ARCHIVED - Your Health Research Dollars at Work 2005-2006

This page has been archived.

Commercialization

[ PDF (45.8 KB) | Help ]

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. The Government of Canada, through CIHR's dynamic and innovative commercialization strategy, invested $12.5 million in 2005-06 in helping researchers take their discoveries a step closer to market.

---

The Innovation Index

• In 2005, there were 459 biotechnology companies in Canada (378 private, 81 public).

• In 2005, there were 446 biopharmaceutical products in the pipeline. Of these, the majority were at the research (147) and pre-clinical (133) phase.

• Revenues for 2005 increased by 26% from the previous year to more than $2.5 billion.

• Venture capitalists invested more than $313 million in private biotech firms in 2005.

• The average investment rose from $2.4 million in 2004 to $6.1 million in 2005.

• Canada's biotech industry employed 75,488 people in 2003.

CIHR Spinoffs Attracting Investment and Success

• In March 2006, Neuromed signed a licensing deal with Merck & Co., Inc. worth potentially US$475 million, the largest biotech licensing deal in Canada's history. Neuromed was founded by Dr. Terry Snutch of the University of British Columbia, based on knowledge gained through more than $5 million in CIHR-funded research over the years. Neuromed is the only biotech company in the world focused exclusively on developing calcium channel drugs for the treatment of human diseases. Calcium channels are involved in many physiological processes, including muscle contraction, hormone secretion and electrical signaling in the nervous system. Changes in calcium channels can lead to illnesses including migraine headaches, epilepsy, hypertension and stroke.

• To prevent humans from getting the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) from tainted meat or from blood transfusions, there is a need for a simple blood test that can be used in both cattle and in humans. A CIHR Proof of Principle (POP) grant helped establish a spinoff company, Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd., based in Toronto, which is now accelerating development of this technology. In the past year, the company has gone public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Now, Amorfix has announced plans to extend this technology into a blood test for early detection of Alzheimer's disease. Amorfix is based on the work of CIHR-funded neuroscientist Dr. Neil Cashman from the University of British Columbia.

• The past year has been eventful for Viron Therapeutics, a company based on the research of CIHR-supported researcher Dr. Grant McFadden of The University of Western Ontario. Recently, Viron raised $25 million in new funding. Viron is developing medicines targeting inflammatory-based disorders including acute coronary syndromes, transplant rejection, inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The company's lead compound is now in Phase II clinical testing.

• Victoria, B.C.-based Aspreva Pharmaceuticals went public in the past year with the largest biotech initial public offer in the world for 2005. Adding to the company's reputation as a performer, Aspreva, which employs more than 100 people, was recently added to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. Initial pilot funding from CIHR helped company co-founder Dr. Michael Hayden of the University of British Columbia test an existing drug for a new indication, Huntington's disease. Based on the success of this trial, Aspreva was created to help make use of existing drugs for less common and neglected diseases. Currently, the company has several clinical trials underway to test the effectiveness of a drug originally designed to prevent rejection of kidney transplants. Aspreva is testing the drug for several autoimmune disorders such as lupus.

Investing in New Companies

The Proof of Principle (POP) program provides funding to help bridge the growing gap between academic research and the point where early-stage investors enter the picture. Since 2001, more than 160 projects have been funded. Of the projects that have matured sufficiently to be evaluated, 63%, or 49 projects, resulted in new patents being funded; 21%, or 16 projects, had intellectual property licensed; and 14%, or 11 projects, contributed to new company formation. Some current projects are listed below.

• Dr. Marcel Bally of the B.C. Cancer Research Centre received POP funding to test new technology for delivering the cancer drug Irinotecan, used most commonly to treat bowel cancer. Dr. Bally has developed an improved method for getting more of the drug into liposomes, which resemble microscopic water balloons and are used widely as a drug delivery tool. The project will also test to see if the method is applicable to other anticancer drugs.

• Dr. Min Wei-Ping of the London Health Sciences Centre, The University of Western Ontario, is using POP funding to evaluate new ways of suppressing genes that damage organs awaiting transplantation. Damage to these organs has an impact on their long-term survival in transplant recipients, which remains low. The project investigated a method for preventing organ damage before transplantation and stopping immune rejection after transplantation.

• Dr. David Byers of the IWK Health Centre, Dalhousie University in Halifax, received POP funding to create a novel antibiotic to treat conditions such as pneumonia, gastrointestinal disease and meningitis. To do it, he's focusing on interfering with one of the key enzymes needed by bacteria to create endotoxin, which is found in the outer membrane of certain types of bacteria. Using computer modelling, Dr. Byers has already designed and synthesized a molecule that can inhibit a key player in endotoxin synthesis. POP funding will help develop and commercialize this initial work into a pre-clinical drug candidate.

Investing in Capacity

CIHR is creating the tools and programs that will help build successful commercialization and knowledge translation activities within Canada's health research community.

In 2005-06, CIHR awarded the first round of funding under its new Science to Business (S2B) program to business schools in B.C., Saskatchewan and Ontario. The S2B program provides grants to help business schools recruit talented PhD graduates with training in health research into health-oriented Masters of Business Administration (MBA) programs.

The Tri-Council Intellectual Property Mobilization Program has provided funding to a unique partnership among the technology transfer offices of McMaster University, University of Waterloo, University of Guelph and The University of Western Ontario. Under the partnership, the four universities will pool their technology transfer expertise, building horizontal teams on life sciences and physical sciences as well as groups in patent administration and industrial interaction. Potential private sector partners looking for new and innovative technologies will be able to tap into the intellectual property of four research-intensive universities using a single contact point.

CIHR Commercialization Strategy

CIHR's strategy for commercialization and innovation rests on the following principles:

Research - Make strategic investments in targeted research to realize the promise of discoveries reached through basic research.

Talent - Build a talented pool of commercialization professionals, people with a combination of entrepreneurial drive, research know-how and management expertise.

Capital - Stimulate investment in this high-risk sector by helping clarify the commercial potential of early stage technologies.

Linkages - Facilitate interactions and partnerships with the private sector, finance and health research communities at all stages of the innovation pipeline.

About CIHR

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian healthcare system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 10,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
160 Elgin St., 9th Floor, Ottawa, ON K1A 0W9
http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/