August 21, 2025 - Hello BioLinks Readers!

This week:

• Announcing Companies Selected to Pitch at Invest in BC
• Molecular You Secures US$5 Million Series A
• Novo Nordisk Receives Health Canada Approval for Ozempic to Treat Type 2 Diabetes
• Featuring LSBC Emerging MedTech Company of the Year: Arbutus Medical

Announcing Companies Selected to Pitch at Invest in BC

We're thrilled to announce the companies that are selected to pitch at our 10th Annual Invest in BC, presented by Lumira Ventures, on October 28-29, 2025!

Celebrating a decade of impact, Invest in BC has become a cornerstone event for BC’s life sciences sector. This annual gathering connects investors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry leaders for two days of strategic partnering, investment exploration, and meaningful networking that continue to shape the future of health innovation.

“British Columbia’s world-leading life sciences and biomanufacturing ecosystem continues to thrive, with B.C. companies making lives better globally,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth. “As uncertainty and anti-science sentiment grow south of our borders, BC remains a stable, science-driven jurisdiction committed to life sciences research and commercialization. We’re making it easier than ever for companies to do business in the province. I invite investors and entrepreneurs to join the momentum and grow their businesses in BC.”

Read more about Invest in BC here.

Molecular You Secures US$5 Million Series A

Exciting news for LSBC member Molecular You, as it secures a US$5 Million Series A. Molecular You is also part of LSBC’s Growth Catalyst Program’s (GCP) inaugural cohort. Our GCP supports the expansion of BC's high-growth life sciences companies. The program fosters regional economic development and will enable companies to expand their networks, opportunities, skills, and knowledge to scale in Canada and beyond. Molecular You is just one of the 25 selected companies that is advancing innovation in the sector. 

Molecular You uses a single blood sample to provide a comprehensive snapshot of full-body health. With this data, Molecular You delivers highly personalized, actionable, preventative lifestyle recommendations before disease symptoms appear. This differs from traditional diagnostics taken after a patient becomes symptomatic, which often require multiple blood draws.

This financing follows a series of key achievements for Molecular You, including:

• Nationwide Canadian and U.S. launches in both clinical practices and direct-to-consumer online.
• Major partnership with HealthQuest Esoterics to run the company’s current assay as a Lab Developed Test (LDT), making it eligible for reimbursement.
• Planned near-term introduction of next-generation assay, which will measure over 800 biomarkers. This will enable higher-resolution and broaden the platform’s scope to additional areas, including certain cancers.

“Molecular You is advancing a critical shift in healthcare, from reactive treatment to predictive and preventive care, through biomarker science and real-world clinical impact,” said David Vogel, CEO of Voloridge Health. Read more.

Novo Nordisk Receives Health Canada Approval for Ozempic to Treat Type 2 Diabetes

Novo Nordisk announced that Ozempic® (semaglutide injection) is now approved as the first-and-only medication indicated for both the once-weekly treatment of adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus to improve glycemic control and to reduce the risk of sustained estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline, end-stage kidney disease, and cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Read more.

Featuring LSBC Emerging MedTech Company of the Year: Arbutus Medical

We are 6 weeks out from our 27th Annual Awards Gala; have you secured your ticket yet? If not, get yours here.

Featuring LSBC Emerging MedTech Company of the Year: Arbutus Medical

Arbutus Medical was founded in 2014 after orthopaedic trauma surgeons from Vancouver General Hospital and a team of biomedical researchers developed an innovative surgical drill technology, designed to meet the needs of low-resource hospitals, providing an affordable, efficient, reliable, and sterile solution to orthopedic surgery.

This innovation led to Arbutus Medical growing its offerings and creating a line of surgical devices that are FDA-cleared and licensed by Health Canada. Arbutus Medical continues to innovate products using their patented DrillCover Technology and sterile-packed procedure kits alongside their surgical drill platform to help surgeons and patients globally. Today, Arbutus Medical’s products have been used by customers in 40 countries, enabling an estimated 85,000 surgeries and counting.

We look forward to celebrating with Arbutus Medical on October 2!

Member Highlights 

AbbVie completes acquisition of Capstan Therapeutics. Acquisition adds a potential first-in-class in vivo targeted lipid nanoparticle (tLNP) anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy candidate for B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases, as well as a proprietary platform designed to deliver RNA payloads, such as mRNA, capable of engineering specific cell types in vivo. Read more.

Lexaria Bioscience announces that its Contract Research Organization has completed the important study milestone known as last patent last visit in Lexaria’s Phase 1b glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) study in Australia. Read more.

Acuitas Therapeutics announced the publication of a new study in Science Translational Medicine. The research provides critical insight into mRNA vaccine design in which the traditional stabilization of mRNA-encoded SARSCoV-2 spike protein is not required to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies. This highlights a new set of considerations for developing next-generation, pan-coronavirus vaccines. Read more.

Industry Highlights

Government of Canada announced more than $33 million to four francophone post-secondary training institutions across Ontario and $1 million in funding to the Government of Ontario to improve access to health services in French for Francophone communities. Read more.

Government of Canada announced over $3 million for 14 projects to improve access to food and housing security, job stability, and better health outcomes. Read more.

Kudos

Congratulations to UBC Faculty of Medicine’s Dr. Robert J. Petrella and NRCC’s Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan for being elected as 2025 Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS)!

People on the Move

Nimbus Synergies appoints Jason Robertson as Chief Executive Officer - congratulations on this position! We also extend our gratitude to Paul Geyer for his outstanding leadership and contributions to the company. Read more.

The Terry Fox Research Institute welcomes four new members, Pam Damoff, Jeanette Boudreau, Brandon Ma, and Jessie Alder, to its Board of Directors. Read more.

DHR Global announced the appointment of Priya Taneja as Chief Executive Officer. Read more.

Dr. Michel S. Beaulieu is the University of Northern British Columbia’s new Provost and Vice-President Academic. Read more.

Fraser Health welcomes Dermot Kelly as Fraser Health’s new President and Chief Executive Officer. Read more.

Applications Open

Apply to participate in the Canadian Medical Technology Research and Development Partnering Delegation to Taiwan, under the Canadian International Innovation Program (CIIP). Explore partnerships between Canadian SMEs and potential Taiwanese partners for R&D collaboration and market expansion. The deadline is September 9, 2025. Learn more.

Applications open for the seventh CACHE Challenge, inviting researchers from academia, industry, and nonprofits to showcase their computational methods for predicting small molecules that bind to disease-linked targets. The deadline is September 15, 2025. Learn more.

See our expanded list of current life sciences opportunities on our website.

Member Spotlight

Lab Occupier Services - Lead by Jim Wilson, the LabOccupier team at Lennard Commercial works exclusively with tenants in life sciences from Victoria, BC to St. John’s, NL.

Jim has been a leader in commercial real estate Occupier Services since 1989 and was one of the first people in Canadian commercial real estate brokerage to focus on the life sciences sector. A believer in community building, Jim is the founder and organizing Chair of NGBi “Canada’s Life Sciences Summit” and host of the NGBideas, NGBiLab and NGBiPlus podcasts (NextGreatBigIdeas.com). Learn more.

Until next week!

LSBC Team

October 2 - Join us for our 27th Annual Life Sciences BC Awards

This distinguished occasion brings together British Columbia’s vibrant life sciences community to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our peers and recognize the tireless efforts of those who have devoted their careers to advancing health innovations.

October 28 - 29 - Join us for our 10th Annual Invest in BC presented by Lumira Ventures

Life Sciences BC is pleased to announce the 10th annual Invest in BC presented by Lumira Ventures. This highly anticipated event serves as a premier gathering for life sciences innovators in British Columbia, connecting them with investors and potential partners locally, nationally, and around the world.

Nimbus Synergies Appoints Jason Robertson as CEO to Lead Next Phase of Health Technology Growth

Co-Founder and Managing Partner Jason Robertson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Paul Geyer, who will transition to the role of Chief Investment Officer...Read more.

Molecular You Secures US$5 Million Series A to Scale its Predictive Health Platform

Molecular You, a leader in molecular medicine and preventive health, announced the closing of a $5 million USD Series A financing, led by Voloridge Health, LLC, with participation from Dynamic Leap and others...Read more.

Health Canada Approves Ozempic® to Reduce the Risk of Sustained eGFR Decline, End-stage Kidney Disease, and Cardiovascular Death in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease

Novo Nordisk announced that Ozempic® (semaglutide injection) is now approved as the first-and-only medication indicated for both the once-weekly treatment of adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus...Read more.

AbbVie Completes Acquisition of Capstan Therapeutics

AbbVie announced that it has completed its acquisition of Capstan Therapeutics. With the completion of the acquisition, Capstan is now a part of AbbVie...Read more.

Acuitas Therapeutics Contributes to New Insights into Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies Induced by COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines

Acuitas Therapeutics announced the publication titled “Nonstabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA vaccination induces broadly neutralizing antibodies in nonhuman primates.”...Read more.

TFRI Welcomes Four New Members to Board of Directors

The Terry Fox Research Institute is pleased to welcome four new members to its Board of Directors. Their expertise and insight will help guide TFRI as we continue to invest in world-class cancer research across Canada...Read more.

IQVIA and Veeva Announce Long-term Clinical and Commercial Partnerships and Resolution of All Disputes

IQVIA and Veeva Systems announced global clinical and commercial partnerships and the complete resolution of all pending legal disputes...Read more.

VABYSMO® (faricimab injection) Now Publicly Funded For Macular Edema Secondary to Retinal Vein Occlusion (RVO) and Pre-Filled Syringe (PFS) in Quebec

Hoffmann-La Roche Limited is pleased to announce that VABYSMO® is now publicly funded for macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion on the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec list of medications...Read more.

Lexaria’s Phase 1b GLP-1 Study Achieves Important “Last Patient Last Visit” Milestone

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. is pleased to announce that its Contract Research Organization has completed the important study milestone known as last patent last visit (“LPLV“) in Lexaria’s Phase 1b glucagon-like peptide-1...Read more.

DHR Global Ushers in a New Era of Leadership, Appoints Priya Taneja as CEO

​DHR Global, a leading global executive search and talent advisory firm, announced the appointment of Priya Taneja as Chief Executive Officer, effective September 1, 2025...Read more.

Scientist/Senior Scientist, Translational Biology & Pharmacology

You will leverage their kidney disease biology expertise to support the advancement of specific programs and/or exploratory projects, proactively representing the Translational Biology & Pharmacology team on cross-functional project teams...Learn more.

Research Associate II, Bioconjugation Chemistry

The key responsibilities for this position will be synthesizing and analyzing protein-oligonucleotide conjugates including antibodies, antibody fragments, and other target-binding scaffolds...Learn more.

VP, Pre-Clinical Research and Development

This role is responsible for the company’s pre-clinical research and development function for all Eupraxia products. They will be a key member of the R&D leadership team, responsible for defining and executing the preclinical strategy that advances the company’s therapeutic pipeline...Learn more.

Procurement Specialist (Part-Time Contract)

This role is essential in managing procurement processes for capital expenditures, accessories, and consumables while establishing supplier relationships and ensuring smooth operations...Learn more.

Principal Immunoengineer – Protein Design & Immunogenicity (Large Molecule Discovery)

You will lead translational efforts in protein design with a mission to eliminate or reduce immunogenicity in large molecule therapeutics. This pivotal role bridges experimental immunology and computational science to ensure novel biologics are safe and effective from the outset...Learn more.

Senior Scientist – Directed Evolution & Protein Design, Large Molecule Discovery Open detailed view

This role will specifically involve leading our enzyme engineering efforts around discovering novel therapeutics for rare and genetic diseases. Such efforts will entail the use of directed molecular evolution and rational design, including computational approaches...Learn more.

QC Team Coordinator

Proactively collaborate with stakeholders of various functional groups to prioritize the work for QC to meet the business needs to achieve the best-in-class operation for a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO)...Learn more.

Associate Scientist, Purification Analytics (12 Month Contract)

This specialized group is responsible for the high-throughput generation of tool and lead candidate large molecules for therapeutic discovery programs. It leverages a state-of-the-art, fully automated Biofoundry to produce recombinant DNA and protein...Learn more.

Research Associate I, Translational Biology & Pharmacology

The successful candidate will spend the majority of their time performing, analyzing, and interpreting endpoint assays to support in vivo pharmacology workflows, generating critical data to inform go/no-go decisions in platform development and preclinical drug discovery activities...Learn more.

If you haven't already, sign-up for this and our weekly events newsletter

Follow LSBC on Social Media