Archives for 2019

Vancouver, BC and Montreal, QC: adMare BioInnovations, Canada’s Global Life Sciences Venture, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Mounia Azzi as Vice President, Program Development and Partnerships. As a member of adMare’s senior management team, Dr. Azzi will lead the project identification and scientific and commercial evaluation process, ensuring a robust and strategically diverse pipeline for the organization.

With deep experience in corporate and business development, serving most recently as the Executive Global Vice President, Corporate Development (and previously Chief Business Officer) at Nexelis, Dr. Azzi will work closely with adMare’s Venture Partners to build their portfolios through new program creation, asset identification and investment area development. In doing so, she will play a key role in advancing adMare’s Mission to source therapeutically and commercially promising research from leading academic and biotech partners from across Canada to create and grow companies of scale.

Gordon C. McCauley, President and CEO of adMare BioInnovations said, “We are thrilled that Dr. Azzi has joined adMare. Mounia has lived the journey from academic innovation to commercial program. With extensive experience in multiple therapeutic areas, credibility and standing among key academic partners, and a deep knowledge of business development, investment management, and value creation, Mounia is exactly the right person to work with academic and industry partners across the country to build new collaborations leading to strong Canadian life sciences companies of scale.”

“With my combined passion for therapeutic drug development and seeing academic discoveries become valuable commercial projects, I am excited to begin in this new role,” said Dr. Mounia Azzi, Vice President, Program Development and Partnerships, adMare BioInnovations. “Canada needs to translate our tremendous research excellence into more life science companies of scale, and no one is doing more in this regard than adMare. I am eager to start working to truly change the landscape of the Canadian life sciences ecosystem.”

Prior to joining Nexelis, Dr. Azzi was Director, Scientific Affairs at the NEOMED Institute, responsible for the identification and evaluation of new opportunities to complement NEOMED’s prospecting activities. Previously, she was Director of Programs at CQDM, where she was responsible for the evaluation and management of research projects and funding programs. Earlier roles included Investment Manager at MSBi Valorization, where she covered all aspects of the valorization and investment process, including identification, evaluation, due diligence, negotiation, and fundraising for opportunities in the life sciences sector. She was also actively involved in business development activities with industry partners. She started her career as leader of the cellular biology group at Bellus Health (formerly Neurochem Inc.), where she was involved in the development of therapeutics targeting Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Dr. Azzi holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) in Paris.

– 30 –

About adMare BioInnovations
adMare BioInnovations is Canada’s Global Life Sciences Venture, changing the landscape of the Canadian life sciences ecosystem from sea to sea. We do this by sourcing therapeutically and commercially promising research from leading academic and biotech partners to create new companies of scale, providing specialized expertise and infrastructure to help existing companies scale up, and driving the growth of those companies into Canadian anchors by training the next generation of highly-qualified personnel. www.admarebio.com

For additional information, please contact:
Julia White
Senior Manager, Communications
604.827.1226 | jwhite@admarebio.com

Vancouver, Canada: The adMare Academy is pleased to announce the latest Canadian life science leaders accepted into its Executive Institute — a one-of-a-kind national executive development program custom designed to ensure that the Canadian life sciences sector has the management talent it needs to lead the world.

Launched last year with the support of Pfizer Canada, the Institute has been widely heralded by participants, as well as throughout the industry nationally. With applications more than doubling for year two, the program Adjudication Committee has selected 19 executives, 10 women and 9 men, who have demonstrated impressive experience, accomplishment, and impact; and who span the Canadian industry from sea to sea (and even stretch south to the Bay Area, attracting a Canadian working at one of the world’s top biotech firms). These successful applicants to the 2019-2020 adMare Academy Executive Institute are:

• Arun Anand, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Tieös Pharmaceuticals, Richmond Hill, ON
• Nadine Beauger, Chief Executive Officer, IRICoR, Montréal, QC
• Veronique Bougie, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mperia Therapeutics, Westmount, QC
• Lee Bowman, Chief Operating Officer, Mediphage Bioceuticals, Toronto, ON
• Brian Canestraro, General Manager, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Mississauga, ON
• Charles Cuerrier, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Spiderwort, Ottawa, ON
• Jason Ding, Managing Director, National Life Sciences & Healthcare CF Leader, Deloitte, Edmonton, AB
• Monica Gautam, Managing Director, COMPASS Medical Affairs Consulting, Georgetown, ON
• Sabrina Leslie, Founder, Chief Scientific Officer and President, ScopeSys, Montréal, QC
• Sharon Louis, Vice President, Research & Development, STEMCELL Technologies, Vancouver, BC
• Francois-Thomas Michaud, Chief Executive Officer, Feldan Therapeutics, Quebec, QC
• Mark Mitchell, Associate Director, US Medical Affairs Finance, Genentech, South San Francisco, CA
• Jennifer Moody, Sr. Director, Research Operations, Bluerock Therapeutics, Toronto, ON
• Mehrsa Raeiszadeh, Chief Operating Officer, Novateur Ventures, North Vancouver, BC
• Lucas Siow, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, ProteinQure, Toronto, ON
• Anne Stevens, Chief Operating Officer and Director, Aequus Pharmaceuticals, Vancouver, BC
• Mary Sunderland, Field Medical Lead, Ocular Gene Therapy, Novartis, Toronto, ON
• Catalina Vasquez, Chief Operating Officer, Nanostics, Edmonton, AB
• James Wang, President and Founder, KDM Laboratories, St. Laurent, QC

“Following a remarkable success with the inaugural year of the adMare Executive Institute, it brings us great pride to continue the journey we started last year with Pfizer Canada, equipping our life sciences leaders with the unique skills required to create and manage global anchor companies here in Canada,” said Gordon C. McCauley, President and CEO of adMare BioInnovations. “It is rewarding to see the first cohort graduate as stronger leaders, already applying the learnings of the program towards the growth of their companies and committed to continuing their engagement with the academy as alumni. We are delighted to now build on their success and welcome the 2019-2020 participants.”

“Since 2017 we have been proud to sponsor the Executive Institute and adMare BioInnovations to meet the development needs expressed by life sciences industry stakeholders across Canada,” said John Helou, President, Pfizer Canada. “We are overwhelmed by the positive response received to date.”

The adMare Executive Institute curriculum is delivered in collaboration with the not-for-profit Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), ranked among the world’s Top 5 institutions for executive education. The program combines researched and proven best practices/principles with targeted industry topics to take participants on a leadership journey. The Executive Institute participants will convene in Montreal for their first face-to-face session on
September 23rd with additional workshops to be held in Toronto and Vancouver throughout 2019 until April
2020.

About adMare BioInnovations:
adMare BioInnovations is a pan-Canadian enterprise with global reach, changing the landscape of the Canadian life sciences ecosystem. We do this by sourcing the most therapeutically and commercially promising research from leading academic and biotech partners to create new companies of scale, providing specialized expertise and infrastructure to help existing companies scale up, and driving the growth of those companies into Canadian anchors by training the next generation of highly-qualified personnel. www.admarebio.com

About the adMare Academy:
The adMare Academy was created to deliver on a critical part of the organization’s mission: To uniquely train the next generation of highly-qualified personnel to drive the development of innovation. The Academy currently encompasses three distinct streams: The Executive Institute, the Post-Graduate Institute and the Undergraduate Institute. Each provides a customized training program to ensure that the Canadian life sciences sector has the scientific and management talent to lead the world. The Academy is firmly committed to addressing issues of gender disparity, and to supporting diversity in the Canadian life sciences sector.

For additional information, please contact:
Julia White
Senior Manager, Communications, adMare BioInnovations
Direct: 604.827.1226
Email: jwhite@admarebio.com

The NEOMED Innovation Centre will be expanded with the construction of a new innovation and commercialization complex specializing in life sciences and health technology

Montreal, Quebec – adMare BioInnovations held today the ground breaking ceremony marking the start of the construction of a major expansion to Montreal’s NEOMED Innovation Centre, specializing in life sciences and health technology (LSHT). The event was attended by representatives of the Government of Quebec, Canada Economic Development, the City of Montreal, and local elected officials, along with senior executive members, employees and partners of the organization.

“This new innovation and commercialization complex is poised to become a thriving focal point for the development of a business ecosystem and innovation networks that will amplify companies’ productivity, and ensure they become more effective and more competitive on the global market,” said Pierre-Yves Desbiens, Venture Partner, NEOMED Innovation Centre, adMare BioInnovations. “This project would never have seen the light without the commitment of visionary partners who, like us, seek to make major contributions to scientific innovation in the Canadian life sciences and health technology sector.”

Along with hundreds of jobs created, scores of resident companies, partnered programs, a spin-off company, and more, NEOMED, located in Technoparc Montréal in the borough of Saint-Laurent, is considered one of the most important initiatives responsible for the renaissance of the life sciences sector in Montreal.

(Last month, the NEOMED Institute, of which the NEOMED Innovation Centre is a part, and The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), another highly-successful leading Canadian life sciences organization, announced the bringing together of their respective capabilities and resources under a new co-founded pan-Canadian enterprise, adMare BioInnovations, thus creating a stronger and more comprehensive national organization, fostering collaboration within Canada and around the world.)

“adMare BioInnovations is proud to be leading the way in opening a new world of opportunities in the life sciences sector in Quebec and the rest of Canada by increasing investments in research and innovation, fostering creation of innovative companies, attracting new private investments, and commercializing Canadian technology globally,” explained Gordon C. McCauley, President and CEO of adMare BioInnovations. “Life sciences is a highly-collaborative endeavour in which no one can be successful all on their own; so it is critical that we bring together our brilliant cutting-edge academic research with commercial know-how and resources. Fostering this kind of alignment and collaboration, and providing companies with the infrastructure they need to succeed on a global scale is exactly what NEOMED and its expansion is all about. What we are really building here is a community.”

The NEOMED Innovation Centre plays a significant role in key parts of adMare’s Mission, those being to deploy a combination of infrastructure, scientific and business expertise, and capital to help existing Canadian life sciences companies scale up, and to train the next generation of highly qualified personnel to drive those companies’ growth and ensure their sustainability – all with a Vision to be catalysts for Canadian life sciences leading the world. As such, this expansion is part of the new Montreal Geared Up for Tomorrow 2018–2022 Economic Development Strategy and its action plans.

“Montreal is a vital hub for life science companies focused on innovation and collaboration. With the continued growth of the LSHT sector in Montreal, the City is proud to invest in this priority sector in order to remain globally competitive. Our investment in this new innovation and commercialization complex will expand Montreal’s LSHT ecosystem by offering additional services for entrepreneurs and researchers in terms of adapted laboratories, shared equipment and support in commercialization. We hope that many other companies will also choose Technoparc Montréal,” said Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal.

In addition to a $1.5 million contribution from the City of Montreal, the NEOMED Innovation Centre will be receiving $1.5 million in funding from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED). The latter funding will enable the organization to implement its project aimed at increasing the innovation capacity of SMEs in the LSHT sector, in particular through the purchase of laboratory equipment.

“adMare BioInnovations is an important player in the life sciences ecosystem in Montreal and across Canada. The expansion of their NEOMED Innovation Centre will ensure that this sector’s SMEs have the tools and knowledge they need to continue to innovate, grow and contribute to the Canadian economy,” said the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.

The Quebec government’s participation in the project will benefit the infrastructure side, as it has provided loan guarantees on the building and land to the benefit of financial institutions, including Desjardins, Caisse d’économie solidaire and other social economy enterprises. Investissement Québec is allocating a loan of $ 8,793,937 from its own funds.

“The life sciences industry is vital to Quebec’s economy, which is why we must ensure that we are competitive and attractive on an international scale. The Quebec government intends to support investments in research and innovation in this sector, foster the creation of innovative businesses and ensure their growth, attract new private investment and further integrate innovation into the health and social services network. By supporting the NEOMED facility expansion project, we are continuing to build a business environment that will allow the life sciences sector to grow in a strong and sustainable way,” said Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy and Innovation for the province of Quebec.

Ms. Marie-Eve Proulx, Minister for Regional Economic Development and Minister Responsible for the Chaudière-Appalaches, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine regions commented “the NEOMED Innovation Centre provides an environment that enables innovators to develop solutions to health problems and make them available to society and it is contributing to the emergence and growth of life sciences companies by providing access to facilities and expertise of exceptional quality. These collaborations, which have significant impacts, have become essential because they allow businesses, especially SMEs, to have state-of-the-art infrastructure, access to highly-qualified scientific expertise and share related costs. ”

Highlights

• With 50,000 square feet of space to house the various facilities, Phase 1 expansion of the NEOMED Innovation Centre will be delivered in 2020.
• The project is valued at $25 million and is benefiting from the financial participation of a number of public and private partners.
• The expanded NEOMED Innovation Centre will be located in Technoparc Montréal and will feature customized labs, shared equipment, and support and guidance services in commercialization, including:
  • Expertise and experimentation centres;
  • Modular spaces and corporate spaces;
  • Incubators/accelerators;
  • Training centres;
  • Specialized services, including access to sources of funding.
• Employees and users of NEOMED Innovation Centre including the new Innovation and commercialization complex will enjoy better access to the site with the building of the Technoparc station of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM). The light-rail network, currently under construction, will shorten travel time between Montreal–Trudeau International Airport and the city’s downtown core.

About adMare BioInnovations

adMare BioInnovations is a pan-Canadian enterprise with global reach, changing the landscape of the Canadian life sciences ecosystem. We do this by sourcing the most therapeutically and commercially promising research from leading academic and biotech partners to create new companies of scale, providing specialized expertise and infrastructure to help existing companies scale up, and driving the growth of those companies into Canadian anchors by training the next generation of highly qualified personnel. The NEOMED Innovation Centre is a key part of adMare, building a business ecosystem and innovation networks at its state-of-the-art Montreal facilities, hosting subcontractor research organizations, biotech companies, and consultants.  www.admarebio.com.

Information:
Viviane Ross
NATIONAL Public Relations
514 843-2318
vross@national.ca

Julia White
Senior Manager, Communications
adMare BioInnovations
604 827-1226
jwhite@admarebio.com

Vancouver, BC and Montreal, QC: Two successful Canadian innovation organizations, CDRD, Canada’s national life sciences venture, and NEOMED Institute, a leading not-for-profit R&D organization building an innovation ecosystem in Montréal, are pleased to announce that effective today, they are bringing their respective capabilities and resources together under a new co-founded pan-Canadian enterprise, adMare BioInnovations.

Working from sea to sea, and reaching globally, adMare is focused on building a national life sciences industry commensurate with our research leadership. With a shared Vision to be Catalysts for Canadian life sciences leading the world, adMare’s core Mission, based on the well-established strengths of CDRD and NEOMED, is to:

• Translate leading academic research into new companies of scale;
• Deploy a combination of scientific and business expertise, capital, and physical infrastructure (including the NEOMED Innovation Centre, a commercialization complex in Montréal, and CDRD’s Vancouver drug development labs), to help existing Canadian life sciences companies scale-up;
• Train the next generation of highly-qualified personnel to drive the growth of those companies into Canadian anchors.

With its combined strength, adMare will prioritize high-value job creation through an impactful and sustainable Canadian life sciences industry; which will directly support the advancement of the Québec Life Sciences Strategy, Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan, and the recommendations of the federal Health/Biosciences Economic Strategy Table.

“Canada is a powerhouse in innovative academic research output, and a healthy life sciences industry is starting to grow. But to compete globally, and lead the world commercially like we do in research, scale and a pan-Canadian alliance is vital”, said Gordon C. McCauley, President and CEO of adMare. “Drawing its name from Canada’s official motto ‘a Mari usque ad Mare,’ meaning ‘from sea to sea’, adMare BioInnovations brings together partners, their expertise, and resources from one side of the country to the other, to help build a sustainable industrial powerhouse.”

adMare will be driven by a single management team and a single Board of Directors – each derived from both CDRD and NEOMED. McCauley, an accomplished biotech entrepreneur and investor, has been named as adMare’s President and CEO; and together with a highly-experienced senior management team located in both Montréal and Vancouver, will be responsible for the organization’s leadership.

Governing adMare is a founding Board of Directors drawn equally from the current CDRD and NEOMED Boards; reflecting the organization’s stakeholders across academia, industry, the investment community, and government; as well as its pan-Canadian nature. The Board is Chaired by Dr. Bradley Popovich (an entrepreneur and former Chief Scientific Officer with Genome British Columbia), and includes the following additional Directors:

• Rodd Budd, Partner and Leader, Life Sciences Practice, Ernst & Young (retired)
• Paul Buron, Executive Vice President, Government Mandate and Programs Management, Investissement Québec
• Helen Burt, Associate Vice President, Research and Innovation, University of British Columbia
• Nancy Harrison, Past President, MSI Methylation Sciences and former Partner Ventures West
• Kathy L. Hudson, Former Deputy Director for Science, Outreach, and Policy, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Didier Leconte, Vice President, Investments, Life Sciences, Fonds de solidarité FTQ
• Gordon C. McCauley, President and CEO, adMare BioInnovations
• Rémi Quirion, OC, CQ, PhD, FRSC, Chief Scientist of Québec
• Laurence Rulleau, Partner, CTI Life Sciences.
• Michelle Savoie, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal, and President, Consilio Manuque Inc.

Dr. Laurence Rulleau, Chair of NEOMED Institute commented, “A foundation of adMare is the NEOMED Innovation Center; accelerating business and the development of our new innovation and commercialization complex, and strengthening Montréal’s life sciences and health technology ecosystem. This coalition is exciting news for the Montréal Technoparc and the entire sector across Canada.”

Dr. Bradley Popovich, adMare Chair added, “NEOMED and CDRD are both focused on translating academic discoveries, supporting the advancement of sustainable businesses, and really building our health sciences sector across the country. We are thrilled with the possibilities that will arise when we link together our strengths as adMare BioInnovations. With the combined resources of two strong Canadian organizations, adMare is proud to be leading the charge in opening a new world of opportunities for our life sciences sector – increasing investments in research and innovation, fostering the creation of innovative companies, attracting new private investments, and commercializing Canadian technology globally.”

– 30 –

About adMare BioInnovations
adMare BioInnovations is a pan-Canadian enterprise with global reach, changing the landscape of the Canadian life sciences ecosystem. We do this by sourcing the most therapeutically and commercially promising research from leading academic and biotech partners to create new companies of scale, providing specialized expertise and infrastructure to help existing companies scale up, and driving the growth of those companies into Canadian anchors by training the next generation of Highly-Qualified Personnel. www.admarebio.com

Contacts:
Julia White
Senior Manager, Communications
604.827.1226
jwhite@admarebio.com

Shirley Robinet
Communications Coordinator
514.375.3334 Ext. 111
srobinet@neomed.ca