Bio business championing the business of biotechnology in canada

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CHAMPIONING THE BUSINESS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN CANADA October/November 2008

The Future of Food in CanadaCanadianPublicationsMailProduct—Agreement40063567

HARNESSING INNOVATIONHARNESSING INNOVATIONHARNESSING INNOVATIONCanuck executives build Canada’sbio-entrepreneurial culture…one success at a time

Canuck executives build Canada’sbio-entrepreneurial culture…one success at a time

Startup ChecklistKey criteria to launchinga product or company

The Initial PitchWhat do Investors look for?

ENTREPRENEUREDITION

What does it take tolaunch a successfulbio venture?

ENTREPRENEUREDITION

What does it take tolaunch a successfulbio venture?

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October/November 2008 Bio Business 3

12 NBW 2008A look back at this year’s celebration

18 Harnessing InnovationCanuck executives endeavor tobuild Canada’s bio-entrepreneurialculture…one success at a time

20 Startup ChecklistA quick list of key criteria you needto know

22 Q&AQ&A with Lorna Shaw-Lennox,Start-Up Company Specialist

28 The Initial PitchThe basic business principles of apitch to investors

30 DiscoveriesCanadian scientists advanceagri-food science and technologies

38 In PersonMcGill’s Professor Richard Gold seeks toreform dated intellectual property laws

also insidestandards

BioBusinessBusinessBusinessContents

CHAMPIONING THE BUSINESS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN CANADA

5 EDITOR’S NOTE

7 NEWS

36 NEW PRODUCTS

Commercializing R&D is not for the faint of heart,the impatient or the poor. Turning an idea into asuccessful company is very risky, complex andexpensive. It takes patience, specialized knowledge,superior management skills and lots of money.

– Dr. Jacques Simoneau, Executive Vice President, Investments,Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), in a May 2008

speech to the House of Commons Standing Committee onIndustry, Science and Technology

“”

Entrepreneur EditionSeveral forward-thinkingCanuck executives aimto boost the bio-entrepreneurialculture in Canada by theirvery success

ON THE COVER:Thomas Wellner, Presidentand CEO, Therapure BioPharma Inc.(Above) Wellner with Dr. Dirk Alkema,VP, Operations, at Therapure

ON THE COVER:Thomas Wellner, Presidentand CEO, Therapure BioPharma Inc.(Above) Wellner with Dr. Dirk Alkema,VP, Operations, at Therapure

30Photos by Jason Hagerman

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It comes as little surprise that the biggestchallenge for biotechs today is a lack ofmoney. Our panel of entrepreneurs in

this issue’s cover story on page 18 has notbeen without its own set of financinghurdles. However, they have been blessedin some respects. And with good reason.If you’ve ever wondered whether or not

your company would be eligible for ven-ture capital, Jacques Simoneau, BDCExecutive Vice President, Investments,suggests you first ask yourself: “Is mybusiness going to change the world?” Inan article titled Entrepreneurship at thehighest risk level, Simoneau writes: “Thatmay seem like a lofty goal but venturecapital is reserved for a small percentageof entrepreneurs who are trailblazersin their fields. They often have veryambitious objectives.”If you take the panelists in our cover

story this issue, that statement doesindeed hold true—each was recruitedfrom far and wide because they had a hostof skills and experience to bring to thetable. You want ambition? Just over threeyears in and Natrix’s Lisa Crossley isalready predicting her company will beworth half a billion dollars within fiveyears “at the outside”.Entrepreneurs like this bunch do it all:

through market research, among otherthings, they determine a commercial value

and application for their product orinnovation, then build it; they create adistribution and sales strategy, and executeit; they manage the basic business opera-tions of the company like HR; and all thewhile, they attempt to attract money tokeep everything afloat.But it does take two to raise money.

We know research commercializationdefinitely represents a higher degree ofrisk than other types of businesses. Eachof our examples in the story boasts back-ers who were willing to take that risk —tovarying degrees—and stick with them forthe long haul.Axela’s Rocky Ganske believes a dedi-

cated investor is critical to boosting thesuccess rates of life sciences companies inCanada, as well as growing entrepreneuri-alism among the sector. Without Ven-Growth’s support, he says “Axela wouldnot be where we are today.”

Cheers,

Executive [email protected]

BioBusinessBusinessBusinessChampioning the

Business of Biotechnology in Canada

Publisher Christopher J. Forbes& CEO [email protected]

Executive Bernadette JohnsonEditor [email protected]

Editor Theresa [email protected]

Writer Jason Hagerman

EditorialIntern Erica Tennenhouse

Art Tammy WhiteDirector [email protected]

Secretary/Treasurer Susan A. Browne

Sales Beth KukkonenManager [email protected]

Promotion Nancy SimManager [email protected]

Promotion Jessica ForbesCo-ordinator [email protected]

Production Roberta DickManager [email protected]

Production Sara ForgetCo-ordinator [email protected]

Bio Business is published 5 times per year by JesmarCommunications Inc., 30 East Beaver Creek Rd., Suite202, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1J2. 905.886.5040Fax: 905.886.6615 www.biobusinessmag.com One yearsubscription: Canada $35.00, US $35.00 and foreign $95.Single copies $9.00. Please add GST where applicable.BioBusiness subscription and circulation enquiries:GarthAtkinson, [email protected] Fax:905.509.0735 Subscriptions to business address only. Onoccasion, our list is made available to organizations whoseproducts or services may be of interest to you. If you’d rathernot receive information, write to us at the address above orcall 905.509.3511The contents of this publication may notbe reproduced either in part or in whole without the writtenconsent of the publisher. GST Registration #R124380270.

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Bio Business is a proudmember ofBIOTECanada and theTorontoBiotechnology Initiative (TBI).

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News

A new study released by an international coalition of expertscalls upon governments across the world to consider a

massive restructuring of intellectual property laws.The report was released in September by members of theInternational Expert Group on Biotechnology, Innovation andIP, a group chaired by McGill University’s Prof. Richard Gold.Titled Toward a New Era of Intellectual Property: From

Confrontation to Negotiation, the report outlines a number ofstrategies for governments, universities and industry players toincrease innovation, which Gold believes has long been stifledby IP laws. Among these is a call to governments to work withindustry in creating respected and trusted entities whose mem-bers can be counted on to mediate disputes fairly and encourageindigenous and local communities in policy development. Forpatent offices to collect standardized patent-related informa-tion, and for universities to develop measures of the success oftransfer of technology based on social returns rather than on thesheer number of patents held. Industry entities are also encour-aged to participate actively in the creation of public-privatepartnerships and other collaborative mechanisms.Based on seven years of research involving case studies from

Brazil, Canada, Kenya, the United States, the European Union,Japan, Australia and India, as well as discussions with policy-makers, industry representatives, scientists and academics fromaround the world, the report found consistent roadblocksaround the globe.“We found the same stumbling blocks in the traditional

communities of Brazil as we did in the boardroom of a corpora-tion that holds the patent to a gene that can determine thechance a woman will develop breast cancer,” said Gold. “Nomatter where we looked, the lack of trust played a vital role in

blocking negotiations that couldhave benefited both sides, as well asthe larger public.”Information was gathered through

group sessions in which former indus-try competitors were allowed to sitand speak with each other, revealinginformation that made clear to bothsides the reasons for their inability tofind common ground.The report highlights recent

examples of patents and privately-controlled research limiting potential innovation—the $612million patent suit that nearly shut down theWorld’s Blackberries; Myriad Genetics’ inability to introduce

its breast cancer screening test in Canada and Europe; a phar-maceutical industry with an increasingly bare medicine cabinet;an ongoing failure to deliver life-saving medications to develop-ing countries.As with any fringe technology, biotechnology suffers greatly

from vague, out-of-date and almost obstructive IP laws, accord-ing to Gold.The industry itself, he believes, must be the primaryagent of change.“Law deals with technology that we had 5 to 10 years ago,”

said Gold. “To get things to happen you really have to changethe minds of the people actually doing the research.We’re in rutsof thinking. For any biotech to say ‘the old model doesn’t work,we’re going to go out on a limb here and come up with some-thing new’, they’re afraid nobody’s going to back them. We allknow the model doesn’t work, nobody is taking the first step tomove it forward.”

According to researchlaunched by Price-

waterhouseCoopers, the researchand development process forlife sciences companies maybe shortened by two-thirds in

as few as 12 years.The report, Pharma 2020: Virtual R&D, which path will

you take?, focuses on the potential development of a “virtualman,” which will enable researchers to rapidly test theeffects of new drug candidates before they enter humanbeings. This would result in massive forward progress in thearea of R&D.

“To remain at the forefront of medical research…theindustry needs a faster, more predictive way of testingmolecules before they go into humans,” says Gord Jans,leader of the Canadian Life Sciences practice.Some companies are already using an incarnation of

virtual testing, and have reduced clinical trial times by 40per cent. PwC’s research identifies the need for collaborativeefforts between pharma companies, as well as the needfor regulatory bodies which will be responsible forlicensing and reimbursement.“Connectivity—technological, intellectual and social—

will ultimately enable us to make sense of ourselves andthe diseases from which we suffer,” says Jans.

The Future of Pharma?

Canadian-Chaired Group Releases Critical Study of IP Laws

ACanadian Institute of CharteredAccountants (CICA)/ Royal

Bank of Canada (RBC) reportreleased in August says corporateconfidence in the Canadian econo-my is startlingly low, and that risingenergy costs are a major factor.“A year ago, oil was selling for

an average of $US 71.00 a barrel,gas prices at the pumps were aver-aging $1.07, and the Canadiandollar was perched at 94 centsUS. It’s been a tumultuous 12months and that is reflected in thedrop in confidence and optimismlevels of this latest report,” explainsShauneen Bruder, EVP, RBC Businessand Commercial Banking.The exception to the CICA/RBC

Business Monitor findings is WesternCanada, where rising commodityprices have contributed to highereconomic confidence and optimism—with oil and gas industry execu-tives reporting the highest levels ofconfidence.The Business Monitor, which is

issued quarterly, reports that three infour executive chartered accountantsindicated their companies haveabsorbed all or some of the increas-ing energy costs, while less than 40per cent took action to offset energycosts.

Energy Costsa Major

Concern forCanadian Business

8 Bio Business October/November 2008

BIOTECanada welcomedJazmín Bolaños as Managerof Marketing and Programs.Among other things Bolañoswill be responsible for definingand implementing theassociation’s marketingprograms and strategies.

Toronto’s Biovail Corp.appointed Peggy Mulligan,FCA as Chief Financial Officer.Mulligan succeeds Adrian A. DeSaldanha, who had been servingas Interim CFO. Mulligan wasmost recently a Principal at PriivaConsulting Corp. Prior to that, sheserved as EVP, CFO and Treasurerof Linamar Corporation.

Quebec’sÆternaZentaris appoint-ed Prof. JürgenEngel, Ph.D. as itsnew President andCEO. Engel was formerlyExecutive Vice-president andChief Scientific Officer ofÆterna Zentaris.

The Alberta MedicalAssociation Edmonton,inducted its new presidentfor 2008-09. Dr. Noel W.Grisdale is a family physician.He has been a member of theAMA Board of Directorssince 2001.

A p p o i n t m e n t s

News

Expenditures in Higher Education R&DNear $10 B

According to Stats Canada, spending on research and development in the highereducation sector amounted to $9.6 billion for the fiscal year of 2006/2007. This

includes money used in affiliated research hospitals, experimental stations and clinics.Broken up by category, miscellaneous natural sciences accounted for 41 per cent ofthe total, while health sciences came in at 39 per cent and social sciences andhumanities accounting for the remaining 20 per cent.Higher education institutions themselves were the largest contributors, funding

$4.4 billion, followed by the federal government with $2.5 billion in funding, provin-cial governments with $992 million, business enterprises $808 million, private NPO’swith $775 million, and finally foreign bodies contributing $125 million.

DNA Sequencingto Explode

According to a new technical marketresearch report, DNA Sequencing:

Emerging Technologies and Applications,released by BCC Research, the globalmarket for DNA sequencing shouldreach $1.7 billion by 2013—averagingan annual growth rate of 14.7 per cent.The report breaks the market down

into three segments. Research/drugdiscovery and development, which has the largest share of the 2007 market,at $600.4 million, and is expected to grow by $40 million in 2008, and toover $1 billion by 2013. Commercial applications is the second segment, with$193.6 million in 2007, $218.8 million in 2008, and an expectation of $426.1million in 2013. The third segment, emerging applications, currently has the small-est market share, at $3.1 million by the end of 2008, but will grow exceptionallyquickly, reaching $272.5 million by 2013, a growth rate of 144.8 per cent.DNA sequencing allows scientists catalogue variations within the human

genome sequence that make us phenotypically different, and that cause resistanceand susceptibility to disease. Rapidly evolving sequencing technologies provideunprecedented analytical tools that allow reserachers to identify this sequencevariation, in humans as well as in other species.Technology and market forces are working a fundamental shift, according

to the study, in the DNA sequencing industry. Directing the industry awayfrom stagnant/declining growth and into the polar opposite.


Healthscreen SolutionsInc. appointed Ken Killin ChiefFinancial Officer. Previously acompany advisor, Killin replacesEugene Bomba, who will beleaving his position to returnto private practice.

TopigenPharmaceuticalsInc., Montreal,appointed Mark Parry-Billings, Ph.D., as ChiefExecutive Officer. Parry-Billingsjoined Topigen in 2007 as ChiefDevelopment Officer.

Markham’s Cytochroma appointedSteven I. Engel, M.S., Pharm.D., asVice-president of Regulatory Affairsand Quality Assurance. Engelbrings over 20 years of experiencein regulatory affairs and qualityassurance. He will be based inCytochroma’s Illinois office.

The Canada Council forthe Arts appointed MaRSDirector Joseph L. RotmanChair of the organization,which fosters and promotesthe study, enjoyment andproduction of art.

Anew study by independent researchorganization the Fraser Institute says

Canada is painfully slow in adopting newmedical technologies which could provide

faster and more efficient identification and treatment of disease.The study, titledMedical Technology in Canada, evaluates the availability of medical

technology in Canada compared to other nations within the Organization ofEconomic Cooperation and Development (OECD); measures the age and sophistica-tion of medical technology in Canada; and measures the stock of available cutting-edgemedical technology in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Calgary. The studyfocuses principally on technologies in the diagnostic imaging, laboratory diagnostic,surgical, and patient services areas.“The results of our failure to invest in new medical technologies are exemplified by

long waiting times, less efficient use of medical resources, and less timely and sophis-ticated diagnosis and treatment,” says Nadeem Esmail, Director of Health SystemPerformance Studies at The Fraser Institute and co-author of the study.The study also identifies Canada’s health care system as one of the most expensive

in the world. Esmail points out that the federal government transferred $3 billion intargeted funding to the provinces between 2000 and 2004 in an effort to improve theavailability of medical technology. Yet, according to the study, modern medical tech-nologies still remain notably rare.According to OECD data, the number of MRI units in Canada, 6.2 per million

people, lags behind the OECD average of 10.2 per million. Likewise, CT scanners, 12per million people in Canada, lag behind the OECD average of 19.2 per million.

Canada Painfully Slow at Adopting ModernMedical Technology, Report Says

China, Canada Partner to Increase Canola Production

Anew partnership between Canada and China aims toincrease the production of Canola through genetic research.

Over the next five years, The National Research CouncilCanada (NRC) will contribute $210,000 worth of resources

and facilities, and the Oil Crips Research Institute branch of the Chinese Academyof Agricultural Sciences will contribute $300,000 in cash.“Food and energy shortages are an escalating problem and increasing canola

productivity is something that can help these global issues,” said Dr. Han-zhongWang, Director of the Oil Crops Research Institute. He added that since Canadais the proverbial birthplace of canola, the partnership is all the more fitting.The first project to be undertaken under this agreement is to complete

genomics work on canola to identify genes that affect yield and adaptation tovarious environmental stresses.

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Canada WestFoundation Calls forClean Energy GoalsThe CanadaWest Foundation released areport calling on municipal, provincialand the federal government to beginwork on an energy strategy. Canada’sPower Play argues that the Canadiangovernment needs to take a granderapproach to the issue of climate changeand set specific energy goals.“Canada’s federal and provincial

governments have made strides towardsetting climate change goals, but theseare distinct from energy goals,” says thereport’s co-author, Dr. Roger Gibbins.“If we want to be a clean energy super-power, then we have to keep our eye onthe energy policy ball. This meanssetting goals that will enable us to useour energy capital to be global leaders.”Among the recommendations are:

establish hard energy production targetsacross a range of energy sources for bothdomestic consumption and export thatgo beyond dealing with GHG emissionsand develop policy scenarios for meetingthese goals; stress energy conservationand market-based incentives; and coor-dinate federal, provincial, territorial andmunicipal energy policy initiatives.


With biofuels, as with anythingelse, there is a right way to do

it and a wrong way to do it. ChrisSomerville, director of the EnergyBiosciences Institute at the Universityof California Berkley, and DonO’Connor, president of S&T, spokein Vancouver at Bio’s Pacific RimSummit on the subject of doingbiofuel right.“Like any other activity, bioenergy

and biofuels can be well done orpoorly done,” O’Connor said. “Ifthey are done poorly, then the envi-ronmental and social benefits willnot be delivered. It is not what youdo but how you do it that createsan environmental benefit.”Somerville spoke on the concept of

“responsible biofuels”—those that donot displace food production, do notconvert undeveloped land, do notincrease erosion or runoff and showa reduction of greenhouse gas emis-sions through a full life cycle analysis.Things like wheat straw and tallowand animal fats fall into this category.

(C) 2008 Biotechnology IndustryOrganization

The Industrial Oilseed Network (IOSN) is set to receive $3 million in fundingcourtesy of the Government of Canada. The IOSN will dole out $2.556 million

to Vancouver-based Linnaeus Plant Sciences Inc. Linnaeus will be responsible forthe administration of a research network, and the funding of non-governmentresearch activities.The research network will develop a new type of oilseed that will be used solely

for the production of petroleum substitutes for use in a variety of applications, suchas fuel additives for use in heavy equipment and marine towing operations; bio-basedhydraulic fluids; and bio-based oils in the construction industry, civic bus transporta-tion, and lobster fishing.“Oilseed crops have the potential to provide bio-based alternatives to a variety of

petroleum products,” said Jack Grushcow, the President of Linnaeus Plant SciencesInc. and the project lead for the ABIP Industrial Oil Seed Network. “The IndustrialOil Seed Network will transition non-food Canadian oilseeds crops from a low valuecommodity to a high value industrial feed stock that can substitute for petroleum in avariety of applications.”OLEOTEK, located in Thetford Mines, will receive a total of $235,000 as one of

the participants in the network. François Dornier, President of the Centres for theTransfer of Technology, says: “The contract will give OLEOTEK an opportunity towork with a multidisciplinary team throughout the country to achieve a sustainabledevelopment objective.”IOSN will also involve researchers in the United States who will share their sig-

nificant expertise in soybean oil so that it can be applied to Canadian oilseed crops.

E V E N T W A T C H

High-level Speakers Address Bio PacificRim Summit

Province of Ontario Ranked as Key Biotechnology CentreThe June 2008 report issued by Genome Technology Online ranked Ontario as one of the top locations in the world for biotechnology.The high ranking came as a result of the abundance of resident biotech companies (120 private and 26 public), the presence ofmajor biotech initiatives like the Ontario Genomics Institute and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, as well as the creation ofa biotech-centric zone in the core of Toronto anchored by the MaRS Discovery District. Biotech organizations in Ontario were alsorecognized for forming several recent collaborations with out of country biotech clusters. Among other top ranked regions wereBoston/Cambridge, Washington D.C. Metro Area and Singapore.

Feds Contribute $3 Millionto Oilseed Research

News

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NBW 2008

Among the week’s many announcements, was the launch ofBioTalent’s comprehensive, benchmark-establishing labour marketinformation (LMI) report of Canada’s biotechnology sector. Theproduct of extensive research and analysis, it is in fact the onlyreport of its kind in this country, developed under the leadership ofindustry and yielding statistically significant results that paint aclear—and occasionally surprising—portrait of Canada’s bio-economy. Here is a snapshot of the findings, intended to help thecountry’s biotechnology industry identify their areas of need andbegin planning strategically to ensure a successful future—in part-nership with each other, with educational institutions, governmentbodies and organizations such as BioTalent Canada:• Significant expansion: 77.2% growth in number of biotechnologycompanies in Canada over past 20 years• Revenue challenge: 28.1% of pharmaceutical companies gener-ate revenues of less than $50,000 per year• Stages of development for primary and secondary products:

R&D 59.1%; clinical/field trials and regulatory: 24.7%; produc-tion/manufacturing 20.0%; commercialization/marketing 46.5%• Product/service breadth: 25.2% of companies focus on one totwo products (across all stages of development)• Full-time employment: 8 out 10 companies have fewer than 50full-time employees• Outsourcing: 55.0% of all companies outsource some skills ortasks, regardless of company size; IP (26.4%) and manufacturing(24.2%) are the principal functions outsourced• Vacant positions: Roughly a third of companies have unfilledpositions today—with most of those in preclinical research/R&D(51.9%); marketing, sales and communications (27.9%); and man-ufacturing/distribution (26.0%)• Recruitment and retention: Top 3 challenges are lack of candi-dateswith required skill sets/experience (55.6%); insufficient cap-ital/resources to recruit appropriate candidates (34.1%); andcompetition for qualified candidates (32.8%)

The fifth annual National Biotechnology Week was launchedin Montreal September 18. Kick-off cocktails—hosted at theMusée D’Arts Contemporain—drew a large crowd of leading

industry players, and proved to be an excellent opportunity tounveil BIOTECanada’s annual national polling results exploringCanadians’ attitudes about biotechnology. Peter Brenders,President of BIOTECanada delivered the findings (see sidebar).Many events took place across the country during the intensive

week of biotechnology advocacy, from September 19 to 26. In itsmilestone fifth year, the week is an important opportunity forBIOTECanada and the community at large to engage partners—government agencies and officials, local media, and the public—toeducate and raise awareness about the positive impact our industryhas on Canadians and their way of life.Typically, each year, biotech CEOs also meet with senior

federal decision makers in Ottawa to discuss issues relating tobiotechnology in Canada. This year however, in light of the

election October14th, BIOTECanadapostponed theNational AdvocacyDay of September 23.Advocacy efforts at the provincial level continued in at least fiveprovinces. On the federal level, BIOTECanada did conduct anE-Advocacy Campaign with the top 75 ridings in Canada whohave established bases of biotech operations. The online cam-paign provided federal election candidates with information onthe companies active in their riding and on the main issues fac-ing Canadians today in building the industry.Across the country, individual provinces and cities hosted

events such as conferences, career fairs, and guided tours ofbiotech facilities—all designed to outline the importance ofbiotech to their communities and constituents. Here’s a samplingof National Biotechnology Week events and announcements:

Splicing the DataBioTalent identifies the critical role of human resources in Canada’s bio-economy

A Look Back at NationalBiotechWeek 2008


BIOTECanada’s fifth annual National Biotechnology Weeklaunched in Montreal with the release of national polling resultsshowing Canadians overwhelmingly value biotechnology’s contri-bution to their food, their health, their environment and the econo-my. The poll, conducted by Nanos Research, found that overallimpressions of biotechnology continue to be positive. For thefourth year in a row, biotechnology matters to Canadians.Eighty-eight per cent of Canadians understand that biotechnol-

ogy is important to future prosperity, indicating support for astrong bio-based economy in Canada that is based on a soundbusiness framework, and financing for innovative firms. Strongmajorities of Canadians support research in biotechnology and theuse of products and processes that involve biotechnology acrossthe board. Canadians see biotechnology is bringing a positive con-tribution to agriculture, the environment, and notably, believe thegreatest benefits will be in health sciences. Canadians expect tobenefit from biotechnology in their lifetimes—and they expecttheir governments to invest in innovation to bring biotechnologyinto health care, and to financially support the sector, whetherthrough tax incentives or grants.

Findings also included:

• The biotechnology footprint: Over 550 firms in Canada arepart of an industry that invests $ 1.7 billion per year inresearch alone.• Biotechnology creates prosperity: Almost nine of every tenCanadians (88%) believe biotechnology is important toCanada’s future economic prosperity.• Canadians want to see governments support biotech-nology: Eight of every ten Canadians (81%) supported theuse of government financial incentives to encourage inno-vation in biotechnology. Eighty per cent thought the healthcare system should pay more to introduce biotechnologicaladvances into our care.• Quebecers are especially strong supporters of biotech-nology: Ninety-two per cent of Quebecers (92%) supportedbiotechnology for research. Compared to the national aver-age, Quebecers were significantly more likely to believethere would be major benefits from biotechnology in theareas of health, environment and agriculture.

Canadians Value Biotechnology and 81%Want Governments to Support It TooBIOTECanada releases national poll on Canadians’ attitudes on biotechnology

Third Annual GPI BioGolf TournamentThe Guelph Partnership for Innovations (GPI) held its annual BioGolf tourna-ment at the Guelph Lakes Golf and Country Club. Custom-made trophiesfeatured a useable Putt for the Planet golf ball. The latter balls were alsoused for the putting contest. The tournament also included a biotechbusiness trivia game for prizes and glory.GPI also held its annual GPI Networking Breakfast Series. Started in 2003,

it aims to inform, connect and inspire attendees on topics of interest to theGuelph agritechnology cluster. (Bottom left) Novelist and GPI BreakfastSpeaker William Atkinson chats with attendees at the breakfast.GPI is a consortium of life science stakeholders with the vision of making

Guelph one of the top five life sciences centres in North America.


NBW 2008

TechAlliance hosted the 5th annual London BiotechnologyWeek.Thisyear’s celebration of the local and national biotechnology sector waslaunched through a keynote presentation from Dr. Michael Strong onthe Lifecycle Research Network, of which he is Director, and later inthe week followed by a business seminar showcasing new governmentprograms available to entrepreneurs to help their technology based busi-nesses grow and prosper.Additionally, the week brought together 100 students and nearly

100 community leaders to participate in the fourth annualBIOlympics, an event that engages grade 7 and 8 students throughcompeting in a round robin of fun biotech-related challenges. Thewinners this year were the Bacteriocides from St.Mary Choir CatholicSchool with Team Leader Police Chief Murray Faulkner.For a second year, TechAlliance also ran the Secondary School

Biotechnology Awareness Campaign, giving high school classrooms theopportunity to hear from and engage with seasoned industry experts.This initiative stimulates interest and encourages local students to pur-sue careers in the biotechnology and life science industries.Throughout the week, over 350 participants joined London Biotech

Week and marked this year’s initiative as a true success.

Three teachers from Winnipeg, Vancouver and Moncton receivedthe third annual BIOTECanada-Biogen Idec Teaching ExcellenceAward. Albert Chang, Robert Adamson, and Lawrence McGillivarywere judged by a panel of industry experts to be the three top edu-cators in a secondary school level biotechnology program. Thisprogram awards a total of $10,000 annually to the 3 winning teach-ers and their respective schools.“This year, our National Biotechnology Week celebrated educa-

tion and we are extremely pleased to be able to recognize the contri-butions of these three individuals in instilling a love of science in stu-dents,” said Peter Brenders, President and CEO of BIOTECanada.“Biotechnology is changing the world around us in fundamentalways. Through their commitment and passion to teaching the latestbiotechnology science, teachers are ensuring the next generation

can understand and take advantage of these changes.”“Our business was founded on innovation. Building scientific

knowledge in Canada is crucial to encourage the next generation ofentrepreneurs, and the work these teachers do builds that founda-tion,” said Richard Francis, President and CEO of Biogen IdecCanada Inc. “Biogen Idec is extremely proud to recognize the con-tribution of three teachers in raising the bar in scientific under-standing in Canada.”The first place winner, Albert Chang, from David Thompson

Secondary School in Vancouver, receives $5,000, to be shared withhis school. Chang was recognised for the depth of his teachingprogram, which combines scientific theory and practice with thehistory of biotechnology, patent law basics, and media analysis, andfor his significant mentorship of his students outside the classroom.

Teachers Receive National Award for Teaching Excellence

London Celebrates Biotechnology Week with Friendly Competition

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NBW 2008

MaRS celebrated National BiotechnologyWeek with two free events Friday, Sept.26. For Biotechnology 101, NorthernSecondary School’s Dr. Danielle Gauci,2007 winner of the OGI GenomicsTeaching Prize and Biogen IDECBiotechnology Teaching ExcellenceAward, presented students with the basics,including the impact of biotechnologyand its applications. The second event,Dance ‘N Action in the Park, involvedlively streetside performances by buskers,dancers and other artists at Metro Hall.The two free events were hosted by theMaRS Discovery District, the CanadianBiotechnology Education ResourceCentre (CBERC), The BiotechnologyInitiative (TBI), the Ontario GenomicsInstitute (OGI) and the GoldenHorseshoe Biosciences Network.Students from across the GTA con-

gregated at the MaRS building in down-town Toronto, for an engaging seminarpresented by Dr. Danielle Gauci thatincluded hands-on DNA extraction bythe students themselves. Students firstbroke down bananas using plastic forks,reducing them to mush/pulp and split-

ting the slurry with water. The mixturewas then filtered through cheesecloth toremove the large chunks. Alcohol wasthen introduced to the concoction,which separated from the water, anddrew the DNA content to the surface ofthe water, which the alcohol restedabove. Students were able to remove thejelly DNA from the liquid and take ithome to display their scientific prowess.After the DNA Extraction seminar,

students made a short trek to MetroSquare for a presentation hosted by theOntario Genomics Institute (OGI) andthe Golden Horseshoe BiosciencesNetwork. The mysteries of DNA werefirst unraveled through the Top Rock,Drops and Freezes of a three-man breakdancing crew.Following some real life accounts of

the impact of genetics, some DNA poet-ry and a tin-drum/ saxophone duet, asingle interpretive dancer took to thefloor to act out the colourful life of a dou-ble helix. In the second performance in asmany days, the double helix was thecentre of attention for more than 225students from as many as 8 schools.

DNA Extraction…and dancing?

Premier Ghiz officiallydecrees NationalBiotechnology Weekin PEI at the PEIBioAlliance Launchday, September 19

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Special Report

Canuck executives endeavor tobuild Canada’s bio-entrepreneurialculture...one success at a time

io-entrepreneurialism. It’s quite a mouthful. By

definition, it means the art or the endeavor of

organizing,managing, and assuming the risks of a sci-

ence- or biotechnology-based business or enterprise.

“Commercializing R&D is not for the faint of

heart, the impatient or the poor,” Dr. Jacques

Simoneau, Executive Vice President, Investments,

Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) said

in a May 2008 speech to the House of Commons

Standing Committee on Industry, Science and

Technology. “Turning an idea into a successful

company is very risky, complex and expensive. It takes

patience, specialized knowledge, superior manage-

ment skills and lots of money.”

And by most accounts, it doesn’t happen often

enough in Canada. Indeed, pundits say an entrepre-

neurial environment is sorely lacking north of the

border…for the very reasons listed by Simoneau.

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(From left to right) Dr. Dirk Alkema,VP, Operations, and Thomas Wellner,President and CEO, TherapureBioPharma Inc. at the company’snew 130,000-square-foot cGMPmanufacturing facility in Mississauga

INNOVATION


“In Canada, there isn’t the same kind of entrepreneurial culture thatthere is in the States,” says Lisa Crossley, PhD, P.Eng., Presidentand CEO of Burlington-based Natrix Separations Inc. (formerlyNysa Membrane Technologies), a supplier of high performance,single use and multi-cycle disposable chromatography products.Prior to launching Natrix in 2005,Crossley spent five years cuttingher teeth in the American biotech industry taking two lead thera-peutic candidates through clinical trials in four indications—leadsthat ultimately powered the company’s IPO. “Down there, we hada lot of startup exposure. Everyone I knew was at a startup compa-ny.That experience had a tremendous impact on me and definite-ly accelerated my professional development.”The mindset of U.S. entrepreneurs is to look toward the exit

more so than toward the job itself, says RockyGanske, President &CEO,Axela Inc.,Toronto, which provides protein detection, char-acterization and monitoring products used in life science, healthand clinical research (read more on Axela in EntrepreneurialBeginnings, page 26). And he would know. Ganske, an American,came north specifically to launch Axela. “I make no bones about it.I’m clearly here to create wealth—both for myself, my manage-ment team, my employees and my investors.”

Thomas Wellner spent the last 10 years working in the UKand Germany in top positions for Eli Lilly, following 10 yearswith the company in Canada.He recently returned to take on therole of President and CEO of Mississauga’s TherapureBiopharma Inc., a new, first-of-its-kind Canadian biopharma-ceutical company specializing in developing, manufacturing,purifying, and packaging biological protein therapeutics—at avery large scale and small scale.“The biotechnology scene has changed a lot since I was here

10 years ago. There was quite a robust industry then. It seem tohave been somewhat decimated,” he says. “There are sometremendous brains and discoveries kicking around the labs here.But we need more investment and more focus around the com-mercialization of biotechnology.”Crossley, Ganske and Wellner are among several forward-

• Build a good business plan. The single most importantthing you can do is to put together a good business plan,says Natrix’s Crossley, not a research plan. “You need touse real, concrete, measurable data—not something youjust pulled out of a market research report. What is themarket size? How much of it can you address? And whencan you do that? Barriers to entry? You need to bringinvestors references that they can contact—actual endusers, or key thought leaders in the industry to validateyour concept/product,” she says. “So many people givethe formula that everybody learns in business school, butthat doesn’t translate into how you are going to penetratethe market and when.”

• Look early on at commercial partners. This world today isbecoming more and more a game of partnerships, saysGanske of Axela. “Sometimes you have to go to other peo-ple for technology. The challenge that some of the less-experienced entrepreneurs in Ontario have is that they feelas though they have to invent everything themselves—there’s no need to do that.” Rather, says Ganske, developrelationships—either licensing or distribution partner-ships—and you’ll be introduced to new people, often withconnections, that want to play with you.

• Think commercially from the get-go. What is the commer-cial need for your product/technology? What else is outthere in this category? Your product has to be so com-pelling that people are willing to adopt yours over what’salready out there, says Ganske: “You want your product tobe so good that it is unconscionable for anyone to say no.”

• Get to know your potential customers and get themengaged early. Says U of S’s Shaw-Lennox: “People arehappy to give their opinion on something that you arecreating—and if you can’t get them involved in thatcreative process, you’re certainly not going to get them tobuy your gizmo.”

• Broaden your horizons and think globally. There is thislocal mindset that looks at the market opportunity within theconfines of the Canadian jurisdiction, says Therapure’sWellner. “You have to have a global mindset and under-stand not just the local politics, and the provincial and fed-eral shenanigans that go on but also European require-ments and U.S./FDA drivers,” he says. “You have to beable to put yourself in a greater, global context to be ableto truly appreciate the opportunities that are out there. Andthere are vast numbers of opportunities.”

Startup ChecklistA quick list of key rules you need to know prior to launching a product or company

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“I make no bones about it. I’m here tocreate wealth—both for myself, my[team]…and my investors.”


thinking Canuck executives trying to stymie some of the negativetrends that are occurring. By their very success, they hope toboost, among other things, the bio-entrepreneurial culture inCanada.“We have a really great opportunity here in Canada to build

the next layer of business leaders in this space by showingthem what it’s like to create this wealth and to createenergy,” says Ganske. “They’ll go forward with that samehunger. It’s a function of getting enough successes.” Even distributor VWR is hoping to make its mark.

Axela and Natrix are the first pieces of its NorthAmerican business development initiative that aimsto help young biotech companies get their products infront of customers, and ultimately drive the adoption ofnew technologies, says Doug Ward, VP Marketing,Canada, at VWR International. In partnering with anddistributing the products of new companies, it hopes togrow its life sciences program and fill gaps in its productportfolio. Depending on the nature of the partnership, thecompany can also provide market guidance and support givenits knowledge of the end user and of the industry. “I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve seen so many people

develop a product and sell it off. It’s the Canadian reality. Thereare very few folks taking it to the market on the global stage like these two [Axela and Natrix]. That really attractedme…taking risks in Canada is not something that happens veryoften,” says Ward.

“I’ve come back to Canada wanting to start and lead aCanadian-based, but globally focused, company that through itssuccess will hopefully contribute positively to the Canadianspace,” adds Wellner.For its part, Therapure Biopharma Inc. provides protein man-

ufacturing services on a contract basis, but also forms joint devel-opment partnerships with biotechnology firms—sharing the costand risk of manufacturing complex biologicals at commercial lev-els. The company is also seeking to acquire pre-approval productsand to forge potential equity participation in some cases. “The intention is that we are all about helping biotech and

innovative companies bring their products to life,” he says. “We’llpartner with them early on or midstream and stay with themthrough commercialization. There are not many biotech compa-nies that happen to have $250 million kicking around to build alarge-scale biomanufacturing facility like we have.” It’s a unique business model, Wellner adds, made possible

through the company’s relationship with backer Catalyst CapitalGroup Fund II. Therapure’s unique and flexible 130,000-square-foot cGMP manufacturing facility will be completed this fall,generating at least 100 high-quality, value-added jobs forOntarians, says Wellner. (Therapure Biopharma acquired itsCanadian built and conceived facility from HemosolCorporation, a specialist in therapies derived from hemoglobin, ablood protein.)

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Wellner cites famous University of Toronto scientists FredrickBanting and Charles Best as early examples of what happens tomost Canadian scientists and discoveries…and indeed one of themain challenges Therapure is hoping to address. “Their discoveryof insulin in 1921 changed the course of a disease. But they couldnot make the product at a global, commercial scale on their own.They were compelled to partner with a U.S. company that couldprovide them with the technical competency and capability.”The current market conditions in Canada, he continues,

encourage scientists to sell their products and ideas before theyhave to start spending money on phase two and three clinicals,and commercialization. “We need some Canadian success stories.I want to see them stick through it…but to do that you needaccess to a significant amount of capital, and the amounts thatfloat around to support biotech in Canada are minuscule com-pared to what they are in the U.S.” The fact that Canadians are quick to sell out is one of

Crossley’s biggest pet peeves. “Up here, when we get that initialearly offer of acquisition from a U.S.-based company for a couplemillion dollars, we sell out.” She agrees this trend is fueled by a lack of venture capital,

which then drives Canadian firms south for funding, which inturn usually invites the pressures of moving operations to the U.S.“We’re never actually able to achieve a critical mass of startupcompanies that have gone beyond seed stage. We create tons ofvalue up here, but we’re never the ones who capture it. If we’regoing to change our culture in Canada, we need larger funds, but

maybe fewer of them. It’s a tough problem to overcome.”Axela’s Ganske agrees new programs and approaches are

needed. He admits progress has been made to increase theSR&ED levels, but argues the only way to get cash back, is tospend it in the first place. He points to the labour-sponsoredfunds of years gone by, which were allowing capital to start build-ing companies up, only to be cut in less than a five-year period. “Iwas left questioning the logic of the individuals [running theshow] and their knowledge of this space, as investments in thisspace take much longer to build value” Ganske says. “Now, we’veunfortunately created a shopping mall for U.S. venture capitalguys. They can come in here and buy stuff on the cheap becausethere’s no money to support it.” The funding gap, Ganske says, exists particularly beyond the

seed stage. “Unless we find a way, quickly, to infuse some capital

What is your role as startup company specialist? Our role at the industry liaison office is to tech transfer for the university. We commercialize technology. If something looks like a good platform tech-nology, and if we have an entrepreneurial researcher who is interested in astartup company—and it meets all the other criteria like patentability andmarketability—then we would decide to build a startup around that technology. That’s when it comes into my portfolio. I help them do a marketassessment; help them write a business plan; I can link or network them withpeople who could serve as a management team.

How do you define an entrepreneurial researcher? Do the two gohand in hand? Someone who has expressed an interest in starting a company or has a willingness to work with you—that’s important. They must have some senseof what it means to be an entrepreneur. Not many people I deal with areentrepreneurial-minded. They are technology minded—that’s what they do.And it’s not a bad or a good thing, it’s just that’s their brain. People who havethat entrepreneurial bent are rare. There aren’t a lot of people who are willing to take the high stakes and the risk that entrepreneurs do. They are aunique breed.

So do you have your work cut out for you then? For me, what’s really important is to be able to prove that there’s a market,and know who those customer are and what their needs are. The challengethen is to take it and say ‘ok now we need to find someone who will take thisand champion it’. We have a couple companies (Adnavance Technologies Inc.and MCN BioProducts Inc.) to draw from—both spearheaded by Todd L. Lahti,a serial entrepreneur or CEO-for-hire, basically. He has the business background. People like him are very important to that entrepreneurial cycleand getting the research into the market.

Would you say Canada, or Saskatchewan, has a bio-entrepreneur-ial culture?I think it’s growing. But the biotech sector is technology based, and I think wehave this drive and understanding of how important it is, but we don’t havethe depth of the entrepreneurial people we need to move it forward.

Among other things, we need mentors and mentorship programs to helpdrive this, but we haven’t set up a system where we can engage those peoplewho have the battle scars and the experience and can lend that to the youngpeople. I think [universities] need to start developing those networks. Manyuniversities have ‘entrepreneur in residence’ programs. That sort of hand-holding, and roll-up-your-sleeve-and-get-involved programs are great. I thinkthat’s the model we need to start looking at.

Entrepreneurial training and education is also important. It’s important toget undergrads, grads, etc. thinking about the value of their research. Weneed to let them know commercialization is an option. There are some simplerules that they need to know. For example, if they think that commercializing

Special Report

QA with Lorna Shaw-Lennox, Start-Up Company Specialist,Industry Liaison Office, University of Saskatchewan

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to bring those companies from that point, they will simply getrained out…they will run out of capital. It’s unfortunate becausewe need to get this momentum moving.”

Crossley cites her own journey with Natrix as an example ofstrategically avoiding some of the potential pitfalls. Three yearsago, the technology behind Natrix was still in a university lab atMcMaster in Hamilton. Natrix develops a membrane-based plat-form technology to improve the safety and economics of thebiotechnology separation processes required to purify proteins andother life sciences compounds. With the technology, the compa-ny hopes to create novel, high value products for specific applica-tions, including large-scale bioprocessing, blood processing, andfood and beverage processing. According to Crossley, the technol-ogy is the first new thing to happen in separations in decades, andhas a total addressable/accessible market of $9 billion.“I think this company will be worth half a billion dollars with-

in five years at the outside. It is a very attractive candidate to exiteither via IPO or M&A. It’s a good story if you’re an investor.” The proof is in the pudding. The company initially raised

$2M in seed financing through MDS Capital and BDC VentureCapital. “They gave us $2 million instead of the usual $500,000investment. This really accelerated our progress by just allowingus to concentrate on developing our products,” she says.

This spring, Natrix leveraged the progress it had made on theinitial seed investment to attract $19 million of financing fromBDC, JovInvestment Management, and a new lead U.S. investor—D.E. Shaw Ventures. In the last two years, Natrix assumed ownership of the tech-

nology they initially licensed from McMaster, leased 25,000square feet of space in Burlington, Ontario, built a state-of-the-art lab and manufacturing facility, and grew its staff from six to37 people, including sales and product managers in the U.S. Inaddition to selling directly to high-volume markets, the companyrecently launched its first group of products into the researchmarket through distributor VWR Canada. Incidentally, the com-pany has subcontracted some work to Therapure’s new facility.Crossley says they looked south for some funding because of

the size of the investment needed: “We needed some deep pock-ets. But we were very clear with our investors that we would notmove to the States. Collectively we said: ‘We are going to be amajor global player and we will do it from Canada, not the U.S.’It did weed out some investors—those who assumed we wouldmove to Boston.”While money is one of the largest hurdles, Crossley believes if

you have a truly compelling value proposition, and it looks like

the time to exit is reasonable, there is money out there. “In myexperience there is a lot of money out there. If you have a realfundable value proposition, you’ll find the funding.” But success, she says, also comes down to ensuring you have

the right management team in place to turn your company intoa success story—essentially the right mix of technical knowl-edge, business acumen and entrepreneurial drive. “With tech-nology companies, leaders have to have some technical depth toposition the company and products externally. But investors relyon the business skills to carry the company to revenue, growthand ultimately exit,” says Crossley. “There is a tremendous depthof VP talent in Canada, she continues. You don’t have to bringin a U.S. team, but you do have to be discriminating about whatyou’re looking for.”Ganske says he initially brought in two U.S. individuals to

lead various parts of Axela’s business. Today, however, the com-pany boasts more Canadian management than U.S. “I’m cog-nizant of what Axela is doing to build that next group of biotechleaders in the Toronto space, based on the shared experience of

might be a potential or viable route for them, don’t publish. Our businessschool is starting an entrepreneurial centre and they’re going in to sectors—not just natural sciences, but also kinesiology and social sciences—to showthem what’s possible. I think that’s an exciting place to be.

Do programs like BioVenture incorporate many of these components?The initial phase is just to submit your idea. Then the five people who areshortlisted go through a few months of a mentoring process—we hook themup with lawyers, or tech transfer people. We’re giving them very specific,hands-on guidance on market assessment, and getting to know your customers and getting them engaged before you finish the product. That’sreally hard for kids with a technology background to understand, but that’swhere we’re going with them.

Working with these young people and their ideas is so exciting. It’s soexciting to see their energy and passion for what they’re doing. Most of themare like sponges—they just want to learn how to do this. It’s quite rewardingfor us as well.

Are all universities grappling with these same issues and challenges? Yes. Tech transfer offices are becoming quite entrepreneurial in theirapproaches. There is a great debate within tech transfer offices: Is the bestway to license your technology out, and get measured on how many dollarsyou bring in immediately and how many patents you license? Often the traditional way that tech transfer offices commercialize technologies is tolicense them—usually to the U.S. or Europe. Alternatively, would it be betterto be measured on your regional economic development, the development ofinnovations, and are your efforts to create that sense of entrepreneurialism inyour region? More universities are starting to focus more on startups, andgrowing them locally to be successful.

“This company will be worth half abillion dollars within five years…It’s agood story if you’re an investor.”


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the current management team,” he says. Ganske disagrees with those who say Canada doesn’t have the

right skills or the right people. “We have found very goodCanadian management that we’ve been able to put into place. Atthe same time, when you have the capital support, if there isdomain expertise you need to reach down into the States to get,you can do that,” he says “People will come north—but they won’tcome north without the capital and they won’t come north with-out understanding the support is there to drive the company tothe finish line.”

Money, after all, makes the world go around. And it’s ultimate-ly what lures many Canadian entrepreneurs south, or overseas forthat matter, Wellner adds. “As an executive, I’ve taken a significantpay cut to come back to Canada, but that’s a personal choice I’vemade for my children and my wife, but it’s a cost,” he says. “I could

go to the States and make many times what I’m making. That iswhat drives many people’s decisions on where the talent goes.”The U.S., for instance, he says, also boasts robustness and

vibrance of activity and deal-making, which he says also stimulates the structure of the industry and a lot of the entrepre-neurial thinking. Crossley argues another big challenge in Canada is that

Special Report

“In my experience there is a lot ofmoney out there. If you have a realfundable value proposition, you’llfind the funding.”

Continued on page 28...


Special Report

“From a technology living on a bench in a university tobeing a commercially distributed product in the market ona worldwide basis, it was a pretty rapid ride,” says RockyGanske, president and CEO of Axela Inc.Recently named a 2008-2009 winner in the life sciences

category of the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation(OCRI) / Borden Ladner Gervais Canada’s Top 10Competition, Axela has commercialized a pro-prietary technology for real-time protein detec-tion. The company’s products provide life sci-ences and clinical researchers with simple toolsand reagents to study interactions, expand theutility of traditional immunoassays and accessunique categories of diagnostic markers.Privately-held, Axela’s major investor isVenGrowth Private Equity Partners Inc. The ride began roughly 6 years ago, when

Ganske—having found his entrepreneur legs fol-lowing years in “corporate America” with start-up-turned-public-success-story Third Wave Tech -nologies—was approached about a Canadianinnovation that needed a business leader.VenGrowth asked Ganske to look into the

technology—born out of Dr. Cynthia Goh’slab in the chemistry department of theUniversity of Toronto—and assess whether iswas worthy of development capital. “I flewinto Toronto in November 2002—which if Iwasn’t already in Wisconsin—was probablythe wrong time to try and recruit CEOs for anentrepreneurial business.”Ganske asked VenGrowth to give him a

chunk of cash (far less then they had initiallyintended to put in) and six months to unearthand prove the technology’s worth. “Within sixmonths, I would either produce a business planwith a product aiming and positioning document, as wellas a budget for the next two or three steps, or I would tellVenGrowth to put their money into something else.” Withinfour months, Ganske agreed to take the helm. He began by building a strategy for the business that

allowed it play in the research space in parallel with thediagnostic space. It put its first beta instrument into thehands of researchers two and a half years ago. Feedbackfrom that ‘test’ brought several specific clinical applicationsto bear (John Hopkins University was able to gain an

understanding of the protein complexes involved in heartattacks, for example), and ultimately led to the creation ofthe company’s commercial system. The intent of the business is to continue to push into the

research space, he says. Participating in the research mar-ket provides a pipeline of novel discoveries that form thebasis for future multiplex diagnostic offerings. “In the

meantime, you still drive clinical-level or diag-nostic-level margins off of those products with noregulatory clearance needed to sell them into theclinical research space. It makes for a very inter-esting business model.”And a valuable proposition for investors too.

Since Axela is working through the clinicianresearchers, Ganske says, it has access to all theIP from studies/trials without having to pay for it. Axela has always had unique history from an

investment standpoint, he adds. “FounderCynthia Goh will tell you the way Axela gotstarted in the first place was that she didn’t knowthat you couldn’t go ask a venture capitalist formoney to run an experiment.” Prime Access Technology Ventures took a

gamble, however, giving her a small cheque torun the first experiment. “Axela was literallyincorporated on the day of the first experiment,”he says. Subsequently, Prime Access—and a sin-gle angel investor, Royal Bay Capital—steppedin to help steer company activities. The duo hadinvested about $1 million by the time VenGrowthadded its money to allow the company to moveforward commercially.“It had reached the same chicken and egg

point that all companies do: You need a man-agement team, but you don’t have any money;and you need money, but you can’t get it with-

out a management team,” says Ganske. And that’s whereit was when VenGrowth started looking for a CEO.“VenGrowth has been so supportive, and without themAxela would not be where we are today. They are trulybrilliant investors and business people.”“We’ve built a company that we’re very excited about.

The technology risk is gone, the clinical proofs are there,and it’s now all about commercial execution. We’re look-ing forward to some significant revenue ramp as we go. It’san exciting place to be.”

Entrepreneurial BeginningsPresident and CEO Rocky Ganske on Axela Inc.’s journey to success

“It had reachedthe same

chicken and egg point that all

companies do:You need a

managementteam, but youdon’t have anymoney; and you

need money, but you can’t get it without

a managementteam.”

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people don’t know how to approach venture capitalists andinvestors (see sidebars to this story for tips and tricks on startingup and pitching investors). Programs like MARS’s entrepreneur-ial office and the efforts of university tech transfer offices, how-ever, will go a long way she expects. These networks can arm theuninitiated with the necessary skills, offer access to like-minded,experienced, business people, and even provide warm introduc-tions, she says. “When you’re starting up, you really need some-one with business savvy on your side.” Academia does indeed have a role to play, according to Lorna

Special Report

What Do Investors Look For In The Initial Pitch?Each investor and financing professional will use a variety of criteria and processes to deter-mine whether they will invest in a company. Despite the different approaches, there arebasic business principles that need to be demonstrated. Information the entrepreneur willwant to convey during the initial pitch to potential investors or financing sources include:

Shaw-Lennox, Start-Up Company Specialist, Industry LiaisonOffice (ILO), University of Saskatchewan (U of S) (see Q&A,page 22). U of S is involved in the 2nd annual BioVentureBusiness Plan Challenge, which is similar to the sanofi pasteurHealthcare and Biotechnology Venture Challenge. Both pro-grams assist scientists and students with launching their bio-based business ideas. “Our universities do an incredible job of developing tech-

nologies that are commercializable. It’s an entrepreneur’sdream,” says Ganske. “The foundation is there, but you need thecash to enable it.”

...contined from page 25.

BB

The above excerpt was pulled from The Entrepreneur’sInvestment Preparation Toolkit (v1), created by the InnovationSynergy Centre in Markham’s (ISCM) Investment Network andits Director, Catarina von Maydell. The Investment Networkwas launched under the ISCM umbrella in January 2007, tohelp early-stage, potentially high-growth companies seekingtheir first rounds of financing (up to ~$500,000). Supportedby the Town of Markham, The National Research Council andthe Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, ISCM is a

not for profit business advisory hub created to help acceleratethe growth and development of SMEs. For more information,please visit www.iscm.ca, or contact Catarina von Maydell [email protected].

The above excerpt is provided as a guideline and introduction only.Companies seeking financing must do their own research and seekqualified advisors to help them find appropriate financing suitableand appropriate to their specific needs and circumstances.

• Define why your product is important. What problemdoes it solve? How ‘painful’ is the problem to potential buyers.An interesting product with little or no market potential has nomonetary or business value. Make sure you know specificallywho would buy it, why they would buy it and how much theywould pay for it. Test your theory with people you don’t knowbefore presenting it to investors.• Be able to quickly describe your sustainable competitive

advantage. The wheel and other mobility solutions wereinvented in many different parts of the world at the same time.Similarly, every company has known and unknown direct andindirect competitors that solve the same problem. Why wouldsomeone buy your product rather than another brand or asubstitute product?• Develop a crisp solution-focused pitch that your grand-

mother can understand. Have a 10 second pitch to piquecuriosity and one that is 60 seconds long (the elevator pitch) tostimulate interest. Test your pitch on people you don’t know—dothey respond constructively to you? To demonstrate that you can‘sell’ your product and your business—to potential customers, tobusiness partners, to investors, you should be able to tell anyone

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product, the market opportunity, and management), guidancein growing the business, introductions to potential buyers, andintroductions to potential investors or business partners.• Are you ‘coachable’? Early-stage investors bring money,

but as important is their industry- and high-growth expertiseand their rolodex. If you can work as a team and demon-strate your ability to learn, you can leverage the full value theinvestor brings. The investors are also crucial to your futurefundraising.

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By Jason Hagerman, with files from Erica Tennenhouse

The Future of FoodCanadian scientists are advancing agri-food science and technology to ultimatelysecure Canada’s food supply

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.Unfortunately, in North America, nobody is givinganybody lemons, and no lemonade can be found.This is, of course, a small and insignificant effectof the food crisis that is gripping countries all over

the world in a much more profound way—but an effect that isbeing felt at home nonetheless.


Discoveries

Countries that never had the luxury oflemons in the first place are now finding itincreasingly hard to get their collectivehands on any food at all. Staple foods likerice and corn are failing in supply, and havenearly doubled in price in the last sixmonths. The result of this cost increase isthat more than 800 million people will beddown with empty stomachs. If ever there has been a global event to

show just how interconnected the world is,this may be it. The weight of the crisis isbeing felt—and debated—the world overby parties with various stakes, not least ofwhich is the research community. Indeedscientists—who shoulder much of thisweight—are collectively focusing a greatdeal of energy on setting things right. And Canadian researchers are playing

their part. Among other things, they arecreating new breeds of hardier crops; look-ing at growing corn and wheat in urbanenvironments; and balancing the produc-tion of food and biofuels.

The WhyExperts argue about specific long-term causes of rising foodprices, but two that are universally agreed upon are ever-increas-ing oil prices, and global climate change. Gas is so massivelyinterlinked with almost every aspect of food—production andcultivation, transportation, etc—that it may be the single largestfactor in the world food shortage, both through direct as well assome secondary correlation. Directly, fuel is needed for farm equipment, irrigation systems

and the like. The price of oil has become prohibitive to farmers indeveloping countries, who can no longer afford to maintain theirown land, resulting in a high demand for outside agriculturalimports. Food being brought in from places like Canada orAustralia has become increasingly expensive because of the sheercost of transportation. And, of course, there is the force of eco-nomics. As supply goes down and demand rises, so must prices. Akilogram bag of rice, for example, cost just .41 cents six months agoin the Philippine capital of Manila; today that bag costs .76 cents.Indirectly, a careless approach to biofuels is causing corn

shortages and massive increases in cost. It is estimated thatbetween 25 and 30 per cent of all corn grown in the U.S goes toethanol production—roughly 130 million tons. In searching formore environmentally friendly, cost effective and renewable fuelsources, we are wasting huge stores of edible grains. Further,

Soybean oil is the most widely used oil in food products in the world. By breeding algae, which causes fish to carry such high levelsof Omega-3, with the soybeans, researchers are hoping to increase worldwide intake of the heart-healthy oil.

Dr. Brian Fowler

Manish Raizada

Mike McGuire

Neil Arbuckle

Reno Pontarollo


Discoveries

because of the amount of energy required to process corn-basedethanol, it is a net contributor to global climate change, which isthe second certain cause of our food woes.Freezing conditions in Argentina, and drought in Australia

are to blame for the missing lemons. Abnormal drought in drythird world nations is hurting those few farmers who can affordto keep harvesting rice and corn with the costly oil. Unseasonablefrosts are killing crops all over the developed world, while floodsand severe storms decimate supplies as well.

Ongoing DiscoveryIn order to cope with our increasingly harsh and unpredictableclimate, Canadian researchers are putting significant resourcesinto increasing crops’ resistance to yield reducing elements.According to Mike McGuire, the Director of Eastern Canada

Business with Monsanto, the best approach to the food vs. fueldebate is to address them both in the same action.“In corn, for example, our focus is really about increasing

yield,” McGuire says. “We see that as a real way to address thefood or fuel debate. We shape it up as the food and fuel debate.If we increase yields, we can do a lot to address both of thesethings, and it isn’t necessarily a choice between one or the other.”Neil Arbuckle, the team lead for Monsanto’s canola research,

is looking at ways to increase water use efficiency to increase yieldin both corn and soy, and eventually to transplant the genes thatproduce this result to canola. This will help to both alleviate thestrain on corn and soy supplies, as well as to lower prices ofhealthy, low saturated and trans fat oils. Monsanto is also currently looking at addressing three distinct

yield reducing factors, not limited to specifically Canada. First,and likely most important to farmers in the developing world, isdrought tolerant corn: corn that can survive, and even thrive, inareas never considered viable, but also does not require an aridlandscape to grow. Secondly, they are looking for ways to increasethe efficiency of nitrogen fertilizers. With the price of nitrogenfertilizers doubling in the last year, and environmental concernssurrounding the effects of high levels of nitrogen in soil,McGuire’s researchers are looking at ways to either reduce theamount of nitrogen used while maintaining a healthy yield, ormaintaining our current use of nitrogen fertilizers, but increasingthe yield. Finally, they are looking at cold tolerance, since a longergrowing season could greatly increase the food supply.“In Ontario and Quebec, growers typically plant their corn

around the first of May, but quite often the weather and soil con-

ditions are fit that they could plant the corn crop maybe mid-April,” says McGuire. “The problem with planting that early isthat it’s cold enough that the seeds don’t germinate—they sit inthe soil a long time and they aren’t vigorous when theyemerge…so we’ve actually discovered genes that, when we usethem in a corn plant, let you plant the corn into cooler, wettersoils—which tends to be more like our April weather—and thecorn will emerge and be more vigorous under cold conditions.”Reno Pontarollo, Chief Scientific Officer of Genome Prairie

If science is only midway through the race, what can bedone right now to address this global issue? Pundits sayindividuals need to start taking responsibility for their foodwaste, and put an end to the gluttonous habits of the devel-oped world. With the world food supply down to just 50days of food stores, according to the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations (FAO), versus 116 daysin 1999, increasingly scarce grain, for instance, becomes acommodity that can not be wasted. The David Suzuki Foundation recently released a num-

ber of staggering statistics surrounding food waste inEurope and North America. According to the report, closeto half of all food produced worldwide is wasted. Up to 30per cent of food is thrown away in the U.S every year, result-ing in $48 billion of waste, or $600 per household—enough to feed a large family in the Philippines for twoyears or more.Families in Toronto are even worse, throwing out about

275 kilos of food, versus the 215 kilos wasted in Americanhomes, according to the foundation. Edible food which isnot aesthetically pleasing, suffering from slight growthdeformities or similar superficial ailments, accounts for 30per cent of all grown food, and is discarded without a sec-ond thought by growers.Further, the western diet, which is growing in popularity

in places like China, consists of some of the most inefficientsources of sustenance in the world. According to the FAO ittakes 14 kilos of grain to produce two kilos of beef, andeight kilos of grain to produce two kilos of pork.

Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, the father of the Green Revolution which savedIndia from starvation 50 years ago, believes that an “evergreen revolution”, whichcombines science, economics and sociology to boost food production in a sustainableway, is likely to be the most successful approach to solving the world’s food crisis.

What Now?A look at some alarming stats

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says one of its main focuses is increasing cold tolerance in wheat.Wheat, like corn, falls under the category of cereal, but unlikecorn, wheat has managed to produce strong yields in recent years.But with increased incidences of episodic frost (frost which showsup earlier in fall or later in spring) maintaining bountiful yieldsbecomes dependant on the crops ability to weather the storm. Working with Dr. Brian Fowler of the University of

Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre (CDC)—who hasbeen researching frost tolerance for the majority of his career—Genome Prairie is “trying to develop new varieties [of wheat]with value-added traits that don’t affect yield under normal con-ditions, or perhaps slightly enhance it, but under these conditionsof stress,” says Pontarollo, “they will thrive, and increase foodsecurity.” This is a project with global reaching effects when youconsider countries like Norway and Australia also deal with coldconditions at both ends of the growing season. Much of the fund-ing for the cold tolerance research comes through GenomePrairie’s big brother, Genome Canada, as well as the province ofSaskatchewan and some smaller international bodies.“When we have international partners, this shows that we’re

really attacking or addressing these issues with the best peopleavailable from all over the world,” says Pontarollo. University of Guelph assistant professor Manish Raizada is

working on a slightly different approach. “We’re trying to devel-op corn plants that will regenerate from root stock for the nextgrowing season,” he says. This would vastly increase the yield in

places like Africa, where the climate is tropical and the roots real-ly have no reason to die. Raizada points out that 30 per cent of aplant’s mass is contained in the roots, meaning 30 per cent of thework that is put into every growing season is knowingly destroyedso that growing can begin anew. Maintaining and reusing thisroot system would vastly increase yield. Unfortunately, the majority of technologies focused on deal-

ing with the food crisis are not yet ready to be used. Monsanto’snitrogen utilization genes will not be widely available for at leastanother six years, and Arbuckle’s canola research is ongoing foranother decade.

Moon Food?A more unique approach to resolving the food crisis is taking placein the work of Mike Dixon, a Professor and Director of theControlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF) atthe University of Guelph. In the early 90’s, Dixon began researchon plant production requirements in controlled environments—greenhouses. His focus was, and largely remains, on growing a sus-tainable food supply in space. With funding from NaturalSciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(NSERC), the Ontario centers of excellence, and an industry con-sortium that includes the greenhouse industry and allied signalaerospace, Dixon’s funding has grown from a modest $150,000 tomore than $8 million annually, with $10 million in equipment.The goal is not to grow food in space and return it to earth,

but rather, Dixon’s primary goal is to establish a permanent foodsupply for space travelers. “I can’t throw anything away when I goto the moon, I must recycle everything. There’s no such thing asgarbage when you get off this planet,” he says. The aim of hisgreenhouses is that they will one day be able to sustain life onspace missions lasting longer than 15 years. Current space vehi-cles are limited in the amount of food, air, and water they are able

University of Guelph undergrade Swati Saxeena working at one of ninesingle plant hypobaric plant growth chambers

University of Guelph PhD candidate Renee Cloutier

Discoveries

to carry. For longer space missions, Dixon is developing a renew-able life-support system based on plants and microorganisms,which will provide oxygen and water, remove pollution, and recy-cle waste. The greenhouses will also provide food—soybeans,wheat, rice, carrots, lettuce and corn are a few items on the all-vegetarian menu that will be available for astronauts traveling tothe moon or Mars.But the technology developments required for space—tech-

nologies such as nutrient sensors, non-toxic residue disinfectionsystems using aqueous ozone, and nutrient recycling manage-ment protocols—he explains, are all transferable to the green-house sector. Imagine the terrestrial application: a completely sus-tainable greenhouse that can grow feedstock and operate in theharshest environment imaginable. Build a few of these arounddowntown Toronto, and other major cities around the globe, forinstance, and you create a massive amount of farmable land thatpreviously did not exist. Organic farming is another sector that is positioned to reap

the benefits of the technology that Dixon initially intended forspace, because in space nitrate fertilizers and toxic chemistry todisinfect systems or control pathogens cannot be used—“andthat’s exactly what organic farming is all about,” he says. Dixon is currently developing a method of re-circulating nitrogen that will be eligible for the organicfarming community.Though years of research and

development are still ahead forDixon, the potential applications forthe supply and production of foodare obvious. And in terms of globalfood safety, such as development ofaqueous ozone disinfection protocolsthat could be deployed in domesticand industrial applications, Dixonsays the impacts of their research willprobably be more profound in thenear term.

One day, Robert Thirsk (right) may be enjoying a space-meal courtesy ofUniversity of Guelph’s Mike Dixon (left)

An arabidopsis experiment in single planthypobaric plant growth chamber

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High Volume Wet Mixing MillsBematek Systems released a line of wet-mixingcolloid mills. The Z-Series Sanitary Wet MixingMachine is designed for in-line biomass reduc-tion processing of fruits, vegetables, and otherfoodstuffs—reducing material from a pulpyslurry to a smooth, homogeneous viscosity.

With the help of rotors and stators comprised of a material designed to withstandabrasive slurries, the Z-Series is capable of 10 to 10,000 GPH throughput. Models areoffered for laboratories, pilot plants and production facilities.

Field-oriented Temperature Monitor Warner Instruments introduced its new three-scale thermistor temperature monitor.Designed to produce lab-accurate temperaturemeasurements while being deployed in the field,the TM-3 is dust-proof, splash–proof and batterypowered. One nine-volt battery will yield approxi-mately 100 hours of use while not plugged intothe supplied AC wall adaptor.

The TM-3 Thermistor can output informationin Celsius, Fahrenheit and Absolute (Kelvin) scales via a large display. An analogue output is available for use with data acquisition systemsor pen recorders.

Temperature thresholds range from 0° to 104 °C, 2° to 220° F, or 256 K to 378 K. The TM-3 is compatible with any 10KW Unical thermistor and no recalibration is required when changing probes.

Faster Measurements WithoutSacrificing AccuracyFisher Scientific released its new suite ofUV-Visible and fluorescence products,including the BioMate 6 double-beamUBV-Vis spectrophotometer, and theQuantech Digital Filter flurometer.

The new BioMate 6 has widespreadapplication, spanning from routine nucleicacid and protein quantitation to researchquality enzyme kinetics assays. It can beequipped with accessories to provide pre-cise temperature control, automation,multi-cell analysis and small volume sam-pling. A flexible oligo calculator featurehas also been incorporated to calculate molecular weightand the oligo concentration factor.

The Quantech Digital filter flurometer is designed pri-marily for researchers who measure concentration by fluo-rescence or are only interested in the total emission oftheir sample. This filter flurometer is a cost-effective, reli-able alternative to larger, monochromator-based scanninginstruments, and offers storage capabilities for up to ninecarbon curves in the internal memory.

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Customizable Portable Sanitary MixersA new line of portable sanitary mixers hasbeen released by Sharpe Mixers. Designedfor pilot plant and small-scale production,the PB-Series mixers run vibration free in all motor sizes, which range from 1/ 12 to 1/ 2 horsepower. They can be configuredwith shafts up to 48” ling, polished fromfive to 40 Ra, plus electropolishing, and with impellers for high flow, low shear, gas dispersion, and solids suspension mixing.Optional electronic variable speed drives are available, powering speeds from 70 to 350 rpm’s. Stainless steel mountingpedestals with sanitary mounting ferrulesare offered from three to six inches.

Products

Individual Cell Isolation in RodentsHugo Sachs Elektronik – HarvardApparatus released its advanced researchPSCI perfusion system for cell isolation. Specifically tailored toward research withisolated organs of rats, mice and guineapigs, it features dual perfusion pathways.One circuit delivers perfusate to flush outblood cells while a second circuit deliversan enzyme solution to disintegrate tissueand release individual cells.A single manual switch is used to alter-nate between the pathways, which utilizeengineering limiting dead/mixing volumein the perfusion pathway to less than 100micro litres. Positive pressure is main-tained in the heart chamber, in order toeliminate contamination, via a dedicatedextension for cardiomyocyte isolation.Optional for in-situ and in-vitro profu-sions are also available.Tool to Determine Solubility of

Compounds in FluidsSupercritical Fluid Technologies introduced anew data acquisition package (DAP) for theSFT Phase Monitor II instrument, which pro-vides real-time data capture directly to adesktop PC.

The DAP is compatible with MicrosoftWindows 2000, ME, NT or XP, and comeswith the required PXI video card for data cap-ture. Based on the LabView software, thevideo image and temperature and pressuredata are displayed on the PC monitor andmay be archived directly to the hard drive.Users also have the ability to enter a limitedsize text comment, along with date and time.

The Phase Monitor IIallows for experiments to beconducted in liquid environ-ments as well as supercriticalcarbon dioxide. Experimentscan also be carried out inpressure environments from afew hundred psi to 10,000psi (68.9MPa) and from ambi-ent temperature to 150°Celsius. A CCD camera andfiber optic light source allowviewing of the interior.

LIST OF ADVERTISERS & WEBSITESBrady ..........................Page 35 ........www.bradycanada.com/labBrinkmann ..................Page 27 ..................www.brinkmann.comCouncil for Biotech Information ....Page 36 ..................www.whybiotech.comEppendorf....................Page 4, 15, 40..........www.eppendorf.comFisher Scientific ..........Page 2, 39......................www.fishersci.caGolden Horseshoe ......Page 21..............................www.ghbn.org Pittcon ........................Page 6 ............................www.pittcon.orgTechnology Vision ......Page 11 ............www.techvision.com/bpnTRIEC ........................Page 25................www.hireimmigrants.caVWR............................Page 17, 29, 33 ................www.vwr.com

New Multiplex Data Analysis SoftwareMillipore Corporation and VigeneTech launched the Milliplex Analyst software. This is the only dataanalysis software to be integrated with the popular Luminex xPONENT software, the controlling softwarefor Luminex multiplexed bioassay instruments.

Data sets can be easily extracted from acquisition or imported as Excel or text, allowing for efficientanalysis of multiplex data. The software’s unique algorithms and analytics allow processing of even the most challenging data sets in seconds, with multiple output format options.

Multi-plate data can be analyzed using a variety of curve-fitting options, including auto fit, to generate reports that feature fitting parameters and statistics. The dynamic range of the assay can beinstantly determined using the software’s automatic calculation of minimum and maximum detectableeffective concentrations.

21 CFR part 11 compliance allows users to meet the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) criteriafor accepting electronic audit records in New Drug Applications.

Automated Sample Management for Small LibrariesRTS Life Science launched its RTS A2 small-scale automated sample storage unit.

The A2 is the smallest and most versatile unit in RTS Life Science’s extensiveautomated sample management portfolio. It is a modular system that allows forstorage of samples in a controlled temperature environment, and can beexpanded with up to two additional units due to the linear design.

With a 76,800 microtube (1000 plate) capacity, the A2 is designed to maxi-mize sample integrity, as well as longevity, by cherry picking samples directlyfrom the controlled environment—eliminating freeze/thaw cycles completely.


Richard Gold is a troublemaker. Though perhaps a bit of an overstatement, what else do you call a person who dedicates a great deal of his time to challenging people?

Professor, for one thing. Gold is a seven-year veteran of McGill University’s Facultyof Law, specializing in innovation and intellectual property. He is also currently thePresident of The Innovation Partnership—the driving force behind a report calling forlarge-scale reform in intellectual property law.“I enjoy thinking about things, particularly in challenging the way things are seen.

Being a professor allows one to do that and to engage others—researchers, studentsand the community outside academia. The position allows me to actually think andsay what I believe, something that most people do not get to do on a day-to-daybasis,” says Gold.After practicing law for nearly a decade, moving between the Ontario Court of

Appeals, Toronto-based Tory’s Law Firm and the Supreme Court of Canada underJustice Peter Cory, Gold made the official switch to teaching in 1997—a move thatwas seven years in the making. Gold’s journey to teaching began in 1990, with theconclusion of an important legal battle in the U.S. The outcome provided the basis forGold’s grad school studies whereby he could combine his background in law with hisdegree in science—he began to study the legislation surrounding property in bodyparts. The U.S Supreme Court’s decision also served as the centerpiece for his 1996book, Body Parts: Property Rights and the Ownership of Human Biological Material.“Over time,” Gold says, “I was asked more and more about gene patents and

biotechnology and so grew, over the years, more and more into an expert.”While Gold no longer ‘practices’ law, he holds the experience in his mind at

all times, as it provides him with a valuable perspective on educating: “I never abandoned…the very practical experience of being a lawyer, which is great trainingfor helping understand how things work on the ground.”Approaching academic matters with a practical point of view led Gold to found

the Center for Intellectual Property at McGill, as well as the aforementionedInnovation Partnership (TIP). TIP is a non-profit corporation focused on helping publicand private actors in both developing and developed countries to better manage theirinnovation systems. Gold provides ongoing recommendations to UNITAID, an international governmental organization dedicated to making medicines accessible tothe world’s poor.Gold also acted as Senior Advisor, Intellectual Property, to the Canadian

Biotechnology Advisory Committee, Legal Policy Consultant to the Ontario Ministry ofHealth and Long-Term Care and a consultant to the Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development on biotechnology intellectual property issues. His studies have been used by the World Health Organization, as well as the WorldIntellectual Property Organization.

Prof. Richard GoldMcGill Professor Seeks Reform of Dated

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Read the results of Gold’srecent study of worldwide IP laws on page 7.

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