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The architects of Ottawa’s diverse life sciences sector will be closely monitoring the success of the regions booming high-technology cluster as it positions itself for future growth. Ranked third or fourth by size in Canada after Toronto, Montreal and possibly Vancouver, the life sciences sector has been successful in attracting significant projects to the area, largely on the strength of its public research base.

Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc has made Canadian biotechnology history, attracting the largest private placement to date with a $52.5-million investment by venture capital and institutional investors. The Montreal-based proteomics company has now raised $64 million in capital and will use the funds to conduct research for diagnostic compounds and therapeutics products combining sub-cellular biology and large-scale mass spectrometry.

The Alberta Research Council (ARC) is rapidly increasing its share of scientific spending conducted by Canada’s nine provincial research organizations (PROs), according to the latest Statistics Canada survey.

Primaxis Technology Ventures Inc has finally reached and surpassed its goal of establishing a $50-million seed capital fund to exploit emerging discoveries in the telecommunications, semiconductor and electronics, advanced materials and manufacturing and information technology infrastructure sectors.

Ontario government invests $50 M in cancer research
The Ontario government has accepted the recommendations of a working group led by Dr Calvin Stiller and is investing $50 million in cancer research through the new Ontario Cancer Research Network.

New federal science and technology (S&T) funding initiatives introduced over the past three years are finally working their way through the system and substantially pushing up the overall total on expenditures for scientific activities, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

Ontario helps fund $30-M Clinical Genomics Centre
Ontario has opened its first Clinical Genomics Centre (CGC) at the University Health Network’s (UHN) Toronto general Hospital site, with $30 million in funding from the Ontario R&D Challenge Fund, the UHN and private sector partners.

Backers of British Columbia’s emerging fuel cells sector say there is an urgent need for the federal government to act quickly with a targeted national program to fund research and demonstration projects, or risk losing the investments made to date.

British Columbia’s burgeoning biotechnology sector is on the cusp of achieving global stature and Genome BC may be just the catalyst it requires to push it over the top. Armed with a wealth of academic and private sector expertise, the province is ranked as the third largest concentration of biotechnology in Canada and the twentieth in North America.