April 21st, 2023

Life Sciences BC seeks to raise the profile of our members and supporters, highlight their achievements, and promote BC's dynamic life sciences ecosystem. If you have news or a story to share, let us know.

Abdera Therapeutics Debuts with $142 Million in Financing to Engineer and Advance Best-in-Class Antibody-Based Radiopharmaceuticals for Cancer

Abdera Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its advanced antibody engineering ROVEr™ platform to design and develop tunable, precision radiopharmaceuticals for cancer, announced it has raised $142 million in combined Series A and B financing. Versant Ventures and Amplitude Ventures led the Series A round, with participation from Northview Ventures as well as founding partners of Abdera, adMare BioInnovations and AbCellera. The Series B round was led by venBio Partners with participation from existing investors as well as new investors including Viking Global Investors, Qiming Venture Partners USA and RTW Investments...READ MORE

PharmAla Biotech to Supply Clinical Psychedelic Lab at Monash University Clinical Trial with LaNeo MDMA

PharmAla Biotech is proud to have been selected as the MDMA manufacturing partner for the Clinical Psychedelic Lab at Monash University’s upcoming Phase 2 Clinical Trial. This is the fourth major clinical trial to select PharmAla Biotech as supplier in Australia...READ MORE

Zucara Therapeutics Receives IND Clearance for Phase 2 Clinical Trial of ZT-01

Zucara Therapeutics Inc., a diabetes-focused life sciences company developing the first once-daily therapeutic to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose levels) in people with diabetes, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has cleared the Company’s Investigational New Drug application for ZT-01 for the prevention of night-time (nocturnal) hypoglycemia in patients with Type 1 Diabetes. The FDA’s clearance enables Zucara to initiate its planned trial titled A Phase 2a study of effect of ZT-01 On Nocturnal hypoglycemia Events in Type 1 diabetes mellitus, with first patient dosing expected to occur in the third quarter of 2023...READ MORE

Bold Therapeutics Presents Jaw-Dropping Interim Phase 2 Clinical Data for BOLD-100 in the Treatment of Advanced Colorectal Cancer at AACR 2023

Bold Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class oncology therapeutics, announced positive interim results from a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating BOLD-100 in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2023 conference. Bold Therapeutics’ 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. BOLD-100’s multimodal mechanism-of-action synergizes with virtually all other anti-cancer drugs...READ MORE

GlycoNet and Partners Invest $1.7M in Canadian-Led Health Research and Bioinnovation

GlycoNet, one of the global leaders in glycomics research and innovation, announced a $728,500 investment for five glycomics research projects to tackle unsolved health issues. Industry collaborators, health foundations and business partners are also co-investing approximately $986,000 to bring the total investment to around $1.7 million. This funding will support the development of new tools, diagnostics and therapeutics in areas including organ transplantation, infectious diseases, cancer, dementia and other health conditions impacting Canadians...READ MORE

GSK Reaches Agreement to Acquire Late-Stage Biopharmaceutical Company BELLUS Health

GSK plc and BELLUS Health Inc. announced that they have entered into an agreement under which GSK will acquire BELLUS, a Canada-based, late-stage biopharmaceutical company working to better the lives of patients suffering from refractory chronic cough (RCC) for US$14.75 per share of common stock in cash representing an approximate total equity value of US$2.0 billion (£1.6 billion). The acquisition provides GSK access to camlipixant, a potential best-in-class and highly selective P2X3 antagonist currently in phase III development for the first-line treatment of adult patients with RCC...READ MORE

Ondine Biomedical’s Nasal Photodisinfection Cuts Surgical Site Infections by 66%

Ondine Biomedical Inc. presented detailed results from its US Phase 2 BENEFIT-aPDT clinical trial to the 33rd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The results indicate that patients who underwent Ondine’s nasal photodisinfection prior to surgery experienced 66% fewer surgical site infections (SSIs) than the US national average. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that over 110,000 SSIs occur in the US each year, costing the healthcare system approximately $3.3 billion...READ MORE

Zymeworks Presents New Data From Multiple Preclinical and Clinical Development Programs at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting

Zymeworks Inc., announced 11 presentations including new data from its clinical and preclinical development-stage programs at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting being held in Orlando, Florida

• ZW191 demonstrates strong responses in FRα-low expressing patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models with favorable pharmacokinetic and safety profiles
• ZW171 induced potent preferential killing of cancer cells and potential to mitigate risk of on-target off-tumor toxicity, peripheral T cell activation, and cytokine-release syndrome
• ZW251 exhibits desired target-mediated activity in vitro and robust anti-tumor activity in PDX models...READ MORE

AbCellera Presents New Data on T-Cell Engager Platform at AACR 2023

AbCellera presented new data on its T-cell engager (TCE) platform in two poster presentations at the American Society for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023, which is being held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, from April 14 to 19, 2023. AbCellera debuted its TCE platform at AACR 2022 with data describing the diversity of its CD3-binding antibodies. Presentations at AACR 2023 illustrated how AbCellera streamlines the development of TCEs with optimal functional properties for diverse tumor targets...READ MORE

Algernon Pharmaceuticals Announces Notice of Allowance for Method of Use U.S. Patent Application

Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical development company, is pleased to announce that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for patent application 17/258,402 entitled “Compositions and Methods for Treating Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis” for its lead chronic kidney Disease program drug NP-251 (Repirinast). The Company has also filed corresponding patent applications in Canada, Europe, China and Japan...READ MORE

Health Canada Approves Alhemo™, the First Subcutaneous Prophylactic Treatment for People Living with Hemophilia B with Inhibitors

Health Canada has approved Alhemo™, the first anti-tissue factor pathway inhibitor and subcutaneous prophylactic treatment for people living with hemophilia B with inhibitors. Alhemo™ is indicated for the treatment of patients over the age of 12 with hemophilia B who have FIX inhibitors and require routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes...READ MORE

RYBREVANT® (amivantamab) Receives Positive CADTH Reimbursement Recommendation for the Treatment of Adult Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with Activating EGFR Exon 20 Insertion Mutations

The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced that the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health has recommended RYBREVANT® (amivantamab) for public reimbursement in the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with activating EGFR Exon 20 insertion mutations whose disease has progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy...READ MORE

Not-for-profit Corporation Assumes Responsibility for Operating the Biologics Manufacturing Centre

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and CCRM announced that the not-for-profit corporation Biologics Manufacturing Centre (BMC) Inc. has officially assumed responsibility for the operations of the Biologics Manufacturing Centre.

This transition of governance is in accordance with the Government of Canada’s announcement in August 2020 that Canada’s new biomanufacturing facility would be operated through a public–private partnership...READ MORE

Metro Vancouver’s Life Science Industry: It’s Time to Embrace the Lab Coat

A new report from Invest Vancouver, Life Sciences in Metro Vancouver: Shaping a Globally Prominent R&D Hub, highlights the many ways our region’s life sciences industry is attracting global attention and identifies key recommendations to encourage its growth.

Metro Vancouver’s vibrant life sciences industry has made a number of major contributions to public health in recent years, including developing a crucial COVID-19 vaccine technology, advancing cancer treatment, and delivering antibody-based medicines for diseases such as COVID-19 and cancer. Our region also has the fastest-growing life sciences company in Canada, AbCellera...READ MORE

NSERC Announce More Than $32 Million in Funding for 20 New Training Initiatives Through its CREATE Program

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is pleased to announce more than $32 million in funding for 20 new training initiatives for the next generation of scientists and engineers through its Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program.

These innovative and multidisciplinary training and mentorship programs help teams of highly qualified students and postdoctoral fellows in multiple locations develop their professional and technical skills while preparing them for their future careers in academia, industry, government and beyond...READ MORE

New Strategy Positions B.C. as a Global Hub for Life Sciences

More innovative companies will have opportunities to grow and create high-paying jobs while advancing health and pandemic preparedness at home and internationally through a new made-in-B.C. Life Sciences and Biomanufacturing Strategy

As part of the StrongerBC Economic Plan, the new B.C. Life Sciences and Biomanufacturing Strategy provides five pillars to secure B.C.’s position as a leading global hub for life sciences and biomanufacturing, and to develop commercial-scale biopharmaceutical and medical manufacturing.

Virtually every COVID-19 vaccine candidate that reached late-stage development in 2020 used components that were initiated, developed or manufactured by a B.C. company or scientist. This strategy will build on those and many other made-in-B.C. accomplishments...READ MORE

Governments of Canada and Switzerland Sign Joint Statement on Science, Technology and Innovation

The Honourable François‑Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and Guy Parmelin, Swiss Federal Councillor for Economic Affairs, Education and Research, committed to increasing science, technology and innovation research partnerships between the two countries.

Minister Champagne and Federal Councillor Parmelin signed a joint statement enhancing the already strong and diversified relationship between Canada and Switzerland in various research areas. Together, Canada and Switzerland are committed to fostering greater research ties, including the sharing of best practices; facilitating greater access to technology, markets and talent; and building linkages between academia, industry and government...READ MORE

Providence Health Care Transforms Patient Care with the Launch of Real-Time, Predictive Technology and a Care Coordination Centre – a First in B.C.

Providence Health Care will soon launch B.C.’s first Care Coordination Centre, a hospital version of air traffic control. It’s powerful, smart technology, and more, which staff will use to get site-wide insights of beds, capacity, bottlenecks, inpatient status and what needs attention – in real-time and 24/7.

This digital transformation of patient care is supported by a $5 million gift from the Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Woodward’s Foundation...READ MORE

Biosensor Market Analyst at the University of British Columbia

The Market Analyst will work closely with the three faculty leaders of our interdisciplinary collaboration as well as technical team members (including postdoctoral fellows and graduate students) to evaluate (1) market opportunities and open, urgent needs in diagnostics, as well as (2) the potential competitive advantage of our technology among the competitive landscape. Preference will be given to candidates with post-graduate training in business (e.g., MBA student or recent MBA graduate) as well as technical training in healthcare, life sciences, or engineering.

LEARN MORE

Regulatory Affairs Specialist

Response Biomedical are seeking a dynamic Regulatory Affairs Specialist to assist in the running of the regulatory affairs by providing input into regulatory strategies, performing activities associated with obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval to commercialize medical devices in selected target markets, and providing regulatory affairs input for the functional areas.

The ideal candidate has a thorough understanding of the regulatory requirements required for the Medical Device Industry within global jurisdictions.

LEARN MORE

Executive Director/Vice President, Investor Relations

The Executive Director/Vice President will be responsible for developing and executing a strategic investor relations program to communicate the company’s strategies and progress to the investment community. This role will work closely with Finance, Development, Commercial, Corporate Affairs, and the Senior Executive Team in order to maintain an in-depth, comprehensive understanding of the company’s operations, financial performance, and strategies.





LEARN MORE

Kim King launched King Strategies after 20 years as a senior executive in both the private and public sectors of health, technology, environment, and social services.

Kim has an extensive network and strong relationships with political and bureaucratic stakeholders across Alberta, and has gained a keen understanding of how decisions are made inside and outside the legislature, including through the political process.

In the private sector, Kim has a proven track record of shaping policy and accelerating projects through strategic partnerships, creative approaches, effective advocacy, and negotiation.

In the non-profit sector, Kim led the Association of Mountain Parks Protection and Enjoyment advocating for sustainable tourism in Canada’s mountain parks, and as a board member for the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation chaired the alex.62 campaign advocating for the rebuild of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Active Treatment Centre.

Kim offers a unique skill set amongst government relations professionals in Western Canada. As a recent executive in the pharmaceutical industry, she understands what drives business decisions, Canadian reimbursement processes and landscape, and the professional values of highly regulated industries. In addition to the healthcare sector, Kim has expertise in the environmental, social, and sustainable tourism sectors.

Visit Website

Gene Bio Medical is a Canadian biotechnology company with demonstrated commercialization capability in the life sciences industry. As a fast-growing biomedical company with its own manufacturing lines, Gene Bio Medical collaborates with worldwide partners and universities to provide global healthcare professionals and customers with the latest leading-edge technologies that help improve health and quality of life, revolutionizing healthcare.

Gene Bio Medical provides innovative biotech solutions to the world. The company has advanced capacity in R&D and product commercialization. By focusing on developing reliable and high-quality diagnostics technologies to help healthcare systems overcome the pandemics and prevent outbreaks in the future, Gene Bio Medical has quickly become one of the largest licensed suppliers and manufacturers of Class IV medical devices in Canada. The velocity of the process allows us to produce at a price-point that is competitive to alternatives and scale to create a significant ESG impact.

Visit Website

Follow LSBC on Social Media!