OBIO Hosts Annual Celebration of the Health Sciences Industry in Canada
Toronto, Ontario – May 5, 2016: Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO®) welcomed a prestigious group of investors, companies, MPPs and industry supporters to an intimate dinner on May 3 2016 in celebration of Canada’s health science industry. The event was supported by Torys LLP and by Bloom Burton & Co.
The evening took a page from OBIO’s industry consultation “How Canada Should be Engaging in a $9 Trillion Dollar Health Economy” to gather insights and views from Ron Laufer of Medimune Ventures, David Sable of Special Situations Fund and Cedric Bisson of Teralys Capital. Moderated by Brian Bloom, President of Bloom Burton & Co., the panel addressed Canada’s global competitive position, the importance of anchor companies, issues for investing in Canadian health science companies and the role of Government in building the industry.
Representatives of industry were joined by three levels of Government: MPPs Bill Walker, Michael Harris, Ted Arnott, Shafiq Qaadri, Peggy Sattler and Catherine Fife; John Preece from the City of Toronto, Linda Cousineau from Fed Dev Ontario and Pamela Hunt from the Ministry of Innovation, Science & Economic Development.
“Our celebration dinner is always enjoyable and packed with stimulating ideas,” said Gail Garland, President and CEO of OBIO. “It is really gratifying to create an evening where our CAAP companies can interact with investors, policy makers and mentors to debate the industry of the future where Canadians experience the benefits to the economy and to healthcare. Our sponsors and supporters deserve a big thank you for helping make this a success.”
In his summary remarks, Brian Bloom commented, “The panel has addressed the roles each of us can and should play in building successful companies and a successful industry. I want to recognize the great job OBIO does strengthening the ecosystem and bridging the access to capital gap with their Capital Access Advisory Program (CAAP®). OBIO’s deep engagement with industry uniquely positions them to develop investor-ready companies and attract deal flow to Ontario. Congratulations to Gail and her team.”
Click here for a photo gallery of the event!
The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO®) is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization engaged in the development of an integrated health innovation economy for Ontario and one that will become a global leader in providing health technology products and services to the international marketplace. OBIO advances this goal through advocacy, promotion and strategic leadership and via collaborative partnerships with industry, academia, patients and government.
For more information please visit www.obio.ca and follow OBIO on Twitter @OBIOscience
Media contact:
Angela Drennan
OBIO Public Relations and Communications Manager
416-848-6839 ext.106 I angeladrennan@obio.ca