcome of the EOP2 meeting supports the advancement of XEN1101 into Phase 3 clinical development, and Xenon remains on track to initiate the Phase 3 program in the second half of 2022... READ MORE
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MaRS, KPMG Canada Partner to Launch Climate Impact Accelerator
MaRS Discovery District has partnered with KPMG Canada to launch the Climate Impact Accelerator. The accelerator aims to connect corporations with cleantech startups to advance climate innovation. The program aims to advance commercialization in Canada’s cleantech sector and build a stronger network between startups, corporations, and governments... READ MORE
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Dr. Pieter Cullis Awarded 2022 Tang Prize for Contributions to COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines
UBC Medicine professor Dr. Pieter Cullis has been awarded the 2022 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science for his work developing the lipid nanoparticle technology that enabled mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, recognizing biomedical research that has led to significant advances in human health by helping prevent, diagnose or treat major diseases... READ MORE
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Lark Group Welcomes UBC to the Health and Technology District
Lark Group is pleased to welcome the University of British Columbia (UBC) to the Health and Technology District in Surrey, as announced in today’s event at the District. UBC’s newly purchased space within the Health and Technology District’s HealthTech Innovation HUB will be transformed to become home to its Master of Physical Therapy program in the Fraser region. ..READ MORE
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Fraser Health Radiologist Wins Health Hero Award
Radiologist Dr. William Siu is a recipient of this year’s Above and Beyond Fraser Health Hero Award. Dr. Siu and his team at Royal Columbian Hospital implemented the Endovascular Therapy Program, a multi-agency approach to stroke care, which transformed how strokes are treated in Fraser Health and across B.C. at an administrative level. ..READ MORE
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TELUS to Acquire LifeWorks for $2.3 Billion
TELUS Corp. announced an agreement to acquire LifeWorks, Inc. for approximately $2.3 billion. LifeWorks is a world leader in providing digital and in-person solutions that support the total wellbeing of individuals – mental, physical, financial and social. ..READ MORE
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Life Sciences British Columbia and Acetech Announce Partnership
With a vision of supporting leadership within the life sciences, biotech, and tech sectors, Life Sciences British Columbia (LSBC) is proud to partner with Acetech, a not-for-profit organization for leaders of companies innovating with technology. Bringing together shared values of inclusivity, a focus on community, and peers supporting peers, the LSBC/Acetech partnership is a collaboration dedicated to nurturing economic development within the province through the support and advancement of leadership across these sectors. ..READ MORE
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Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Position, Pharmacology
We now invite applications for a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Pharmacology. Applicants for this position must possess a PhD or equivalent doctoral qualification, with research expertise that broadens our current strengths in cancer pharmacology, cardiovascular pharmacology, diabetes, drug metabolism/pharmacokinetics, neuropharmacology, and pharmacogenomics or complements these strengths with a research focus in pharmacology.
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Scientist, Preclinical/Immunology
Working within the Preclinical Group and reporting to the Sr. Director, Preclinical, the Scientist, Preclinical/Immunology will be responsible for designing and executing in vitro and in vivo studies to characterize the pharmacodynamics and safety of LNP-nucleic acid formulations, as well as immunological characterization of the LNP and constituent components. Some studies will be performed externally, through partners or contract laboratories (CROs), and will require coordination, management and oversight of some or all aspects of these studies.
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Program Manager, Development
We are seeking an experienced Program Manager to coordinate development cross-functional planning of Xenon’s clinical-stage small-molecule drug development projects/sub-programs. This role involves close coordination with stakeholders within development and when required outside of development. This position reports to the Executive Director, Development Program Management and will be located either in the Vancouver, BC, Canada or Boston, MA, USA location or remote.
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Notch is developing renewable, stem cell-derived immunotherapies, with an initial focus on cancer. They believe that cell therapies can bring value to patients and healthcare systems by being safe, effective, and accessible. Built on foundational discoveries in developmental immunology and enabled by world-class bioengineering and advanced cell manufacturing teams, Notch has developed a proprietary platform with the potential to fully enable best-in-class commercial manufacturing of stem-cell derived immunotherapies that bypass the need to use a patient’s own immune cells.
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Zucara Therapeutics is developing ZT-01, a first-in-class, once-daily therapeutic to prevent insulin-induced hypoglycemia in patients using insulin therapy. ZT-01 is designed to inhibit somatostatin, a pancreatic hormone that impairs the glucagon response to hypoglycemia in people with insulin dependent diabetes. ZT-01 restores glucagon secretion to prevent hypoglycemia, which could dramatically change diabetes disease management and improve both patient health and quality of life. For more information, visit www.zucara.ca
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