Feb 28, 2020 | BF2030, News
For Immediate Release:
Atlantic Canadian Medtech Companies Invited to Pitch for $100K at Five-Part Health Challenge Events
HALIFAX, NS (February 28, 2020) – To further drive innovation in the health ecosystem, the Nova Scotia Health Authority, BioNova, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, QEII Foundation, and Volta, have formed a strategic partnership to present the Health Challenge , a series of five pitch events focusing on specific health care priorities for Nova Scotians.
Each pitch event will focus on a different health care priority, as identified by the Nova Scotia Health Authority. Medtech companies interested in applying must be based in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. The winner at each pitch competition will receive $100,000, and their innovative medical technology will be considered for adoption for use by the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
This exciting collaboration between NSHA, BioNova, QEII Health Sciences Centre Foundation, ACOA, and Volta will leverage the organizations’ shared interest in enhancing the health care system.
The first Health Challenge pitch event will focus on medical technologies supporting cancer care, and will take place on Wednesday, April 8, 2020 in downtown Halifax, in Volta’s main event space; members of the public will be welcome to attend. To participate, medtech companies must first apply by email, then be invited to pitch at the Health Challenge Pitch Events. Future pitch topics and application instructions can be found at voltaeffect.com/health-challenge.
Quotes:
“The Health Challenge is meant to stimulate collaboration and engagement with our medtech partners. It will also encourage those of us in the health system to problem solve in a different way and seek innovative health solutions created by Atlantic Canadians – for Atlantic Canadians.
– Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy, Vice President, Research, Innovation & Discovery and CNE, Nova Scotia Health Authority
“As the leadership organization for the health and life sciences sector in Nova Scotia we strive to build a collaborative ecosystem to realize our full potential. This partnership reflects that and the local adoption of health innovation is a win for our sector, it gives our companies a first customer while keeping patient outcomes and healthcare realities a priority.”
– Scott Moffitt, Executive Director, BioNova
“There are many examples of healthcare innovation taking place within the walls of the QEII Health Sciences Centre – achievements being recognized on the global stage that are helping this community prosper. QEII Foundation donors are at the forefront of bringing some of these major innovations forward, which are not only impacting patient care each and every day but helping solve some of the biggest healthcare challenges like wait times, recruitment and retention, and access to care.”
– Bill Bean, President and CEO, QEII Foundation
“Nova Scotia is home to some of the most exciting medtech companies in Canada, who continue to drive innovation on a global scale. We are excited and proud to partner with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, QEII Foundation, BioNova, and ACOA to provide a platform for these innovators and leaders to elevate health care locally.”
– Jesse Rodgers, CEO, Volta
-30-
About Nova Scotia Health Authority
Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) provides health services to Nova Scotians and a wide array of specialized services to Maritimers and Atlantic Canadians. NSHA operates hospitals, health centres and community-based programs across the province. Our team of health professionals includes employees, doctors, researchers, learners and volunteers. We work in partnership with community groups, schools, governments, foundations and auxiliaries and community health boards.
About BioNova
BioNova leads the development of Health and Life Sciences in Nova Scotia. Our primary mandate is the strategic leadership of the sector to develop economic prosperity.
About QEII Health Sciences Centre Foundation
The QEII Foundation inspires generosity to advance health care at the QEII. With financial support from all levels of the community, the QEII Foundation helps fund new technologies, medical research, innovation and professional education that contribute to life-changing moments experienced every day by patients and their loved ones. By working together with people who share a vision of better health, the Foundation strengthens care delivered at the QEII, improving the health and lives of Atlantic Canadians.
About the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency works to create opportunities for economic growth in Atlantic Canada by helping businesses become more competitive, innovative and productive, by working with diverse communities to develop and diversify local economies, and by championing the strengths of Atlantic Canada. Together, with Atlantic Canadians, ACOA is building a stronger economy. For more information, please visit www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca .
About Volta
Volta (formerly Volta Labs) is one of Canada’s largest innovation hubs, located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. Volta is creating a space where members of the Atlantic Canadian innovation ecosystem can work, connect and learn from one another by accessing co-working space, participating in programs and attending events. Volta has been home to more than 50 startups through their Residency program, which have created more than 300 jobs and raised a combined total of $60-million in equity financing.
For more information, contact:
Patti Green, Communications Coordinator, Nova Scotia Health Authority
[email protected], 902-266-6853
Shana Cristoferi, Marketing Manager, BioNova
[email protected] , 902-421-5705
Tanya MacLean, VP Communications and Marketing, QEII Foundation
[email protected] , 902-489-5664
Laurie Snell, Marketing Manager, Volta
[email protected], 902-220-2544
Feb 10, 2020 | BF2030, BioTalent Canada, News
HALIFAX, NS – February 10, 2020 – Today, BioTalent Canada and BioNova announced the launch of The PetriDish™ BioNova job board – giving companies in one of Canada’s fastest growing bio-economy hubs a platform to attract highly-skilled talent.
According to BioTalent Canada’s labour market report Mapping Potential, with over 100 life science companies, 26 research organizations and 11 post-secondary institutions, Nova Scotia is well positioned to lead innovation in Canada’s bio-economy.
“It is estimated that by 2030 the number of jobs in the life sciences sector in Nova Scotia will grow by 200%,” says Scott Moffitt, Executive Director at BioNova. “Providing a job board specific to life sciences companies in our province will help attract the talent they need to realize this potential for growth.”
As the HR partner and catalyst for growth in Canada’s bio-economy, BioTalent Canada has built relationships with employers, associations, academic institutions, governments and job seekers to address and alleviate the two key challenges still facing industry leaders – access to capital and access to talent.
“We look forward to working closer with our Silver partner, BioNova, to help their stakeholders with the necessary tools and services needed to succeed in a growing and competitive industry,” says Rob Henderson, President and CEO, BioTalent Canada. “The PetriDish BioNova will give life sciences companies in the province a dedicated platform to reach the right talent to drive their innovations, after all, without people, there can be no science.”
Modelled after BioTalent Canada’s national job board, The PetriDish BioNova will provide employers with the same benefits of narrowing their search for candidates by providing more relevant bio-economy applicants.
Members of BioNova can access free job postings to help with their recruiting needs.
For current openings or to post a job, visit BioNova.ca/Careers
About BioTalent Canada
BioTalent Canada™ is the HR partner and catalyst for growth in Canada’s bio-economy. Our engagement with employers, associations, post-secondary institutions, immigrant serving agencies and service providers has built a dynamic network that is identifying labour market needs, strengthening skills, connecting job-ready talent to industry and creating opportunities. For more information visit biotalent.ca.
About BioNova
BioNova leads, accelerates, and advocates for Nova Scotia’s growing health and life sciences sector. Since 1993, BioNova has been accelerating the growth of its member companies. By hosting networking and educational events, and providing connections to potential funders and business resources, BioNova helps companies succeed. While these companies commercialize life-changing research to improve healthcare, provide healthier food, and develop clean energy solutions, BioNova advocates on behalf of the sector. BioNova champions the sector’s cluster of world-class research facilities, incubator programs, and companies who, together, bring investment and jobs to Nova Scotia. For more information visit bionova.ca.
Media inquiries:
Siobhan Williams
Director, Marketing and Communications
BioTalent Canada
613-235-1402 ext. 229
[email protected]
Shana Cristoferi
Marketing Manager
BioNova
902-421-5705 ext. 4
[email protected]
Mar 4, 2019 | BioVectra, News
BioVectra Inc. announces a $144.6 million expansion project, including a $37.5 million contribution through the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund
— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits BioVectra to announce Government of Canada investment in Atlantic Canadian CDMO and high-skilled jobs creation in the region —
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada (March 4, 2019) – Today, BioVectra Inc., an Atlantic Canadian Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), announced a five-year, $144.6 million (CAD) expansion project to enhance its Biopharmaceutical capabilities in both Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and Windsor, Nova Scotia.
Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, visited BioVectra in Charlottetown to announce a $37.5 million contribution from the Government of Canada through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). The $37.5 million contribution represents the single largest SIF Project ever awarded in Atlantic Canada.
“Thanks to innovations in life sciences, Canadians are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. Canadian companies like BioVectra are creating new jobs and establishing themselves as global leaders in producing lifesaving treatments for serious illnesses that affect millions of people around the world. Today, we are not only investing in an innovative Canadian business, but also in Canadians and the future prosperity of our country.” – The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
More specifically, the project is intended to support BioVectra’s on-going Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) production capacity expansion in Charlottetown, as well as an expansion of its Biologics capabilities in Windsor, including a mammalian cell culture facility.
Over the project’s five-year lifespan, 150 high-skilled, full-time jobs are expected to be created on Prince Edward Island and in Nova Scotia. “We are pleased to announce plans to create 150 additional jobs, 110 to be located at our Windsor site and 40 in Charlottetown,” said BioVectra President, Oliver Technow. “This is an extremely proud day for BioVectra, and we are deeply appreciative of the government’s support. Since 2015, we have invested approximately $25 million per year in expansions and technologies that have vastly enhanced our capabilities. Today’s announcement is a continuation of our commitment to growth right here in Atlantic Canada!”
As a trusted and innovative partner, BioVectra’s global client base includes most of the top 20 biopharmaceutical companies in the world. “Our clients develop important, life-saving medicines for people all around the globe,” said BioVectra’s Windsor General Manager, Heather Delage. “This exciting expansion project is designed to help propel us toward being a top-tier player in the biologics field, where many therapies are advancing rapidly, and changing the way healthcare is delivered.”
Beyond these expansion plans, BioVectra intends to complement its existing academic partnerships by forming additional collaborations with Canadian academic institutions. This investment includes reinforcing its future talent base by providing over 25 students with on-the-job training and internship opportunities on an annual basis.
About BioVectra
BioVectra is a CDMO that serves global pharmaceutical and biotech companies with full-service cGMP outsourcing solutions for intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients. An innovative and reliable service partner with a strong regulatory history, BioVectra has over 45 years of experience specializing in:
- cGMP Microbial Fermentation
- Complex Chemistry – High Potency APIs
- Biologics
- Formulation Development
For more information about BioVectra, please visit www.biovectra.com.
Media Contact
Jordan MacGregor
Communications and Marketing Manager
BioVectra Inc.
Phone: 902-566-9116 ext. 6376
E-Mail: [email protected]
Statements in this document that are not strictly historical, including statements regarding future business prospects, use of capital or the impact of any such events or developments, and any other statements regarding events or developments the company believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, may be “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those suggested or indicated by such forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date hereof and the company does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise, except as required by law.]]>
Apr 30, 2018 | News, Spring Loaded Technology
See original article here
CHRIS COWPER-SMITH
Co-founder, president and CEO, Spring Loaded Technology
Bringing bionic technology to sports enthusiasts and putting a spring in the step of people with knee injuries
What happens when a neuroscientist, an engineer and a business student take an entrepreneurship class together? They create a bionic knee, of course. Halifaxbased Spring Loaded Technology was created in 2013 by a trio of knee-injury sufferers: Chris Cowper-Smith (the scientist); Bob Garrish (the engineer); and, Shaw Kewin (the business student). The trio’s communal pain inspired Cowper-Smith to create a brace “that could assist with mobility, rather than just providing stability.”
The basis of Spring Loaded Technology is the spring inside: “We just had the small task of reinventing the spring,” Cowper-Smith explains nonchalantly. After four years of development and prototypes, they created a compact spring small enough to fit inside a conventional knee brace. The Levitation bionic knee brace hit markets in 2016 with a sales model focused on selling directly to the consumer through digital advertising. Upon determining the user is a good candidate for getting the spring back in their step, a bracing specialist works with them remotely to measure for the right fit.
Next came the million-dollar contract with the Department of National Defense in which they produced 190 military-grade knee braces for the Canadian Forces. The yearlong pilot project concluded with positive reviews from injured military members and the company hopes to be supplying braces in forthcoming contracts. In the summer of 2017, they received $2.45 million in funding through ACOA’s Atlantic Innovation Fund, which they are using to build a human factors testing lab to assess actual usage of the brace. Currently the Levitation is 100 per cent assembled onsite by the company in Dartmouth’s Burnside Industrial Park: the only part brought in is the brace’s casing.
For Ontario ex-pat Cowper-Smith (Garrish and Kewin are no longer with the company), the transition from scientist to CEO has been a challenging endeavor: “There’s always that little bit of uncomfortableness, a discomfort, with being a little bit out of your realm,” he says. For him the key lies in creating support, and not just with the knee brace. Reinforcing the company’s leadership team has been at the forefront of his agenda: “There’s been incredible support in the community, and we’ve managed to attract some people who are a lot smarter than me that help me fill in the holes.”
“I think a background in science can be really useful for an entrepreneur starting a company, because ultimately what you are trying to do as an entrepreneur, at least in startup, is do a lot of different rapid experiments to figure out how this business is going to work,” says Cowper- Smith.
It looks like 2018 will be an aggressive scaling-up year: four of the 33 employees are currently setting up temporary sales locations across the country. The U.S. and international markets are next.]]>
Dec 14, 2017 | BioVectra
About Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, is focused on the development and commercialization of innovative medicines that provide unique and meaningful advantages to people with kidney disease. The Keryx team consists of approximately 200 committed people working with passion to advance the care of people with this complex disease. This dedication has resulted in two FDA-approved indications for Keryx’s first medicine, Auryxia® (ferric citrate) tablets. For more information about Keryx, please visit www.keryx.com.
About BioVectra
BioVectra is a CDMO that serves pharmaceutical and biotech companies with full-service cGMP outsourcing solutions for intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients. An innovative and reliable service partner with a strong regulatory history, BioVectra has over 45 years of experience specializing in: GMP Microbial Fermentation & Purification Complex Chemistry Process & Analytical Development
For more information about BioVectra, please visit www.biovectra.com.
Media Contact
Jordan MacGregor
Marketing and Communications Manager
[email protected]
902-566-9116 ext. 6376
www.biovectra.com]]>
