CEO and President, LifeSciences BC |
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Life Sciences in the News
This week, a B.C. life science sector story that resonates as outstanding and with a high level of interest and B.C. pride, is the announcement of Vancouver's AbCellera Biologics filling for a US offering on NASDAQ. Their remarkable path with Eli Lilly during these extraordinary times to bring a Covid 19 therapeutic to market which has just received Emergency Use Approval in the U.S. and Interim Authorization by Health Canada, has been a journey of remarkable and precise work. A substantial and validating indication that B.C. continues to excel on the world stage for antibody discovery. Also, this week, Symvivo, a Burnaby based company, signed an agreement with Janssen to research, develop and commercialize novel biological therapeutic candidates based on their Symvivo’s bacTRL™ platform technology. The accolades for our sector are well earned and deserved – what an illuminating time to be working in life sciences, in B.C.
LifeSciences BC Events
On Wednesday, we hosted with Cytiva (formerly GE HealthCare LifeSciences), a very educational event that guided our attendees on enabling technology expertise, and contract services to facilitate faster innovation for better patient outcomes. Included in the event was a presentation from Dr. Caroline Auclair-Daigle, Client Relationship Leader, NRC, Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, who spoke to increasing Canada’s biomanufacturing capacity at Montréal's Biologics Manufacturing Centre (BMC). The session Accelerating your Therapeutic Process to Meet your Milestones and bring your Vision to Life, can be accessed online by clicking this link. Please register for another engaging event on December 3 rd in the LifeSciences BC calendar - Toward the Horizon: How COVID-19 Is Accelerating Innovation in Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Analytics where we will discuss the impact of the pandemic on pharmaceutical manufacturers and the resulting acceleration of digitization. You can register here. This year LSBC will be hosting our Annual Holiday Social virtually, on Dec 10 th. Please watch next week's event newsletter for registration details.
Life Sciences in the Community
AdMare BioInnovations is hosting a Cross Canada Virtual Roadtrip event on December 1st. If you are a British Columbia academic researcher or biotech company with technology and you’re looking to commercialize, join the event by registering here.
As of this writing, Premier John Horgan announced the new Executive Council of the B.C. Government and appointed to Cabinet: Hon. Ravi Kahlon, as the new Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, Hon. Adrian Dix, resumes his previous role as Minister of Health, Hon. Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and new to the Executive Council is Brenda Bailey appointed to the role of Parliamentary Secretary – Technology and Innovation. The full cabinet list can be found here. We look forward to working with B.C.'s new Cabinet! |
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AbCellera-Discovered Antibody Granted Interim Authorization by Health Canada as a Treatment for COVID-19 |
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, November 20, 2020 – AbCellera today announced that bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) 700 mg, a human antibody developed through AbCellera’s collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), was granted authorization by Health Canada under the Interim Order Respecting the Importation, Sale and Advertising of Drugs for Use in Relation to COVID-19. READ MORE
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Aurinia Announces New Employment Inducement Grant Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) |
NOVEMBER 20, 2020 – VICTORIA, British Columbia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSX:AUP) (“Aurinia” or the “Company”), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the Company’s Compensation Committee granted the newly appointed Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer, Stephen Robertson, a non-qualified stock option to purchase an aggregate of 298,924 common shares on November 16, 2020. READ MORE
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Peter Thiel Joins AbCellera’s Board of Directors |
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, November 19, 2020 – AbCellera, a technology company that searches, decodes, and analyzes natural immune systems to find antibodies that can be developed to prevent and treat disease, today announced the appointment of Peter Thiel to its Board of Directors. READ MORE
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AbCellera and Invetx Expand Multi-Year Antibody Discovery Collaboration in Animal Health |
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, and BOSTON, November 19, 2020 – AbCellera, a technology company that searches, decodes, and analyzes natural immune systems to find antibodies that can be developed to prevent and treat disease, and InvetX.... READ MORE
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Neoleukin Therapeutics Announces Participation in Piper Sandler 32nd Annual Virtual Healthcare Conference |
SEATTLE, Nov. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc., “Neoleukin” (NASDAQ:NLTX), a biopharmaceutical company utilizing sophisticated computational methods to design de novo protein therapeutics, today announced that Jonathan Drachman, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, will participate in a fireside chat at the Piper Sandler 32ND Annual Virtual Healthcare Conference taking place December 1-3, 2020. READ MORE
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AbCellera Expands Technology Stack with Acquisition of Trianni for $90 Million |
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, November 18, 2020 – AbCellera, a technology company that searches, decodes, and analyzes natural immune systems to find antibodies that can be developed to prevent and treat disease, today announced it has acquired Trianni, Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at US$90 million. READ MORE
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Symvivo Corporation Announces Research Collaboration With Janssen |
November 24, 2020 – BURNABY, British Columbia — Symvivo Corporation, a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing a proprietary bacTRL™ gene delivery platform, announced today that it has entered into a research collaboration with Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen), one of the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. READ MORE
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You’re cordially invited to ADMARE’S CROSS-CANADA VIRTUAL ROADTRIP – British Columbia Stop |
COVID-19 may be keeping us from getting on planes and meeting in person, but it’s not stopping us from continuing to build Canada’s life sciences industry from sea to sea, as we continue our cross-Canada virtual roadtrip. READ MORE
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InMed Announces Election of Directors |
Vancouver, BC – November 24, 2020 – InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“InMed” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:INM; TSX:IN), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing medications targeting diseases with high unmet medical need and leading the way in the clinical development of cannabinol (“CBN”), today confirmed that, at its annual general and special meeting,,,, READ MORE
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InMed Announces Results of Initial Phase 1 Clinical Trial of INM-755 CBN Cream in Healthy Subjects |
Vancouver, BC – November 25, 2020 – InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“InMed” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:INM; TSX:IN), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing medications targeting diseases with high unmet medical need and leading the way in the clinical development of cannabinol (“CBN”), today announced top-line results from its 755-101-HV Phase 1 clinical trial (“Study 101”). READ MORE
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Can drinking cocoa make you smarter? |
Nov. 24, 2020 | University of Birmingham | Increased consumption of flavanols – a group of molecules which occur naturally in fruit and vegetables – can increase your mental agility, according to new research. A team at the University of Birmingham has found that people given a cocoa drink containing high levels of flavanols were able to complete certain cognitive tasks more efficiently than when drinking a non-flavanol enriched-drink. READ MORE
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How the health system is addressing vaccine hesitancy, a looming hurdle in race to end pandemic |
Top public health officials working on campaign to inform Canadians about the safety of a COVID-19 vaccine
November 26, 2020 | By Sarah Bridge & Ioanna Roumeliotis, CBC NEWS | Tanya Hayles is not an anti-vaxxer. The Torontonian has made sure her eight-year-old son Jackson is up to date with the standard vaccines, and she, too, has been inoculated. "There are diseases that we were able to eradicate as a result of vaccines," she said. READ MORE
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Celtic curse' disorder boosts liver cancer risk in men |
Haemochromatosis is one of the most common genetic disorders in Canada, affecting one in 327 people.
Nov. 26, 2020 | By: Dave Yasvinski, Vancouver Sun | A common genetic disorder once believed to pose a low health risk actually makes men 10 times more likely to develop liver cancer, a new study has found. Haemochromatosis, also known as the “Celtic curse” due to its high prevalence in men of European ancestry living in the U.K. and North America, is a condition that causes certain people to absorb too much iron from their diet. READ MORE
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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
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Update: Student Work Placement Program now open to healthcare placements |
The Student Work Placement Program is now accepting applications for healthcare placements. Canada’s healthcare industry has a growing need to produce job-ready healthcare workers. There are 1,500 open spots available in 2020-21. WEBSITE
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Posting 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: Sue Callaghan - [email protected]
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