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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 To really appreciate the value of today's National Research Council (NRC) these days, it's helpful to consider its roots and how far the agency has traveled in the past five years. In the mid `90s, the NRC was emerging from a long period of benign neglect, moving towards the periphery of Canadian S&T and without the means to take adequate correct measures. Flash to the eve of the new millennium, and the NRC of today is a very different entity, rising above the age-old constraints of government bureaucracy as a lynchpin in Canada's nascent innovation system. It's therefore essential that government consider its requests for new money very seriously (link to item). Much of the agency's success has been achieved through the re-allocation of meager resources that must be replenished to avoid a weakening of the research base. Without leading edge science and technology that matters, the NRC's value to business and the economy decreases exponentially. Without its connection to innovative companies from coast to coast, the NRC's raison d'etre is undermined. The appropriate government ministers know this, yet in their wisdom they largely turned aside the NRC's request for new funding in the last Budget. This year there can be no such missteps. Too much of Canada's S&T emanates from the NRC to risk starving it to death. Canada's fiscal surplus is large enough that there are simply no more excuses.
FEATURE REPORTS...
RESEARCH BRIEFS
CCBR seeking new funding source after Apotex withdraws support Univ of Toronto officials are scrambling to secure a new source of funding for one of the largest research projects to receive funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The shortfall in the $92-million Centre for Cellular and Biomedical Research (CCBR) occurred when private sector partner Apotex Inc withdrew its pledge of $20 million. Without the Apotex funds, the project must seek equivalent funding from another source. The university is also negotiating with the Ontario Innovation Trust " the province's CFI leverage fund -- to match the CFI's $25.6-million conditional contribution. The U of T won't say why Apotex withdrew, but it's understood the company's support was conditional upon unspecified regulatory or tax concessions. The CCBR project includes a completely new building to be constructed in the heart of the U of T campus. The cross-disciplinary project is to involve the faculties of medicine, applied science and engineering and pharmacy and focus on basic genetic research. It's hoped the CCBR will act as a powerful magnet to attract leading scientific talent to the university. It will conduct five research programs: proteomics and bioinformatics, animal models of diseases, protein structure, cellular and biomedical engineering, and cellular and biomedical imaging....
TPC funds help Electromed with pilot telemedicine network Electromed International Ltd, St-Eustache PQ, has received $500,000 from Technology Partnerships Canada to assist in the development of a telemedicine network in conjunction with the Montreal Heart Institute. The ViewNet network will permit real-time consultation between Institute specialists and physicians located elsewhere. The TPC funds will be used to develop a pilot network for inter-hospital coronary angiography image transmission. Eltromed develops and distributes a range of radiology and medical imaging equipment and employs 60 in Quebec and 10 at its subsidiary in Paris, France. The TPC assistance is expected to help create or maintain 32 positions".
Procyon completes venture deal for $3 million in private financing Procyon BioPharma Inc received the second tranche of a private placement by T2C2/Bio and Innovatech du Grand Montréal and other smaller investors, gaining net proceeds of $2 million. A first phase of $1 million was completed in mid-October. In return for the financing, the two Montreal-based venture capital firms will receive 12 million shares at 25 cents each. Montreal-based Procyon will use the funds for R&D for its platform technologies and near term products, as well as for general corporate purposes. Procyon is primarily based on two platform technologies -- antinuclear autoantibodies and prostate secretory proteins -- focused on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer....
Helix acquires PharmaDerm to boost drug delivery capability Helix BioPharma Corp has completed its acquisition of Saskatoon-based PharmaDerm Laboratories Ltd, a privately-held transdermal drug delivery firm. The purchase gives Helix, Aurora ON, access to PharmaDerm's current and future technology developments for the injectionless delivery of large therapeutic molecules such as proteins and DNA. Its Biphasix delivery system has already demonstrated success with insulin and interferon. The firm will remain in Saskatoon and Helix will upgrade and expand laboratory facilities."
PERSONALITIESDr Indira Samarasekera has been appointed VP research at the Univ of British Columbia, replacing Dr Bernard Bressler. Samarasekera is director of UBC's Centre for Metallurgical Process Engineering and a metallurgical engineer specializing in steel processing. She also holds the Dofasco Chair in Advanced Steel Processing. She will assume the position in May, 2000 and take responsibility for developing, promoting and administering the university's research, as well as establishing local, national and international partnerships. Samarasekera received a BSc in mechanical engineering at the Univ of Ceylon and a master's degree from the Univ of California as a Hays Fulbright Scholar. She immigrated to Canada in 1977 and earned a PhD in metallurgical engineering at UBC before joining the faculty.... Dr Joseph Losos has been appointed director of the Univ of Ottawa's new Institute of Population Health, a partnership of six faculties devoted to improving health through prevention, health services and environmental change. He takes up the position on May 1, 2000. Until then, he remains DM of Health Canada's Health Protection Branch, which is currently undergoing a major reorganization. Losos has held executive positions in international research entities such as the World Health Organization and the International Development Research Centre.... Dr Dana Devine has been appointed director, research and development with Canadian Blood Services. Devine will be based in Vancouver where she will continue her association with the Univ of British Columbia where she is an associate professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine. When Canadian Blood Services was formed last year, it set a target of 10% of its operating budget for investment in R&D for blood safety, alternatives to transfusion and blood substitutes. Devine has previously served as a senior scientist with CBS and its predecessor, the Canadian Red Cross Society. At UBC, Devine teaches vascular and auto-immune diseases and instructs in the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science program.... Dr Martin Godbout and Amit Chakma have been appointed to the governing council of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). Godbout has enjoyed a highly successful career in business and academia and is currently interim executive director of Genome Canada. He holds a BSc in biochemistry and a PhD in physiology and molecular endocrinology from the Univ of Laval. Chakma is VP research and a professor of environmental engineering at the Univ of Regina. He holds an MASc and a PhD in chemical engineering from the Univ of British Columbia.... Hubert Manseau has been elected to a one-year term as president of Réseau de capital de risque du Québec, a Quebec association of diverse private and public investment organizations. Manseau is president and CEO of Innovatech Grand Montréal. He replaces Michel Ré, senior VP emerging markets of the Business Development Bank of Canada.... Dr Arvind Gupta has been appointed program leader for MITACS, a Network of Centres of Excellence devoted to the mathematical sciences. Gupta helped found MITACS last year with one of its three originating organizations, the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences where he served as Simon Fraser Univ site director and deputy director. He will use his expertise in industrial outreach to strengthen collaboration with private sector firms. MITACS operates research in five areas considered critical to Canada's economy in the next century: biomedical, commercial/industrial, information technology, trading finance, and manufacturing.... Robert Nadeau has been appointed managing director of the Montreal office of Spencer Stuart International, with responsibility for all operations in the province of Quebec. Stuart joined the firm one year ago after a long professional consulting career. Spencer Stuart is a large, international consulting firm specializing in senior executive-level search....
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