Organization: Ontario Institute for Cancer Research

BF Francis Ouellette

Genome Quebec has appointed BF Francis Ouellette as VP scientific affairs effective February 27, bringing more than 20 years of experience in bioinformatics. Ouellette has spent the past 10 years at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research as a lead investigator and associate director of its informatics and biocomputing platform. He was also employed by…

OICR joins Intel-powered Collaborative Cancer Cloud

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston MA, have joined the Collaborative Cancer Cloud (CCC), a medicine analytics platform that allows institutions to share patient genomic, imaging and clinical data for potentially lifesaving discoveries. The CCC is a joint venture between the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science…

OICR fund provides $1.5 million to Flourinov

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) is investing $1.5 million over three years in Toronto-based Flourinov Pharma Inc to further develop a drug to treat multiple myeloma and some forms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The drug — FV162 — is a highly potent, orally-delivered small molecule proteasome inhibitor which displays significant advantages over existing drugs.…

MaRS Phase II back on track

Phase II of the MaRS Centre has been given the greenlight nearly three years after it was suspended due to the economic crisis. The $350-million project will once again be undertaken by Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc, a Pasadena CA-based real estate investment trust specializing in life sciences real estate. The timing of the re-start…

DVS Sciences receives $14.6 million in series A financing

DVS Sciences — a Univ of Toronto spin-off — has secured $14.6 million in series A financing, the largest venture-based series A equity financing in the life sciences and medical technology fields in recent years. DVS has developed CyTOF, an analytical instrument that dramatically speeds up the analysis of biomarkers. It recently analyzed 34 biomarkers…

OICR spins offs to develop promising technologies

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) has spun off three companies to move anticancer technologies to market. The undisclosed investments follow seed funding provided through its Intellectual Property Development and Commercialization program. The new companies are: DLVR Therapeutics Inc, which is developing a nanoparticle delivery system for anticancer therapies; Harmonic Medical Inc, which uses…

Canadian Prostate Cancer Genome Network launched

The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) has launched a $20-million project to map the genetic structure of prostate cancer. The Canadian Prostate Cancer Genome Network is one of 37 currently funded by the ICGC in 13 global jurisdictions. Funding is being provided by Prostate Cancer Canada ($15 million) and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research…