NEWS RELEASE
CEO-LED ADVOCACY WINS $3-MILLION FINANCING FOR
EXPORT-FOCUSED ONTARIO BIOSCIENCE COMPANIES
New treatments and technologies for common diseases have global market potential
TORONTO (July 27) – Four Ontario bioscience companies engaged in the development of groundbreaking new drug therapies and a diagnostic screening technology have each been awarded up to $1 million in financing to fund clinical trials and facilitate commercialization. The financing comes as the result of a report by the CEO-led Ontario Bioscience Industry Organization™ (OBIO™) that was presented to the Government of Ontario in 2009.
Following release of OBIO’s report, “Industry-Generated Recommendations for Sustainability and Growth of Ontario’s Bioscience Industry in 2010 and Beyond”, the Government of Ontario announced an initial, one-time special financing of $7 million exclusively for Ontario-based bioscience companies. Funding was awarded by the Investment Accelerator Fund of the Province of Ontario.
Gail Garland, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Bioscience Industry Organization, said: “OBIO is pleased to see deployment of the funds get underway. Our industry CEOs devoted many hours of volunteer time to developing OBIO’s recommendations which, if implemented in full, will ensure a thriving bioscience sector to help grow Ontario’s knowledge economy.”
Dr. Niclas Stiernholm, Chief Executive Officer of funding-recipient Trillium Therapeutics Inc., said: “This new round of financing is pivotal, because it will help fund clinical trials of a promising unique new therapy that has the potential to become a global export. We are grateful for OBIO’s advocacy to government and the resulting funds as they will enable us to start clinical trials this year.”
Financing recipients, all of whose therapies and technologies address unmet clinical needs on a global scale, are:
Cytochroma Inc., of Markham, to accelerate development of capsules for the treatment of a form of hyperparathyroidism associated with vitamin D deficiency in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). More than 28 million people in North America have CKD, which has high morbidity and mortality.
Profound Medical Inc., of Toronto, to advance commercialization of its unique minimally-invasive treatment of prostate cancer that combines the clinical efficiency of ultrasound thermal therapy with the imaging capabilities of MRI to achieve an unmatched level of precision in treatment of the prostate.
Trillium Therapeutics Inc., of Toronto, to fund clinical trials of a unique new therapy for interstitial cystitis (IC), a common chronic disease of the bladder, that, unlike existing therapies, treats the cause of IC rather its symptoms. IC affects more than one million North Americans – 90 percent of them women – and millions more around the world. Urination may be as frequent as 60 to 70 times a day, making it difficult for patients to hold full-time jobs.
Xagenic Inc., of Toronto, to advance commercialization of its revolutionary chip-based diagnostic screening technology that provides rapid, on-demand, sample-to-answer detection of pathogens in less than 30 minutes instead of the days that physicians and patients are accustomed to waiting.
About OBIO
Ontario Bioscience Industry Organization (OBIO™) is Ontario’s leading advocate for the life-science sector. A private sector, membership-based organization, OBIO engages in policy advocacy and government relations activities to enable successful development and commercialization of life-science technology through investment, strategic alliances, stakeholder engagement and industry promotion.
OBIO is supported by Members and Sponsors, among whom are Amgen Canada, AstraZeneca Canada, BDC, Eli Lilly Canada, Gowlings LLP, HealthComm, Merck, Norton Rose LLP, Novartis Canada, Pfizer Canada, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Purdue Pharma Canada, RBC Royal Bank, Sanofi, Torys LLP.
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Further information: Gail Garland – 416-575-7805 / gailgarland@obio.ca; Joan Lister, HealthComm – 905-206-1025 x 222 / lister@healthcomm.ca
