Partner News
Click a Partner’s link below to immediately visit the area of your choice.
PAAB
Montreal InVivo
IMS Health
Toronto Biotechnology Initiative
Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation
BioAlberta
News from PAAB
Learn the regulations and guidelines that embody the pharmaceutical industry’s commitment to the highest standard of professional conduct. Pharmahorizons is the authorized training partners of the PAAB and Rx&D.
PAAB will be holding national open workshops on May 14, 2008 in Toronto and on May 22 in Montreal.
Title: PAAB Code: Strategies, Tools and Techniques to Speed Approval of Your Submission
For more information, click here.
News from Montreal InVivo
Montreal is Canada’s largest life science cluster. Each month, Pharmahorizons will showcase news, trends and events in the greater Montreal area.
Montréal InVivo Life Sciences Career Fair
Don’t miss this annual career fair targetted specifically for Quebec’s Life Sciences industry!
For employers interested in attending this event (sponsoring, renting a booth, adverstising), contact Andrew Gregory at 1-877-751-9415 for details.
Atrium announces the sale of its Active Ingredients and Specialty Chemicals
Atrium Innovations Inc. (Quebec City) announced that, as a result of the strategic re-evaluation process announced on December 18, 2007, it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Active Ingredients and Specialty Chemicals division to AXA Private Equity for US$155 million in cash, subject to working capital adjustments. Total proceeds from the sale, including excess cash in the business, are expected to be US$165 million, subject to working capital adjustments. The parties expect the transaction to be completed by mid May. Following the transaction, the main office of the Active Ingredients and Specialty Chemicals division will remain in Quebec City under the leadership of Charles Boulanger, President of the Active Ingredients and Specialty Chemicals division, and its existing management team.
http://www.atrium-innov.com
http://www.axaprivateequity.com
NTMir Announces First Canadian Research Grant to McGill for Genome Sequencing
NTM Info & Research (NTMir), a Miami, Florida based not-for-profit organization, announced that its first international research grant has been awarded to the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center to provide funding for “The Complete Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium avium intracellulare.” NTMir is headed by Montreal native and former resident Philip Leitman. The McGill grant is the third study funded by NTMir in its innovative research initiative, Rapid Information Pilot Studies (RIPS™). The RIPS™ program provides guidance about pressing issues regarding pulmonary NTM host vulnerability, sources of infection, and clinical treatment issues.
MedMira an Approved Supplier to the Pan American Health Organization
MedMira Inc., (Halifax), a global market leader in premium rapid diagnostic solutions, announced that it is now an approved supplier to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and has received an initial purchase order for rapid HIV tests from the Ministry of Health in Belize. The PAHO, headquartered in Washington, D.C., with 35 member states, is an international public health agency working with Latin America and Caribbean countries on priority health issues such as HIV. It also serves as the regional office for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Americas.
Alethia Biotherapeutics
Alethia Biotherapeutics (Montreal) announces that it has secured C$2.4 M in financing from BDC Venture Capital and GO Capital Fund. This investment will allow Alethia to initiate the pre-clinical development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for the treatment and prevention of severe bone loss, ovarian cancer, and metastatic breast cancer, indications for which there are currently few therapeutic options.
Heart Health, Inc.
Heart Health, Inc. (Montreal) announced that the Company is currently researching similar products to receive approval of its Heart Health Monitor (HHM). Selection of a similar product, known as “Predicate Device,” will enable the Company to proceed in filing its 510(k) to the FDA, which will allow Heart Health to begin marketing the HHM to the public.
http://www.hearthealthmonitor.com/index.html
Supratek Pharma Inc.
Supratek Pharma Inc. (Montreal) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to SP1049C for the treatment of gastric cancer.
http://www.supratek.com
© Life Sciences News Briefs 2008
E-mail: Leduc.Louise@ic.gc.ca
NB’s New Plan Includes e-Health Projects
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick announced that more than $154 million will be invested in new and enhanced health services over the next four years as part of a new Provincial Health Plan. A major thrust of the plan includes continued development of the province’s e-health strategy, including the One Patient One Record electronic health record.
Read more
© Canadian Healthcare Technology
Dalhousie University’s Brain Repair Centre and the Harvard Medical School’s New Partnership
Dalhousie University’s Brain Repair Centre and the Center for Neuroregeneration Research at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School have entered into a partnership that will lead to more comprehensive research, education, and clinical care programs for each of the institutions. The partnership will explore and facilitate new patient care strategies by contributing to the development and application of advanced clinical services, such as robotic surgery, neural transplantation, and deep brain stimulations. It will also seek opportunities for commercial developments with application to the life sciences, which will include the creation of new technologies and adapting existing ones for better use. An exchange program will also be instituted, encouraging professional development between the two centres.
Dalhousie University researchers and DeNovaMed Inc. Founders Receive $816,000 Grant
Dalhousie University researchers and DeNovaMed Inc. founders received an $816,000 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support the design, synthesis, and commercialization of the first new class of antibiotics introduced to the health care system in over 30 years. Heading this milestone discovery are Dr. Donald Weaver, Dr. David Byers and Dr. Christopher McMaster.
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) Contributes nearly $500,000 to First Angel Network
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is contributing nearly $500,000 to Nova Scotia’s First Angel Network. The non-profit organization, which links investors to entrepreneurs, will use the non-repayable funds for “growth and permanency.” The funds are projected to be spent over the next three years to help grow the membership so membership revenue will support the Network.
Ross Finlay and Brian Lowe of IVT launched First Angel Network in 2005 with about 40 investors. Together, they have invested $2.7 million in eight companies, including Origin BioMed Limited. According to Ross, that money has leveraged a minimum of another $10 million for the companies.
Read More
Source: BIONOVA
NB reorganizes, will create 2 health authorities
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick has announced it will consolidate its eight Regional Health Authorities into two authorities, a transition that is scheduled for completion by Sept. 1. As well, the province has created a new public sector company to more effectively implement and manage selected, non-clinical services that are currently carried out by the health authorities.
Read more
© Canadian Healthcare Technology
News from IMS Health
Learning Solutions and Change Management Seminars.
IMS courses make use of the latest learning tools combining conceptual content, sophisticated computer-based simulation work, and exercises with real data to ensure maximum impact and retention.
Click here to download the IMS Health brochures with 10 new courses
Growth expected for Canadian pharmaceutical market for 2007
The Canadian pharmaceutical market is expected to grow 6% to 6.5% for 2007 to $19 billion in drug store and hospital sales, according to IMS Health. Last year’s market growth was slower than the 8.4% average rate achieved from 2002 to 2006.
In 2007, growth in the generics and innovative sectors was 20.1% and 3.3%, respectively. Excluding biotechnology products, the growth of innovative therapies was only 1.6%. According to IMS Health, this disparity in growth between the two sectors is primarily the result of the large number of patent expirations experienced during the year. In addition to the strong growth experienced in the generics sector, sales of biotechnology products are up 17.2%.
Biotechnology therapies represent 10% of total pharmaceutical sales in Canada, but are responsible for approximately 24% of the market’s overall growth last year. Also contributing to more moderate pharmaceutical market growth overall is the low number of new products last year. New medicines (new molecular entities and line extensions) launched in Canada in 2007 account for less than 0.3% of total drug store and hospital sales this year as their sales continue to be affected by market-access delays.
Source: BioBusiness
News from Toronto’s BioPharma Community
St. Michael’s hospital joins robotic revolution
TORONTO – St. Michael’s Hospital, a major teaching hospital in Toronto’s downtown core, has become the city’s first medical centre to acquire a surgical robotic system. As a result, hospital surgeon Ken Pace now has four arms, instead of two, when working on his patients. What’s more, those arms – and many fingers – can enter the smallest of places through tiny incisions.
Read more
© Canadian Healthcare Technology
Handheld Palm devices benefit the autistic
TORONTO – Palm Canada has announced a Palm Foundation cash grant and the donation of 100 Palm handhelds and accessories to kick-start a new e-Learning program at the Geneva Centre for Autism, based in Toronto. The resources are being used for training and technical-support costs associated with transferring paper-based visual cues and reminders onto Palm handheld devices.
Read more
© Canadian Healthcare Technology
Toolkit for small, rural and northern hospitals
TORONTO – The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) has launched a Pandemic Planning Toolkit designed specifically for the province’s small, rural, and northern hospitals. The Toolkit was developed by the association in response to the unique issues and challenges faced by these hospitals in developing emergency response plans specific to an influenza pandemic.
Read more
© Canadian Healthcare Technology
News from the OCRI Life Sciences
Ontario pharma, research industries get boost
Job and research funds among latest Ontario government initiatives
The Ontario government has launched several initiatives to support the province’s science and technology sectors. The $150-million Next Generation Jobs Fund is designed to encourage research-based pharmaceutical companies to invest in Ontario.
The money is designed to create jobs in the biopharmaceutical research community by enabling companies to apply for grants, loans, forgivable interest loans and funds for building infrastructure, research and training. The biopharmaceutical industry currently employs more than 9,000 Ontarians and makes up 31 of Canada’s top 100 corporate R&D investors. For its part, the $115-million Ontario Research Fund plans to help Ontario’s top researchers develop new ideas and turn these ideas into products and services that can be marketed to the world. Government funding will be matched by 107 partners including industry.
Other recent Ontario initiatives include: Launching the $160-million Ideas-to-Market strategy that supports emerging companies, which includes the Ontario Venture Capital Fund; providing a 21% capital tax rate cut for all businesses retroactive to January 1, 2007, on the way to full elimination in 2010; and announcing in the 2007 Fall Economic Statement an additional $50 million in strategic investment to further strengthen Ontario’s environment for scientific research that will lead to new discoveries, higher quality of life and new jobs.
http://www.ontario.ca/innovation/
Source: BioBusiness
CSL Behring Canada awarded supply contracts by Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec
CSL Behring Canada, Inc. (Ottawa) announced that Canadian Blood Services, and Hema-Quebec, have each awarded the company contracts to supply Helixate(R) FS (Antihemophilic Factor [Recombinant]), Humate(R) P (Antihemophilic factor / von Willebrand Factor Complex [Human], Dried, Pasteurized), Privigen (Immune Globulin Intravenous [Human]), Vivaglobin(R) (Immune Globulin Subcutaneous [Human]) and other plasma-derived products. These products are used for the treatment of conditions such as hemophilia, von Willebrand Disease, primary immunodeficiency as well as other serious conditions.
http://www.CSLBehring.com
Life Sciences News Briefs © 2008
E-mail: Leduc.Louise@ic.gc.ca
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) Revises Guidelines and Procedures Documents
The Common Drug Review routinely reviews and revises its Submission Guidelines for Manufacturers and the Procedure for CDR as part of ongoing efforts to ensure that they are as current and clear as possible. Listed below are revisions to the two documents.
- Changes to the CDR Submission Guidelines for Manufacturers
- Changes to the Procedure for CDR
CADTH is a national body that provides Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial health care decision makers with credible, impartial advice and evidence-based information about the effectiveness and efficiency of drugs and other health technologies.
For details contact:
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
600-865 Carling Avenue, Ottawa ON K1S 5S8
Telephone: (613) 226-2553
Source: CADTH Update 47
Government of Canada Announces Funding to Improve Surveillance of Chronic Disease Risk Factors Among Canadian Youth
OTTAWA –The Public Health Agency of Canada today released the Healthy Settings for Young People in Canada report, which examines smoking, alcohol and drug use, physical activity/body image, eating patterns, emotional health and injuries in children and youth aged 11 to 15.
Read more
Source: Public Health Agency of Canada
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca
Ottawa: Bed Crunch: Scores of Hospital Beds Occupied by People Who Can’t Find Other Care
Recently, 178 beds in Ottawa hospitals were being occupied by people who didn’t need to be there but couldn’t find home care or long-term care.
So many hospital beds in Ottawa are being used to care for people who should be in long-term care or at home that it’s the equivalent of closing the Montfort Hospital, health officials say.
It’s the most serious problem facing hospitals across Ontario, says Tom Closson, the new president of the Ontario Hospital Association, far worse than a lack of money, and the crisis is deepening.
Mr. Closson said 2,800 hospital beds - or 18 per cent of all beds in the province - are occupied by patients who can’t find home or long-term care. On any given day, he said, about 800 emergency room patients in Ontario - “the equivalent of three medium-sized hospitals” - wait in hallways for admission beds that are not available.
In the Ottawa region during the first week of March, 178 patients were stuck in hospitals because there was nowhere else to send them.
While the problem is not new, it has become so serious in the last 18 months it is threatening the ability of hospitals to care for patients, Mr. Closson said.
“The single greatest risk to access lies in the huge number of patients waiting in hospitals for more appropriate care at home or in another place,” he said. “This is what we hear from our members more than anything else as being the big issue.”
Queensway-Carleton president Tom Schonberg agreed.
“In Ottawa, we have identified this as our No. 1 issue. The situation is absolutely critical because it puts pressure on all of the system right now,” he said.
He has identified four major challenges facing the province’s 157 hospital corporations:
1. Underfunding that sees Ontario hospitals getting $100 less per person a year than the Canadian average.
2. Underfunding for hospital renovations that are estimated at $8 billion. With governments strapped for cash, it is imperative to have more public-private partnerships to build new hospitals, Mr. Closson said.
3. A move to electronic health records that could revolutionize patient care and save lives. Mr. Closson said digitizing paper records would cost $4.5 billion over eight years. It could be done and would be money well-spent, he says.
4. Beefing up community health services to take pressure off hospitals, which are reeling from patient overload.
At the Queensway-Carleton, where 30 per cent of beds are occupied by patients who have no medical reason to be there, but can’t be discharged for lack of alternative beds, 22 elective surgeries have been cancelled in the past four weeks as a result, Mr. Schonberg said.
“It is particularly frustrating for us at Queensway-Carleton because we have built new facilities, but are not able to utilize the full capacity of our operating rooms because we have no beds.”
Dr. Robert Cushman, chief executive of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network, which oversees medical services in Eastern Ontario, acknowledges that the bed shortage now trumps other problems in Ontario hospitals. It has such a corrosive effect on the entire system that solutions have to be found quickly, he said.
“It impedes our hospitals from being the acute-care centres they were designed to be,” Dr. Cushman said.
© Ottawa Citizen 2008
News from BioAlberta
BioAlberta is the central voice and the organizing hub for the bio-industry in Alberta.
Saskatchewan moves ahead with physician IT
REGINA – Health Minister Don McMorris and Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) President Dr. Joe Pfeifer have signed an agreement whereby the provincial government and SMA will each commit $2 million annually to assist physicians with computerizing their patients’ medical records. When fully implemented in 2014-15, the government’s contribution will be $7.26 million per year, with a total program cost of $10.37 million.
Read more
© Canadian Healthcare Technology
CV Technologies Returns To Profitability: Announces Net Earnings Of $6.8 Million For First Quarter, Fiscal 2008
EDMONTON, ALBERTA – CV Technologies Inc. (TSX:CVQ) reported fiscal 2008 first quarter sales of $21.3 million, down 5.9% from sales of $22.6 million in the same period last year. Net earnings were a record $6.8 million ($0.06 per share, diluted) in the first quarter ended December 31, 2007, an improvement of $10.4 million from a net loss of $3.6 million (loss of $0.03 per share, diluted) in the quarter ended December 31, 2006.
Sales in Canada were $20.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008 compared to $22.2 million in the comparable quarter of fiscal 2007, while U.S. sales were unchanged quarter over quarter at $0.4 million, and U.S. losses before tax were $0.2 million for the current quarter compared to $11.9 million in the same quarter of the prior year.
“While the cold and flu season began much later than usual, producing some decline in our quarterly revenue year over year, our results were very strong overall, with net earnings reflecting one of our best quarters ever, good cash flow and a solid balance sheet,” said Dr. Jacqueline Shan, President, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer. “This performance underscores our success in refocusing our attention on achieving growth in Canada, our primary market. We continue our U.S. strategy of concentrating on existing customers and managing expenditures to ensure they are aligned with sales levels. Management believes we are on track to meet our growth and profitability goals for fiscal 2008. We believe the long-term prospects for our Company remain excellent.”
Read more
Source: BioAlberta
British Columbia Life Sciences Sector Leads the Way in Securing Federal Research Funding
British Columbia Life Sciences Sector Leads the Way in Securing Federal Research Funding — Four New Centres of Excellence for Commercialization Established in BC
Vancouver, BC – British Columbia’s life sciences research community has once again demonstrated its stature as a true national leader in the commercialization of innovation by proving to be the most successful sector and cluster in Canada at securing recent federal funding.
The announcement by the The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry saw $163 million invested towards establishing 11 new Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECRs) across the country, with a total of four of those being in British Columbia.
The successful BC Centres of Excellence for Commercialization are:
- The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD)
- CECR in the Prevention of Epidemic Organ Failure (PROOF)
- The Prostate Centre’s Translational Research Initiative for Accelerated Discovery and Development (PC-TRIADD)
- Advanced Applied Physics Solutions, Inc. (AAPS)
All told, BC projects garnered a total of $59.8 million or approximately 37% of the national total, equaling that of Ontario and exceeding any other province.
Read more
Source: BC Life Sciences
Bio-energy Grant Helps Turn Waste to Wealth
Edmonton — A new wood waste gasification facility, featuring cutting-edge German technology, has been approved for $5 million in government funding under the province’s bio-energy strategy. The $70-million project will divert forestry and municipal wood waste from land fills in the Edmonton region to create a new value-added opportunity from forestry biomass.
“Bio-energy, particularly from forestry waste, is a textbook example of a value-added opportunity,” said Mel Knight, Minister of Energy. “These grants will increase investment in the bio-energy marketplace and help unlock other ways that Alberta can get more out of all its resources.”
The facility, a project of Expander Energy, will develop a commercial scale prototype of the Choren Carbo-V technology outside of Edmonton. A thermo-chemical process using heat and pressure will provide the capability to produce a synthetic bio-diesel fuel from wood waste materials. Carbon capture and sequestration are also key components of this proposal.
“These types of projects provide Alberta’s forest industry with a unique opportunity to diversify by harnessing the potential of bio-energy,” added Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton.
The funding was allocated through the Biorefining Commercialization and Market Development Program and the Bio-energy Infrastructure Development Program. Both grant programs are part of the Alberta government’s $239-million Nine-Point Bio-energy Plan designed to encourage the growth of a clean, renewable fuel industry in Alberta.
The grants also support product development, market research, and feasibility studies to assist bio-refiners in adopting new technologies and meeting market requirements.
More information on Alberta’s bio-energy industry and the grant programs is available on the Alberta Energy website under the Our Business section.
Developing Alberta’s bio-energy portfolio is part of Premier Ed Stelmach’s plan to secure Alberta’s future by building communities, greening our growth and creating opportunity.
Contact: Sean Beardow
Alberta Energy Communications
780-422-3786
Source: Government of Alberta
Edmonton’s UAB Researchers Discover Gene That Blocks HIV
Stephen Barr, a molecular virologist in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at Edmonton’s University of Alberta, says his team has identified a gene called TRIM22 that can block HIV infection in a cell culture by preventing the assembly of the virus. This means the virus cannot get out of the cell and spread. The team is trying to determine why TRIM22 does not work in people infected with HIV and if there is a way to turn it on. The research could lead to the design of new drugs, or vaccines that can halt the person-to-person transmission of HIV and the spread of the virus in the body, thereby blocking the onset of AIDS. The findings are published in the Public Library of Science Pathogens.
Read more
Source: BIOTECanada