Seeing patients from the inside out: Realize Medical featured on national CTV News

Realize Medical, an Ottawa-based virtual reality start-up, was featured on CTV News, showing how its virtual reality (VR) innovation, Elucis, enables surgeons to plan surgical procedures and improve patient treatment. Elucis lets you easily segment images into 3D models, collaborate with multiple remote colleagues and plan procedures all within virtual reality.

Realize Medical is a CAAP® company and presented at the 2021 OBIO® Investment Summit. They will be presenting at the 2024 OBIO® Investment Summit next month along with other exciting companies.

OBIO® affiliated companies among selected funded projects to accelerate digital health innovations

The Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) announced the funding of projects through the Innovating Digital Health Solutions Program (IDHS), an initiative, funded by the Ontario government, aimed at fast-tracking digital health innovations in Ontario. IDHS, delivered by the Ontario Centre of Ontario (OCI), will invest $8.2 million across 13 approved projects designed to revolutionize healthcare delivery across the province.

We are thrilled to share that four of the selected companies, Health Espresso, Hypercare, OPTT and Swift Medical, are OBIO® affiliated companies.

Microbix Clot-Buster Drug Fully-Funded for Return to U.S. Market

Microbix Biosystems Inc., a life sciences innovator, manufacturer and exporter, recently announced the reconfirmation of its agreement with Sequel Pharma, LLC to return Kinlytic® urokinase to market in the United States, followed by other geographies and clinical indications. Kinlytic is an enzyme derived from human cell cultures that dissolves the material of a blood clot. A further payment of US$ 2.0 million has been received by Microbix relating to this reconfirmation.

Microbix is an OBIO® member and an alumnus of the BDSP™ and H2BB™ programs.

AmacaThera Closes Series A Extension to Advance Clinical Development of Long Acting, Localized, Non-Opioid Therapeutics to Improve Post-Surgery Patient Care

AmacaThera, a leader in the development of novel injectable, localized therapeutics based upon its AmacaGel delivery platform, announced the closing of a CAD$4.0 million financing round. The proceeds will be used to accelerate the clinical development of the AMT-143 formulation, with the objective of it being a best-in-class, non-opioid, therapeutic able to provide an extended period of post-surgical pain relief and reduce with the aim of eliminating the need for opioids in the postsurgical recovery period. 

AmacaThera is an OBIO® member, an alumnus of all OBIO® programs and presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit.

Phenomic AI Enters Strategic Collaborations with Boehringer Ingelheim & Astellas

Phenomic AI recently announced a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim to discover targets important in stroma-rich cancers. The partners will leverage Phenomic’s expertise in target identification and stromal biology based on its scTx® single-cell transcriptomics platform which will greatly enhance Boehringer’s efforts to develop first-in-class medicines to transform the lives of people with cancer by delivering meaningful advances with the ultimate goal to cure a range of cancers.

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Phenomic AI has recently entered a strategic research collaboration with Astellas for solid tumor cell therapies. For this collaboration, Phenomic and Astellas will explore the ability of antibodies, developed by Phenomic and directed at a novel target of the tumor stroma identified with Phenomic’s scTx platform, to enhance cell therapy approaches for the treatment of solid tumors.

Phenomic AI is an alumnus of OBIO's HealthMINT™ program and presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit.

QurCan to participate in Novo Nordisk's program

QurCan Therapeutics has been selected to participate in Novo Nordisk's Co-Creation Greenhouse Program. Anchored through the Novo Nordisk Bio Innovation Hub, this collaboration provides QurCan with funding and deep scientific and technical expertise in translational and drug development.

QurCan Therapeutics is an OBIO® member, an alumnus of the BDSP™, CAAP® and HealthMINT™ programs and presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit.

Vasomune Therapeutics and AnGes drug candidate AV-001 receives positive recommendation from the IDSMB for AV001-004 phase 2a study

Vasomune Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of diseases associated with vascular dysfunction, recently announced that their lead drug candidate AV-001 has received positive recommendation from the Independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (IDSMB) of the AV001-004 Phase 2a Study.

Vasomune Therapeutics is an OBIO® member and an alumnus of the CAAP® program.

KA Imaging to showcase growing family of Reveal products at RSNA

KA Imaging, a company specializing in developing innovative X-ray imaging technologies and systems, is ready to showcase a robust product line that can attend both fixed rooms and mobile systems at RSNA. “1 exposure, 3 images, 0 motion artifacts”, a summary of the company patented SpectralDR technology, can now be implemented in a variety of environments for better clinical and operational outcomes.

KA Imaging is an OBIO® member and an alumnus of all our programs.

Ontario biotech start-ups get government funding boost

Four new start-ups have been welcomed into BioCreate, Ontario Genomics’ $11.6-million accelerator program providing financial and business support to biotechnology companies creating game-changing solutions in the health, food and agriculture, and cleantech industries.

Congratulations to the winners!

We are proud to share that two of the four winners, QurCan Therapeutics and Virica Biotech, are OBIO® members.

Northern Nanopore Instruments acquired by Oxford Nanopore Technologies

Northern Nanopore Instruments (NNi), a Canadian biotechnology start-up with unique expertise in an innovative solid-state nanopore fabrication technology was recently acquired by Oxford Nanopore Technologies, the company delivering a new generation of nanopore-based molecular sensing technology. The NNi team will continue to work with Oxford Nanopore to develop and scale solid-state nanopore fabrication technology, with a potential long-term goal of developing arrays of solid-state nanopores.

Northern Nanopore Instruments is an alumnus of our BDSP™ program.

Enhanced Medical Nutrition over-subscribes pre-series A financing, announces strategic investment from dsm-firmenich

Enhanced Medical Nutrition, Inc. (EMN) recently announced the successful closing of an over-subscribed Pre-Series A equity financing supported by dsm-firmenich venturing, The Kale Fund, Keiretsu Forum, and various angel investors. The financing comes on the heels of EMN's expansion across more than 150 orthopaedic providers. Proceeds of the transaction will be used to fund EMN's operations and growth.

EMN is an OBIO® member, an alumnus of all our programs and presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit.

Edesa Biotech to receive up to CAD $23 Million in funding from Federal Government

Edesa Biotech, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on inflammatory and immune-related diseases, has secured a commitment of up to CAD $23 million from the Government of Canada for a pivotal Phase 3 clinical study of the company’s first-in-class therapeutic candidate.

Edesa is an alumnus of our WiHI program.

Specific Biologics announces additional investment and appointment of experienced biotechnology leader to the Board of Directors

Specific Biologics Inc., a venture-backed, early-stage genome editing company, recently announced it has appointed Steven Kanner, PhD, as an Independent Director. The appointment coincides with renewed investment from Lumira Ventures and adMare BioInnovations to advance the preclinical development of therapeutics based on Specific's proprietary Dualase® platform gene editors.

Specific Biologics is an OBIO® member, an alumnus of our BDSP™, CAAP® , H2BB™ and WiHI programs, and presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit.

Ironstone Product Development (IPD) acquired by global medtech leader, Avania

Ironstone Product Development has recently joined Avania, a leading, global full-service contract research organization focused on the management of clinical studies for medical devices, IVDs, biologics and device-drug combination products internationally.

Ironstone is an alumnus of our EAHN™ program.

Innovation Factory expands support for high-potential life science innovators by introducing medtech manufacturing funding program

The Innovation Factory announced the launch of the Canadian Medtech Alliance (CAMEDA) program. This program will help accelerate the commercialization of medical device innovations in southern Ontario, through a partnership with the accelerator and a total Government of Canada investment of over $7 million through FedDev Ontario, which includes $1 million for the CAMEDA program.

 Delivered in collaboration with the Synapse Life Science Consortium, CAMEDA brings together Innovation Factory’s commercialization services with the Consortium’s strategic network to also offer participants access to business expertise and resources, as well as the capabilities of Canada’s leading health innovation ecosystem. 

Flosonics Medical among HeartX Accelerator’s selected companies for the 2023 program

HeartX, a cardiovascular-focused healthcare accelerator that facilitates guaranteed hospital pilot projects and clinical trials for accomplished, early-stage companies bringing new cardiovascular innovations to market, recently announced five start-ups that will participate in the 2023 Accelerator Program.

Flosonics Medical, which develops and commercializes wearable sensors improving clinical management of critically ill patients inside and outside of the hospital is named among the selected start-ups.

Congratulations to the selected companies! We are proud to share that Flosonics is an OBIO® member and an alumnus of our CAAP® , EAHN™, HealthMINT™ and WiHI programs, and presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit.

AI at the bedside: First-ever Extubation Decision Support Product approved in Canada

Canadian medical technology company, Therapeutic Monitoring Systems Inc. (TMS), recently announced Health Canada approval of their first clinical decision support tool - Extubation Advisor (EA), a Class III Medical Device, via its commercial software manufacturing partner OBS Medical Ltd.

Therapeutic Monitoring Systems is an OBIO® member and an alumnus of our EAHN™ and HealthMINT™ programs.

FluidAI Medical announces $15M in Series A funding for AI-driven postoperative monitor at HLTH 2023

FluidAI Medical, a pioneer in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for postoperative patient monitoring, recently announced that it has raised $15 million in Series A funding. The investment will allow FluidAI to develop deeper medical record integration, expand into existing and new global markets, grow its dynamic team, and introduce novel AI-driven solutions catering to a broader range of postoperative complications.

Fluid AI is an OBIO® member and an alumnus of all OBIO® programs.

Conavi Medical announces closing of financing to bolster novel intravascular imaging technology

Conavi Medical, a leader in hybrid intravascular imaging, recently announced closing $12.5 million USD of funding, including participation from existing investors. The funding is part of a larger effort by Conavi Medical to raise up to $30 million USD to expand its commercial footprint and ready the system for broad market adoption.

Conavi is an OBIO® member, an alumnus of our CAAP® and workforce development programs and presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit.

Allarta receives award from JDRF to advance its work in creating a functional cure for type 1 diabetes

Allarta Life Science, the Hamilton-based regenerative medicine company using novel hydrogels to enable cell-based therapies for type 1 diabetes (T1D), recently announced it has received an award from JDRF, the leading global T1D research and advocacy organization, that could amount to US$800,000 upon completion of research and development milestones.

The award will directly fund Allarta’s ongoing work to increase durability and avoid the need for systemic immune suppression in current islet and beta cell transplantations to cure T1D.

Allarta is an OBIO® member and an alumnus of our CAAP® and workforce development programs.