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reports and analyses of the forces driving science and technology investment in Canada
editor: Mark Henderson How it looks to me.... by Mark Henderson FEATURE REPORTS | RESEARCH BRIEFS | PERSONALITIES How it looks to me.... by Mark Henderson, editor, RE$EARCH MONEY The biotechnology task force should be commended for the speed with which it has released its long awaited strategy. There's just one small catch: where's the strategy? Aside from a lengthy press release and a series of documents posted on the Internet, there's no actual document that can be read and analyzed. In fact, the detail one would expect a major strategy to contain has yet to be developed. Instead it's being promised in a work plan that won't be released for months. So the question remains: Why announce a strategy before its time? It could have something to do with the annual lobbying ritual leading up the federal Budget. There's growing sentiment that health will be the central theme of the next Budget, placing several research funding proposals in good stead. It's conceivable that the public announcement of the biotech strategy þ which has huge implications for health care and the medical research community þ was pushed up to feed into the process. That said, any information on federal policy regarding biotechnology is welcome. The revisions to the 1983 policy revealed to date indicate a carefully conceived approach designed to address industry and public concerns alike. But until we see more concrete details and the members of the new advisory committee, it's difficult to determine whether the strategy hits the mark or not. Time will tell.
FEATURE REPORTS...
RESEARCH BRIEFS
ThinkTank launches research project for management software ThinkTank Technologies has entered an agreement with the National Research Council and the Univ of Ottawa for a 2.5-year research project to develop and commercialize new technologies for the knowledge management market. Waterloo ON-based ThinkTank will enhance its prototype virtual research assistant product using technology from NRC's Institute for Information Technology. With partial funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, ThinkTank has exclusive use of the resulting IP for 10 years....
Guigné to develop technology for international space station Guigné Technologies Ltd, St John's NF, is building a US$10-million Space-DRUMS facility for the construction, flight qualification and upmass of materials processing facility to the International Space Station. The facility is being developed with joint venture partner SPACEHAB Inc, Vienna VA, for uplift to the space station via the NASA Space Shuttle slated for September 2000. It will use acoustic energy to position liquid and solid materials inside a furnace while they are being processed. The technology was developed with funding from the Canadian Space Agency, and builds upon a previous CSA-contracted proof-of-concept positioning/levitation facility. Materials developed at the facility will be used for applications ranging from aircraft parts to telecommunications chips and fibre-optic cable....
TPC invests in new aquaculture system by Future SEA farms Technology Partnerships Canada has invested $1.7 million in Future SEA Farms Inc, a Nanaimo BC-based firm developing a system for producing higher quality fish at a lower cost. The system utilizes a large, flexible, floating enclosed bag to improve upon the current closed-pen fish farming procedure currently in use throughout the aquaculture industry. The system will initially be employed for salmon farming....
Partners back research balloons to probe Saskatchewan ozone layer The Canadian Space Agency, Environment Canada, Univ of Toronto, York Univ, CRESTech, Univ of Denver and Saskatoon's Scientific Instrumentation Ltd have formed an alliance to launch research balloons high above Saskatchewan to measure the ozone layer over the province. One balloon measures more than 80 metres high and has a payload capacity of 630 kg, to carry instrument packages that will determine whether the reduction of ozone-depleting chemicals recommended by the Montreal Protocol is having an impact....
PERSONALITIESDr Anthony Schincariol has been appointed president of Novopharm Biotech, replacing Dr Albert Friesen who announced his resignation late last month. Schincariol comes to Novopharm from DUSA Pharmaceuticals Inc where he was senior VP corporate development. He has also held senior executive positions with Genentech Canada Inc and Synergen Canada. Friesen remains on retainer as a consultant for the Toronto-based firm's antisense projects. Schincariol received an MBA from the Univ of Western Ontario and a PhD from the Univ of Toronto's department of medical biophysics. He will work with CEO Dr Michael Dan to accelerate the company's clinical and product development strategies, as part of ongoing restructuring initiated at the Novopharm group of companies in May.... Dr John Millard, formerly Mitel Corp's president and CEO has been appointed to the board of directors for JetForm Corp, Ottawa, bringing a wealth of expertise in the telecommunications industry. Millard stepped down at Mitel last month after a five-year run which saw the company's sagging fortunes reversed through increased sales and an aggressive acquisition strategy. Prior to Mitel, he was a senior VP at NEC America, and held a variety of management roles at Contel Executone and Rockwell Wescom.... Dr Henry Geraedts is stepping down as president and CEO of Vancouver's Chromos Molecular Systems Inc and a search is underway for his replacement. Geraedts will remain as a director and will become chairman once the terms of Dr William Cochrane expires. The move permits the developer of artificial chromosome technologies to broaden its management team with a new individual sporting different talents. Geraedts founded Chromos in 1995 and has succeeded in raising considerable capital and concluding several strategic alliances (R$, September 10/97). He will continue to focus on strategic issues relating to the firm's technologies.... Allen Kilpatrick has been appointed president and CEO of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL). Kilpatrick joined AECL as VP marketing and sales in 1995 in the wake of a massive reorganization and downsizing engineered by his predecessor, Reid Morden. Both men came to AECL from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), where Kilpatrick served as DM international trade. Morden has left the public service and joined Sussex Circle, an Ottawa-based consulting group specializing in government organization, organizational renewal, senior-level strategic analysis and policy making. His government career included stints as DM at DFAIT and head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.... Jean-Yves Bourgeois has been appointed senior VP and CFO of AEterna Laboratories Inc, St-Foy PQ, with responsibility for the overall direction of finance, corporate development and investor relations. Prior to joining AEterna, Bourgeois was VP investment banking at TD Securities in Montreal, specializing in health care and high technology. Also appointed is Dennis Turpin as VP finance. Turpin joined the firm in 1996 after 10 years with Coopers & Lybrand focusing on audits, R&D incentives and reorganizations. AEterna researches and develops drugs to control angiogenesis diseases.... Kinetek Pharmaceuticals Inc has retained Dr James Woodget as its chief scientific advisor for its target discovery and kinase inhibitor screening programs, following two years during which he served as a scientific consultant and member of its scientific advisory board.Woodget is head of the Ontario Cancer Institute's experimental therapeutics division and a professor at the Univ of Toronto. In recent months, Kinetek has strengthened its management team with several appointments including Dr John Gillard (board chairman), Dr Elizabeth Moyer (VP product development), and Dr Daniel Dixon (senior VP finance and administration)....
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