Life Sciences BC News, December 19, 2024

We wrapped up the year with our annual Holiday Party, celebrating this year's milestones and catching up with the community. LSBC will be closed from December 21 and will reopen on January 6; we look forward to seeing you all in the new year!

Start off 2025 by exploring opportunities within the life sciences. Our annual Career Connect Day brings together employers, job seekers, students, and anyone else interested in learning about the multitude of career paths within our sector. This year we will be featuring a session on leader journeys, telling the stories of how some of the key people within the sector got to where they are today. In addition, explore our extensive career expo and enjoy networking opportunities. Register here.

We are excited to partner with Novateur Ventures to bring the Biotech BD & Licensing Masterclass: Blueprint for Success, a unique educational experience for business development professionals, to Vancouver on March 3-5. The program includes educational lectures, immersive activities, and instruction from biotech and pharma industry experts. The skills and knowledge gained during the course will be applied in practical, real-life scenarios. Learn more and apply today.

In an important development announced in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement, the government is making historic reforms that, through existing and new support, will deliver $26 billion in tax incentives for Canadian businesses. This will be done through a bold reform and a significant enhancement of the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program. Read more.

Member Highlights 

Michael Smith Health Research BC has joined forces with GlycoNet, a global leader in glycomics research and innovation, to tackle critical health challenges through the study of biological sugars. Health Research BC is providing matched funding, bringing $2.3 million into BC. Read more.

AbbVie to acquire Nimble Therapeutics, further strengthening immunology pipeline. Read more.

HEALWELL AI to acquire Orion Health, creating a global market leader in healthcare data interoperability & artificial intelligence, and launches $50M bought deal financing. Read more. 

United Therapeutics announces world’s first successful UKidney transplant. The transplant is the fourth xenotransplant using United Therapeutics’ xeno organs into living humans. Read more.

WELL Health Technologies Corp. has rebranded its subsidiary WELL Provider Solutions Group to WELLSTAR Technologies Corp., a high growth, profitable, pure-play Software-as-a-Service or ‘SaaS’ healthcare technology company. Read more.

The career of the late Dr. Dana Devine is remembered in the Globe & Mail. Dr. Devine passed this year on November 12, 2024. Her career spanned more than 35 years at UBC, mostly in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, where she was director of graduate studies for many years. She published more than 200 articles in scientific journals. Read Globe & Mail article here.

Industry Highlights

Government of British Columbia announces that people living in Kamloops and surrounding communities will benefit from more access to team-based care with the opening of the new North Shore Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC). Read more.

Government of Canada shares that more than 3 million Canadians have been approved for coverage through the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). Since access to services began in May about six months ago, more than 1.2 million Canadians have already received care. Read more.

The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) has launched a 90-day consultation period where stakeholders and interested Canadians are invited to read its new Draft Guidelines and provide feedback before March 19, 2025. Read more.

Kudos

Congratulations to Kapoose Creek Bio researcher Dr. Timsy Bhando who has received the prestigious Mitacs Innovation Award – Outstanding Innovation. She is being recognized for her cutting-edge work to develop new, natural drugs to improve brain health. Read more.

Kudos to Marken who is being recognized for the Clinical & Laboratory Research Excellence award at the Impact Africa Summit Pharma 2024. This award highlights its commitment to high-quality precision logistics and expertise in managing complex supply chains. Read more.

Congratulations to the funding recipients of the Patient Voices in Research initiative. They will address current gaps in precision oncology identified by those closest to it: cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers. The teams will receive a total of $1.8M over the next year to conduct their research and will report all their findings back to the patients. Read more.

Dr. Marco Marra has been appointed to the Order of Canada by Governor General Mary Simon. As one of the co-founders of BC’s Genomics Sciences Centre and a long-time collaborator with Genome BC, Dr. Marra has played a pivotal role in advancing genomics research and its application to human health. Congratulations! Read more.

People on the Move

Dr. Francesca Capon, a professor of medical genetics at the UBC Faculty of Medicine and senior scientist at the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT), based at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHRI), has been named the new Dr. Donald Rix B.C. Leadership Chair in Genetic Medicine. Read more.

Dr. Michael Gibson has been appointed as Lexaria Bioscience Corp.’s new Chief Medical Advisor. Dr. Gibson will collaborate directly with President John Docherty as Lexaria’s patented DehydraTECH drug delivery platform continues to expand its applications in GLP-1 and hypertension. Read more.

Dr. Laura Evgin, UBC Medicine professor, has been selected as one of the 2024 Canada Gairdner Early Career Investigators for her work in CAR T-cell therapy. Dr. Evgin is an assistant professor in the department of medical genetics at UBC and scientist at the BC Cancer Research Institute (BCCRI). Read more.

Applications Open

Apply now to the BioTalent Canada’s Student Work Placement Program, which is a paid internship/Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) initiative to provide students on-the-job training to increase their job-readiness after graduation. The deadline is March 31, 2025 for the Winter 2025 placements. Learn more.

Join AccelerateIP’s IP Certification Program cohort for self-identified women and non-binary founders, launching in January 2025. This online program offers essential IP knowledge to strengthen business and IP strategy, personalized feedback from IP experts, opportunities to connect and collaborate with peers, and instructions from IP experts. Learn more.

Apply now to the Team Canada Trade Mission (TCTM) to Thailand and Cambodia! This mission helps Canadian exporters and innovators from across the country position themselves in this market by showcasing their capabilities and competitiveness while facilitating long-term trade and investment opportunities. The application deadline is January 31, 2024. Learn more.

Applications are now open for Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Catalyst Grant: Oral Health Data Analysis. This funding opportunity will fund targeted analysis of the Oral Health Component (OHC) of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) Cycle 7 data. The deadline is May 13, 2025. Learn more.

CQDM has launched Call for Ideas: AI-assisted Protein Design. It is searching for world-class research on AI-assisted protein design to present to domain experts from leading global pharmaceutical organizations on March 5, 2025. The application deadline is February 5, 2025. Learn more.

Apply now for BIO International Convention’s Start-Up Stadium at BIO 2025. Start-Up Stadium is designed to provide start-up companies with the opportunity to engage key members of the investment community, venture philanthropy groups, strategic partners, and non-dilutive capital at the world’s largest biotechnology partnering event. Learn more.

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

Member Spotlight

Response Biomedical Corp. - With a world-class R&D and manufacturing facility located in Vancouver, Canada, Response Biomedical is committed to helping healthcare professionals generate lab-quality diagnostic results with our RAMP platform.

The RAMP platform is a global leader in in-vitro diagnostic testing solutions for use in cardiovascular, infectious disease, sepsis, and women’s health, as well as, providing tests for arbovirus and biodefense. We understand the stresses associated with rapid, accurate diagnosis when every minute counts, and are committed to collaborating with the teams that are dedicated to saving lives. We do this by providing lab-quality results within minutes that medical teams can trust, while reducing total cost of care. Learn more. 

Until next week!

LSBC Team

January 24 - Life Sciences BC 6th Annual Career Connect Day

This dynamic full-day event brings together life sciences employers from across the sector, post-secondary students, and job seekers.

February 26 - Join us for our 10th Annual Access to Innovation conference.

This premier full-day gathering welcomes life sciences leaders and trailblazers from academia, research, health institutions, government, and industry to engage in insightful discussions on the ever-evolving trends, developments, and policies shaping British Columbia’s thriving sector.

With Latest Grants, HDR Foundation Surpasses $11 Million Awarded

The HDR Foundation announced 10 grants totalling $424,965, surpassing $11 million in grants awarded since the inception of the employee-driven foundation in 2012...Read more.

United Therapeutics Announces Successful World’s First UKidney Transplant

United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR), a public benefit corporation, announced the world’s first transplant of a UKidney, which it produced, into a living person on November 25, 2024...Read more.

SFU Study Sheds New Light on What Causes Long-term Disability After a Stroke and Offers New Path Toward Possible Treatment

The paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows how the thalamus is affected months or years after a person has experienced a stroke...Read more.

Lithuanian and Japanese Researchers Develop Innovative Nanolaser

Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania and scientists from Japan have developed a unique nanolaser. Despite its tiny dimensions, visible only through a powerful microscope, this nanolaser boasts vast potential...Read more.

Labcorp Launches H5 Bird Flu Test in the U.S., Now Available for Order through Physicians

Labcorp (NYSE: LH), a global leader of innovative and comprehensive laboratory services, announced the commercial availability of its new H5 bird flu molecular test to aid in the diagnosis of human infection with H5 bird flu...Read more.

Esteemed Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. Michael Gibson Appointed Chief Medical Advisor at Lexaria Bioscience

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (NASDAQ:LEXX)(NASDAQ:LEXXW) (the “Company” or “Lexaria”), a global innovator in drug delivery platforms, announces the appointment of Dr. Michael Gibson as its new Chief Medical Advisor...Read more.

InMed Enters Into Standby Equity Purchase Agreement

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM) (“InMed” or the “Company“) announces it entered into a Standby Equity Purchase Agreement (the “SEPA”) with YA II PN, LTD (the “Investor”)...Read more.

Qu Biologics’ Site Specific Immunomodulator Enables CAR T-cell Cancer Efficacy in Solid Tumor

Qu Biologics Inc. is pleased to report exciting survival data using a combination of Qu Biologics’ QBECO SSI and CAR T-cell therapy in laboratory models of aggressive cancer...Read more.

Study Highlights Rise in Severe Shigella Infections Among People Experiencing Homelessness

The findings shed light on an important and emerging infectious disease issue, with cases shifting from men who have sex with men (MSM) to infections disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations...Read more.

Dr. Francesca Capon Named Donald Rix B.C. Leadership Chair in Genetic Medicine

Dr. Capon is an internationally recognized expert in the genetic and immune basis of inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis...Read more.

Labcorp To Acquire Select Assets of MAWD Pathology Group

Labcorp (NYSE: LH) has entered into an agreement with MAWD Pathology Group in Lenexa, Kansas, to acquire select assets of the independent laboratory’s clinical and women’s health testing businesses...Read more.

Swapping Glass Slides for DNA-encoded Viruses: Advanced Tools to Study Sugar Interactions in Health and Disease

Glycans—complex sugar molecules that decorate the surfaces of cells—play a pivotal role in everything from immune response to disease progression yet their interactions remain some of the most challenging mysteries...Read more.

HEALWELL to Acquire Orion Health, Creating a Global Market Leader in Healthcare Data Interoperability & Artificial Intelligence, and Launches $50 Million Bought Deal Financing

HEALWELL AI Inc. (“HEALWELL” or the “Company”) (TSX: AIDX, OTCQX: HWAIF) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Auckland...Read more.

Fostering Innovation: Expanding Life Sciences Through Collaboration

Advances in lab automation, sequencing, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics and analysis have expanded capabilities and reduced costs...Read more.

Mintz Advises Relation Therapeutics on Strategic Investment from GSK

Mintz advised Relation, an industry leader in deploying computation and experimentation to drug discovery, on an equity investment of $15 million from GSK...Read more.

Rakovina Therapeutics Announces Closing of Oversubscribed $3M Private Placement

Rakovina Therapeutics Inc. (TSX-V: RKV, the “Company”, “Rakovina”, or “Rakovina Therapeutics”) is pleased to announce the closing of a $3.0 million private placement...Read more.

Roche Canada and the Pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA) Successfully Complete Negotiations for TECENTRIQ SC (Atezolizumab, Solution for Subcutaneous Injection)

Hoffmann-La Roche Limited (Roche Canada) announced that it successfully completed negotiations with the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA) for TECENTRIQ SC (atezolizumab) on November 19, 2024...Read more.

Novartis and the Pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance Achieve Milestone Agreement for PLUVICTO™

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. (Novartis) is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of negotiations with the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance...Read more.

GlycoNet Researcher Leads Development of a Quicker, More Efficient Way to Make Life-saving Molecules

A team of researchers has found a quicker and more efficient way to create nucleoside analogues, a type of small molecule that can be used in treatments for everything from cancer to viral diseases...Read more.

AbbVie to Acquire Nimble Therapeutics, Further Strengthening Immunology Pipeline

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) and Nimble Therapeutics announced a definitive agreement under which AbbVie will acquire Nimble...Read more.

Zymeworks Hosts R&D Day Highlighting Continued Clinical Progress in Oncology Programs and Expansion into Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases

Zymeworks Inc. (Nasdaq: ZYME), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a diverse pipeline of novel, multifunctional biotherapeutics to improve the standard of care for difficult-to-treat diseases...Read more.

SCN-funded Research Team Makes Groundbreaking Discovery, Opening New Doors in Drug Development for Treatment of Diseases such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

The Stem Cell Network (SCN) is delighted to congratulate Dr. Michael Rudnicki and his team at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute on their remarkable discovery of the Exosome-Binding Peptide...Read more.

$2.3 Million Investment in BC Glycomics Research Catalyzes Solutions for Unmet Health Needs

Michael Smith Health Research BC has joined forces with GlycoNet, a global leader in glycomics research and innovation, to tackle critical health challenges through the study of biological sugars...Read more.

Kapoose Creek Bio Researcher Wins Prestigious Mitacs Innovation Award for Breakthrough on Natural Drug to Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases

A McMaster University researcher is being recognized for her cutting-edge work to develop new, natural drugs to improve brain health...Read more.

Bausch Health Responds to Rumors of a Potential Sale of Bausch + Lomb

As previously disclosed, the Company believes that completing the full separation of its subsidiary, Bausch + Lomb Corporation (NYSE/TSX: BLCO) (“Bausch + Lomb”), makes strategic sense...Read more.

Fraser Health, CAN Health Network and Tochtech Technologies Partnership Brings Sleep Technology to BC Long Term Care – Reducing Falls and Enhancing Quality of Resident Care

GlycoNet, a global leader in glycomics research and innovation, announced an investment of approximately $4.5 million for 21 research projects tackling unsolved health challenges through the study of biological sugars...Read more.

New Funding Opportunity Enhances Seniors’ Home and Community Care

The Advancing the Use of Evidence in Seniors’ Home and Community Care program addresses population aging, one of four broad themes identified through Health Research BC’s priority-setting process...Read more.

Labcorp Finalizes Acquisition of Select Outreach Services From Ballad Health

Labcorp, a global leader of innovative and comprehensive laboratory services, announces it has finalized its acquisition of select outreach laboratory services from Ballad Health...Read more.

LifeLabs Brings New Liver Health Test to Ontario and British Columbia, Empowering Better Health Decisions

LifeLabs, Canada’s leading provider of laboratory services, is excited to announce the launch of the Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELFTM) Score test in British Columbia…Read more.

Full Getinge Surgical Workflows Portfolio Installed at UT Health San Antonio

Getinge announced the first installation of its full Surgical Workflows portfolio in North America at UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital, which will open its doors in December 2024...Read more.

AbbVie Completes Acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) announced that it has completed its acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics. With the completion of the acquisition, Aliada is now a part of AbbVie...Read more.

Scientist – Biologics Discovery (14-month contract)

The primary responsibilities of this role include leading the implementation of automation solutions to streamline routine lab tasks, managing and tracking samples and data, and enhancing productivity and consistency in laboratory processes...Learn more

Industry Relations Associate

The Industry Relations Associate reports to the Manager, Industry & Business Development and leads various pipelines of the society’s revenue generation activities such as ISCT Annual and Regional Conferences...Learn more

Director, RNA

NanoVation Therapeutics (NTx) is looking for a collaborative and results-driven Director, RNA, to lead our RNA department and strategy. Our ideal candidate is a hands-on collaborative leader with a proven track record of contributions in the field of RNA translation and mechanisms of control...Learn more

Director, Legal

We are seeking a Director, Legal, to join our team as we expand our Legal Affairs team. The ideal candidate is an experienced leader with contracts experience and working in-house in bio/pharmaceutical industry for a public company...Learn more

Senior Director/Executive Director, Analytical Development

We are seeking a Senior Director/Executive Director, Analytical Development to join our CMC team. The incumbent will be responsible for leading a team of analytical development scientists and external FTEs and for ensuring that robust analytical methodology is developed and validated...Learn more

Principal Scientist – Discovery Protein Sciences

The Therapeutic Discovery organization is seeking to fill a position at the Principal Scientist level in our Discovery Protein Sciences group at our Amgen British Columbia site in Vancouver, Canada...Learn more

Center of Excellence Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunogenecity Mitigation and Immunopeptidomics

We are seeking a postdoctoral fellow with previous training in immunology and biochemistry to help develop the next generation of screening tools to identify and quantify the presence of immunogenic sequences, motifs, and structures in candidate therapeutic molecules...Learn more

Product Project Manager

We are looking to add an experienced Full-Time Product Project Manager to join our amazing team and further our efforts in partnering with organizations in the pharmaceutical manufacturing and life sciences segment...Learn more

Sr. Research Associate, Oligonucleotide Chemistry

Borealis Biosciences is seeking a skilled and team-oriented senior research associate with expertise in oligonucleotide chemistry to join the chemistry group in Vancouver, BC...Learn more

Scientist, Bioconjugation Chemistry

Borealis Biosciences is seeking a skilled and team-oriented scientist with expertise in bioconjugation chemistry to join the chemistry group in Vancouver, BC...Learn more

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