Premier Gordon Campbell

LifeSciences BC was proud to host its 9^th Annual BC Biotechnology Awards Ceremony at the Hyatt Hotel on April 18, 2007. This was the premier event of the year for British Columbia’s biotechnology community, drawing virtually all of our industry leaders who have helped make this region an international hotspot for biotechnology.

LifeSciences BC was honoured to have the Premier Gordon Campbell and the Honourable Murray Coell, Minister of Advanced Education special guest speakers for this years awards ceremony.

The evening began with words from LifeSciences BC's President Karimah Es Sabar (Es Sabar transcript) followed by the Chair of the Board, David Hall (Hall transcript).  Premier Gordon Campbell spoke to the accomplishments that the biotechnology sector has made in the last year and annouced that $25 million will be but towards the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD.)

From The Lab Bench To The Bedside: Guiding Researchers Across The Valley of Death Green Light for the Centre for Drug Research and Development


Recipients of the 2007 British Columbia Biotechnology Awards were:


Drs. Allen and Connie Eaves
Genome BC Award for Scientific Excellence



Drs. Alan Winter and Aubrey Tingle
Leadership Award



Dr. Max Cynader
Researcher of the Year



Ultrasonix Medical Corporation
Medical Devices Company of the Year



Dr. David Dolphin
Lifetime Achievement



Read information on the 2007 British Columbia Biotechnology Awards recipients here.


The 9th Annual BC Biotechnology Awards were presented by: 

Media Sponsor:

It's that time of the year again to renew your LifeSciences BC membership for 2007-2008. Membership renewal letters and invoices will be sent shortly to the primary contacts of each organization, as well as information on how to make payments online using a Visa or Mastercard.

If you have any questions about membership renewals, please contact Sara Johnson at sjohnson@lifesciencesbc.ca or at 604-602-5228.

LifeSciences BC has had another successful year under our new organizational sponsorship program, and would like to take this opportunity to invite you to be a part of it.

Without the support of our sponsors, we could not have undertaken all our new programs and initiatives in this past year, including the public policy initiatives, facilitating linkages between pharma and our industry, raising the profile of our industry internationally and thus facilitating investment and global partnering opportunities, and helping nurture economic development in British Columbia through the life sciences sector.

The new sponsorship year runs from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008 and we are confirming our new sponsors now.

Please view our 2007-2008 Sponsorship Program

If you have any further questions about the program or would like more information, please contact Melissa Beaton at mbeaton@lifesciencesbc.ca or 604-602-5227.

Thank You to Our Current Sponsors

LifeSciences British Columbia is proud to be the lead organizer for the sanofi-aventis biotech challenge (SABC) in BC. The sanofi-aventis biotech challenge is annual a high-school competition held nationwide that brings together creative and curious young people interested in solving a problem using biotechnology.

The final competition was held on April 13, 2007 at BCIT's Burnaby Campus. This event also featured presenters from the local scientific community, showcasing their careers and demonstrating the opportunities available in biotechnology.

The competition, offering a total of $10,000 shared between the winning students and their schools. The 2007 winners were announced at the 9th Annual BC Biotechnology Awards on April 18th, 2007

Christina Chiu from Hugh Boyd Secondary School was awarded first place for her project Engineering Gut Cells to Produce Insulin to Treat Diabetes. Christine designed an experiment that examined the ability of using a genetic engineering approach to coax gut cells to produce insulin in a sugar-dependent manner, while also regulatable by a drug.

As the first place winner, Christina and her school will share $3000 and she will compete with the first place student teams from each of the regional sites across Canada in the fifteenth annual National sanofi-aventis Biotech Challenge competition in a two-way, real time videoconference competition on May 10, 2007.

First Place Winner, Christina Chiu

Second place went to Sir Winston Churchill Secondary’s Thomas Sun and Robyn Thom for their project Diblock Copolymers and Epoxidized Carthamus Tinctorious Oil as Novel Polyvinyl Chloride Plasticizers and Third Place was awarded to Xue Chen (Janny) and Karen Yu also of Sir Winston Churchill Secondary for Fiber-Reinforced Cellulose Acetate Composite.

Second Place Winners, Robyn Thom & Thomas Sun

Third Place Winners, Xue Chen (Janny) Ke & Karen Yu

Christina will now go on to compete in the National s-abc competition on May 10th.

For more information on the sanofi-aventis biotech challenge visit the program website at www.biotechchallenge.ca or contact Melissa Beaton.

Join us for TechMed 2007 in Vancouver on May 16th!

Don’t miss your chance to attend this showcase of the latest in innovative medical and assistive technologies and research!

This exciting event, taking place at SFU Vancouver at Harbour Centre, is the last of three events across Western Canada and will draw together the industry and research communities around partnering and licensing opportunities.

This is your opportunity to get a snapshot of the great work going on in labs across the province. With millions of dollars worth of great research and innovation being done in western Canadian research labs this is an opportunity for companies to identify future products to add to the pipeline!

And the best news, this event is FREE to attend – registration fees have been sponsored by event partner LifeSciences BC. Pre-registration is required with a deadline to register of May 14th. Doors open at 4:00pm with events running until 7:00pm.

Join us for an insider’s view of what is up and coming in medical and assistive technologies and research. Visit www.westlink.ca/techmed/2007/ for registration, agendas and up-to-date event information!

Download TechMed 2007 Poster

Beyond Biotechnology: Opportunities in the New Life Sciences Industry

Offered in partnership by LifeSciences British Columbia and BCIT, and taught by Dr. Paul Barran, this popular two-day course provides a comprehensive overview of the basic principles, technologies, and applications of biotechnology and life sciences.

Course Outline

Dates: May 31 & June 1, 2007
Location: BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street Room 850
Fees:
Member: $695.00
Non-Member: $925.00
NRC Employee: $500.00

REGISTER ONLINE NOW

For more information please contact Melissa Beaton, mbeaton@lifesciencesbc.ca.

Register Now for Vancouver Enterprize Forum's Event- Tech Transfer and Biotech, Proudly Co-Hosted by LifeSciences BC

LifeSciences BC is pleased to be working with the Vancouver Enterprise Forum on the delivery of their May event, Tech Transfer and Biotech.

From Tech Transfer to Commercialization: Biotech perspective on an industry-wide theme.
How do you position a technology company for a smooth transition from a tech transfer to a start up aimed at commercialization? What are the potential pit-falls? What are issues to avoid or to strive for? How do you position your IP for future investment? What has succeeded in the past and what has failed? How do you place yourself to be attractive to investors?

The VEF invites you to hear from an experienced panel of speakers how tech transfer strategies can enable commercialization and early stage development for tech stat-ups. Lear about the importance of freedom to operate, and difference between an academic perspective on IP to a commercial perspective on the same asset and how to transition from the ivory tower to the board room. You will hear different perspectives from the university, government and corporate panelists about which avenues are available to companies moving from research to market.

Date: May 22, 2007
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: TELUS World of Science–1455 Quebec Street 
Registration: $35.00

REGISTER NOW

Join us at Cecil Green Park for LifeSciences British Columbia's Annual Salmon BBQ

One of our most popular events, the Annual Salmon BBQ offers members of our biotech community the chance to gather for an informal summer dinner and enjoy panoramic views of the Straight of Georgia and the mountains of Howe Sound.

This year marks the 11th Anniversary of LifeSciences British Columbia's Annual Salmon BBQ, so come join us on June 14th and enjoy the extroardinary view and network with your peers. For a map, and directions to the Cecil Green Park House Please visit the UBC website.

Date: June 14, 2007
Time: 6:30pm- 9:30pm
Location: Cecil Green Park
University of British Columbia
6251 Cecil Green Park Road
Vancouver, BC

Cost: $65.00 + GST members
          $40.00 + GST student members
          $80.00 + GST non-members

REGISTER NOW
 

Participation at these events positioned us well in ultimately achieving these outcomes. It is estimated that the members of our delegation met approximately 150 international contacts over the course of the event, many of which represent the kind of international partners that are needed.


In addition, British Columbia was well-recognized, and tremendous profile was generated via:

• Presentations at BioSquare by:
  -Karimah Es Sabar on the Deal Making session panel
  -Raymond King on the Financing session panel
  -Bob Sindelar, Natalie Dakers and Alan Winter on the Cluster Track
• Mounting of a 30 sq. metre British Columbia Pavilion on the tradeshow floor, and subsequent distribution of collateral material;
• Inclusion of logo and information on British Columbia’s biotech industry in handbooks for both BioVision and BioSquare
• Logo recognition throughout the conference halls
• Numerous one-on-one meetings between participants and potential strategic partners;
• Attendance at several VIP dinners and special networking opportunities;
• Attendance by Bob Sindelar at the BioVision.nxt dinner for 100 of the world’s top Ph.D.s and Post-Docs.
  

LifeSciences BC hosted a successful breakfast event on March 7, 2007 with over one hundred guests in attendance.

Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS, began her presentation by highlighting the challenges that Canada faces in today's age of intense global competition and how we can compete. Dr. Treurnicht continued her presentation with an outline of the MaRS model, providing insight on it's history, main components and and plans for the future of MaRS.

View a copy of Dr. Ilse Treurnict's presentation

Brief presentations were also made by David Main, President and CEO, of Aquinox, Matt Ferguson, President & CEO, of Progressive Health Innovations and Natalie Dakers, CEO, of CDRD.

Thank you to our sponsors, KPMG and McCarthy Tetrault LLP for their ongoing support.

CEO AND INVESTOR FORUM
March 21 - 22, 2006

Bell Harbor International Conference Center
Seattle, Washington

Invest Northwest, produced by the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association in collaboration with British Columbia Life Sciences, BioIdaho, BioAlberta, Montana Bioscience Association and Oregon Bioscience Association, is the Pacific Northwest's premier life science CEO and investor forum.

This year's forum, featured two days of presentations from 57 of the Pacific Northwest's most innovative life science companies, plus six panel discussions on cutting-edge topics critical to the medical device and biotechnology industries. The event also included a gala reception and two keynote speakers, Ed Fritzky, former CEO, Immunex and John Milligan, COO, Gilead Sciences.

The 2007 BioPartnering North America Conference was held on February 4-6, 2007 bringing over 1,000 delegates from around the world to Vancouver. This year, LIfeSciences BC was extremely successful in recruiting official delegations from numerous jurisdictions around the world -- one of the most important of which is that of Korea. Korea's biotech industry is one of the fastest growing in Asia, and in order to encourage partnerships between Korean and BC companies, KOTRA organized a special breakfast following BPN. Over 80 people were in attendance and speakers included: Hector MacKay-Dunn, QC, Senior Partner, Farris, Vaughan, Wills and Murphy LLP, Karimah Es Sabar, President, LifeSciences BC and Dr, Jong Sei Park, President, KOBIOVEN. Thank you to all of our members for your participation. 

2007 Conferencec Statistics:

Delegates – 899
Companies – 476
Pharma – 59
Open House – 56
Emerging Company – 22
One-to-one meetings held -2,339

27 countries were represented at this year’s BPN. Some of those countries were: Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

View Photos of the 2007 BioPartnering Conference Here

LifeSciences BC had the pleasure of hosting delegation of VCs and technology parks from the Medicon Valley (Denmark and Sweden) from January 18-19th. As part of the program LifeSciences BC hosted a special dinner with local industry leaders on Thursday, January 18th, and would be delighted if you could join us.

Medicon Valley (situated in the broader Copenhagen/Malmö region of Europe) is Europe’s 3^rd largest biotech cluster, and hosts some of world leading life-science companies in niche areas such as diabetes, CNS, haemostasis, enzymes, cancer, novel foods, and nutraceuticals.

From January 15-19, 2007, a delegation of fifteen life sciences representatives from Medicon Valley visited Canada’s top three Life-Science clusters which include Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. The Medicon Valley delegation met with industry associations, leading edge life science companies, key business and scientific infrastructures (such as science parks, university tech transfer offices, incubators), and life science venture financing organizations.

British Columbia welcomed the Medicon Valley delegation in Vancouver from January 18^th to 19^th. During their visit, the delegates met with LifeSciences BC, Genome BC, Discovery Parks, the UBC Industry Liaison Office, Vancouver Island Technology Park, the Ministry of Economic Development and local VC's. The delegation also enjoyed company visits and tours of Xenon Pharmaceuticals and Angiotech Pharmaceuticals.