Fall 2007

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Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network n Fall 2007 n volume 1 n issue 3

A hands-on lifesaver

New things on the grow We’re hoping to be able to talk to you soon at the Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network.We’re working on a blog for our site at www.ghbn.org and on RSS feed that will update content on items we want to highlight or let you know about. And look for updates on our trademarked Innovation Café events planned for the coming months. They’re a great place to exchange ideas within the biosciences community in NiagaraHamilton-Halton.

Inside – n Nysa on the move [page 2]

n Cancer in a new light [page 3]

n EuroBio 2007 [page 4]

n A beneficial bacteria [page 5]

Three McMaster grads think their lifesaving idea is a hands-down winner. Next year they hope to prove it by taking their invention – a heart-smart glove – to the Center for Resuscitation Science at the University of Pennsylvania. There, field tests on the nylon-spandex glove with the onboard circuitry will determine if the device can make it to market. Already, the center’s associate director Dr. Benjamin Abella has pronounced the black glove with a video screen on the back “a really nifty idea”. Popular Science liked the idea so much the magazine featured the glove in June among the year’s best inventions. The Ontario Centres of Excellence has recognized its worth by providing a grant of up to $61,000. And distributors from North America and abroad have contacted the three graduates in electrical and biomedical engineering to indicate their interest in marketing the device, should the glove reach commercialization. “We’re trying to create the most user-friendly device that even people with no medical background can use to give someone CPR,” says one of the three students, Corey Centen. [CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is a combination heart/lung lifesaving procedure. CPR aims to force the lungs to keep breathing and the blood to keep circulating when the heart has stopped.] The glove’s piezoelectric sensors, circuits and metronome timing – all stitched inside – measure the depth and frequency of chest compressions, even the heart rate of a subject to make sure they require resuscitation. The glove has an audible component that alerts users as to the efficiency of their CPR efforts. All of that is important since too few compressions or two shallow a depth render CPR efforts less than effective. Centen and fellow grads Nilesh Patel and Sarah Smith realized that they had forgotten training they received in past CPR courses or perhaps never knew that compressions should come at about 100 per minute, given at a depth of four to five centimetres. That led to development of the glove, which has provisional patent protection in the U.S. The glove could be part of “any standard first-aid package,” says Patel. Relayed to a computer, the hands-on system can also be a teaching tool in a classroom of trained volunteers or health professionals. The McMaster grads, who have incorporated as Atreo Medical Inc. and have their own website – www.cprglove.com – are working on their next prototype to take to the resuscitation center in Philadelphia. “We’re moving ahead now in both business and product-development areas,” says Patel. “The next stage will take us closer to market and closer to saving more lives.” n

Nilesh Patel, left, and Corey Centen with the CPR glove

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Nysa takes a huge step forward Nysa Membrane Technologies, the company that boasts a “disruptive” separation system, is about to disrupt its own operations.

PreMD scores major deal PreMD, the predictive medicine company in the McMaster Biosciences Incubator Centre, has scored a major deal with drug giant AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP. The multinational will market PreMD’s skin cholesterol test in the U.S. The agreement gives AstraZeneca the right to market and distribute Prevu, which helps assess an individual’s risk of coronary heart disease. The deal also includes the potential for a global contract. PreMD scored another win when the American Heart Association accepted for presentation at its November conference a scientific abstract on the predictive links between skin cholesterol and subclinical atherosclerosis.

Nysa moves shortly to new quarters in Burlington that will provide 10 times the space of its current premises. The move comes as the company finalizes a second round of financing worth up to $12 million. “We had no trouble raising money,” says president and CEO Lisa Crossley. “It was definitely an oversubscribed round.” Crossley anticipates the new plant on John Lucas Drive will allow Nysa to gain ISO 9001 certification and to ramp up to production early next year. In the meantime, Nysa is making its polymergel membranes for likely users off a pilot production line. Such industry sectors as biopharmas, nutraceutical food producers, beverage makers, and water purifiers use the membranes as they extract, separate and purify molecules for their particular products. Drug makers, for example, extract pharmacological proteins as they develop their products. “I’ve been surprised by how receptive the market has been,” says the former McMaster University chemical engineering professor. The membrane structures – described by Crossley as “a truly disruptive technology” -- give users the ability to do “plug and play” processing, one-off batch operations, and run multi-product lines. The gel membranes are more efficient in purifying viruses and large biological molecules, and allow for faster flow rates than does traditional resin chromatography.

Variable gel properties allow users to bind the molecules they want in higher concentrations than are possible with resin chromatography systems. In addition, single-batch processing reduces the risk of inter-batch contamination. All of this adds up to substantial cost and timesavings. “I can process the same amount of material in one day that I could do in three days (using standard resin separation),” says Nysa’s president. The porous gel membranes, originally developed by now-retired McMaster professor Ronald Childs, permit processing variances from 3 microns to .005 microns. [One micron equals 1,000 nanometres. One nanometre equals one billionth of a metre.] With its membranes, Nysa is positioned nicely to take advantage of a paradigm shift in pharmaceutical manufacturing as companies move more to biologics and away from costly chemically synthesized drug molecules. The shift is occurring as the genomics and proteomics revolutions “have really fuelled drugdevelopment pipelines,” says Crossley. While McMaster has been “very supportive,” intellectual property and patent licences now reside fully with Nysa, which began operations in April 2005. By next year, the company anticipates it will reap $2 million in revenues and go from the current 18 employees to more than 30. As Nysa fully hits its market stride, Crossley expects the fledgling company to be in a cash-flow breakeven mode within two years. n

Image: Blue copper sulphate, membrane at right, filtered out from a test liquid stream. 

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Bringing a cancer weapon to light Photodynamic therapy (PDT) holds shiny promise as one of many leading-edge cancer treatments. The idea is simple. Apply a specific light wavelength to a drug (called a photosensitizer or photosensitizing agent) that kills cancer cells. Photosensitizers exposed to light produce a form of oxygen that promotes inflammation, hypoxia and ultimately tissue necrosis. An ongoing clinical trial in three Canadian cities is having success with an Israelideveloped vascular-targeted drug called Tookad. And, bizarrely, a tiny Hamilton electronics firm in a world-weary cinder block building that once housed a recording studio may be linked to Tookad’s fortunes.

“If we can see this move forward, it would be very exciting. . . This should be a treatment that (could be done) in a doctor’s office.”

Kerber Applied Research, with all of eight employees, is involved in software and firmware development, high-speed digital signal processor systems, and printed circuit board layout designs. The oil industry knows Kerber. One of its devices is used in wireless communication with drill-head tooling, within small casings that go five miles deep in search of oil. So how did Kerber enlist in the deadly battle of killing tumour cells? Through its light-emitting diode (LED) technology, used in the dental field, among other areas. Through sheer persistence – and using the broker connections of the Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network – founder Tom Kerber believes he is close to sealing a deal in working with the Tookad people and with Isaeli equity investors. “Basically, a number of doors have opened for me since Health Research in the City (a forum held in Hamilton last January),” said Kerber. “It was what

I would call the launching program.” In Hamilton, Kerber has talked to doctors at the Juravinski Cancer Centre about using LED technology on some cancers. Through the biosciences network, he has made contact with Israeli trade people. And seizing the initiative, Kerber flew to Israel in May and met the developers behind Tookad, a Hebrew word meaning “warmth of light.” He talked to them about using his firm’s microprocessor drive and control circuitry with LEDs to treat prostate and other cancers, such as breast cancer. Avigdor Scherz, of the Weizmann Institute of Science, was “extremely interested” in the use of diodes instead of lasers as the external source of light that hits Tookad. Trials involving Tookad have been underway for some time in Montreal, Toronto, and London, Ontario. Dr. John Trachtenberg, of Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, told Forbes magazine in 2005 that Tookad was “one of the most promising treatments for recurrent prostate cancer after radiation I’ve ever seen.” Prostate cancer claims more than 4,000 Canadian men each year. Kerber and interested Israeli backers believe LED use in the infra-red range will be cheaper, more efficient, and tie up operating-room time far less than using lasers. LED-sourced light, unlike lasers, does not create a single hot spot and does not diffuse when it hits tissue. And Kerber has developed a patent-pending method of cooling diodes, which helps to prevent diode failure and, more importantly, reduces potential for damage to healthy cells surrounding a cancerous tumour. While he must overcome the tough hurdle of getting Canadian doctors to sign on to LED use in Tookad trials – even with Israeli help -- Kerber has also been talking to the Ontario Veterinary College. Dogs and humans are the only two species that naturally develop a lethal form of prostate cancer.

R2R Research to Receptor series The third in the Research to Receptor series will be held Oct. 16 at the CIBC Conference Centre, McMaster University. The London, Guelph and Hamilton R2R series offer a forum for researchers, academics and business executives to talk about functional food and nutraceuticals in Ontario, and new developments in the field. The afternoon event – from noon to an early evening wine and cheese reception – will include research going on at MaRS Landing and the University of Guelph, at McMaster University, at Brock University, and other centres. See www.ghbn.org for details.

Kerber clings to determined optimism in his desire to push LED technology in taking on cancer: “If we can see this move forward, it would be very exciting. . . This should be a treatment that (could be done) in a doctor’s office.” n 

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The heart of European bioscience

The capital crunch Canadian biosciences firms see access to capital as the No. 1 barrier to successful commercialization of their intellectual property, a nationwide survey has found. The 2007 Canadian Life Sciences Industry Forecast by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) also found that over two-thirds of the 92 respondents saw favourable tax incentives as government’s most important action to help improve global competitiveness. As for the industry itself, PwC executive John DeLucchi noted that recruiting “experienced senior management” was “the most important action” companies can take to improve their international standing.



Delegates from around the world, including Canada, are going to the heart of the European biosciences industry this month at EuroBio2007. Canadian researchers and innovators, many from the NiagaraHamilton-Halton area, are heading to Lille, France, for the largest bioindustry and bioscience event held in Europe. The Sept. 26-28 conference – with the working title, Meet Share Grow – brings together bio-stakeholders from Europe and around the globe. One aim of the event is to act as a catalyst in forging high-value collaborative projects in life sciences. Among the almost 200 speakers in four tracks – the biotech economy and business development, red biotech, green and white biotech, and technology transfer– are Dr. Alan Wildeman, of the University of

Guelph, talking about nutrigenomics, and Dr. Terry Sills, of the Ontario Cancer Biomarkers Network, speaking on biomarker use to optimize results and efficiency of clinical trials. Companies that will have delegates attending include Vinifera for Life, based in Jordan, Norgen Biotek Corp. of St. Catharines, and SiREM, of Guelph. Also attending will be Darlene Homonko, executive director of the Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network, based at McMaster University. Exhibitors in Lille come from the biopharma industry, agrifoods sector, environment and diagnostics industries, as well as capital-financing specialists. EuroBio 2006, held in Paris, attracted almost 5,000 attendees from 23 countries. n

Biosciences and the MINI frontier Nanometre: one-billionth of a metre; nanos, from the ancient Greek, meaning dwarf.

place at the molecular or atomic levels – echoing the 1966 sci-fi movie, Fantastic Voyage.

Nanotechnology – manipulating matter at atomic and molecular levels – exists on the frontier where physics, science, biology and chemistry converge. That tomorrowland has taken up residence at McMaster University.

Nano research offers enormous scope for technology cross-weaving. Engineers might develop new nanomaterials in creating ultra mini-tools and tool sets for automotive uses. That technology, in turn, might migrate to biosciences applications.

And now a new group is trying to connect all the micro-dots of nano research and study on campus. MINI – for McMaster Initiative in Nano Innovation – was formed to co-ordinate the studies, policies, economics and even the ethics of nano research.

Several faculties – science, health sciences, and engineering among them – are already doing nano work. MINI wants to bridge, or perhaps network, these related themes. That could lead to nano funding applications, to nano studies in business, to economic spinoffs, such as a nano-industry cluster.

“First and foremost, its main purpose would be to create one-stop shopping for all the nano activities at McMaster,” said MINI director John Preston. He is also director of the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research. The biosciences, rich with the promise of disruptive innovation at the nano level, are “probably the most important community initially for us to interact with,” said Preston. “The overlaps beween biotechnology and nanotechnology are huge.” For example, medicine increasingly focuses on targeting diseases at their source. Nanotech offers the hope of delivering encapsulated drugs right to a tumour – the so-called smart biobomb. All that takes

And new technologies often demand new regulations. The momentous leaps promised by nanotech – some zealots think it can reverse aging, defeat disease – lead to ethical questions about humankind working at the very foundations of nature. For now, MINI is not a centre or an institute but it is developing its own website. MINI involves a core group of fewer than a dozen people trying to embrace to all things nano-oriented at the university and in related health sciences hospitals. “This is the concept of convergence taken to its next logical step,” says Preston. n

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The next generation biopharma leader

Halton welcomes a new biopharma UCB Pharma Canada’s location in Burlington adds to the life sciences cluster developing in Halton Region. The Belgian multinational’s arrival last year was at least partly due to the area’s “increasing critical mass” of pharma enterprises and knowledge-based skills, said president and general manager Rob Hamilton. The company saw the GTA, and Halton, as a growth centre for biosciences firms. It helped too that UCB’s operations in Rochester are about a three-hour drive away. For now, the Canadian affiliate has only a few employees. But UCB Pharma plans to expand staff, resources and scope of operations over the next three or four years. The company joins other biopharma firms such as Wellspring Pharmaceutical, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Nycomed, and GlaxoSmithKline here. These technology firms see Halton as offering “proximity to markets, research, universities, hospitals and labour (skills),” said Elaine Holding, a former business development officer with the region. UCB (for United Chemicals Belgium) had global net sales of more than $2.1 billion Euros (more than $3 billion Cdn) in fiscal 2006. The publicly traded company

employs more than 8,000 people who work in about 40 countries, with major manufacturing sites in Belgium and in Rochester. Almost half of UCB sales are done in North America, the annual report indicates. Probably the company’s best-known drug is the allergy product marketed by Pfizer as Reactine, the world’s largest-selling antihistamine medication. UCB Pharma also markets drugs to treat epilepsy and Canada plans to launch neurology products, such as Neupro, in the near future for efficacy in treating epilepsy and movement disorders. UCB Pharma was also interested in creating a Canadian affiliate because of some specific health factors in this country. There is a high incidence of rheumatoid arthritis, of severe asthma and Crohn’s disease in Canada – all areas that UCB Pharma is pursuing. Its drug, Cimzia, for example, has been developed to target Crohn’s, arthritis, and chronic plaque psoriasis. UCB has several drugs in the discovery pipeline and is doing clinical trials, including research at McMaster University, says Hamilton, who worked for three other pharma companies prior to joining UCB Pharma. n

Decoding a puzzle down in the earth Sometimes, to help Mother Earth, you dig down into her roots. That’s what a McMaster University-led study involving six countries entails as it decodes how a common bacterium impacts soil and plant environment. The research could some day produce such huge gains as: • helping countries improve crop yield • reducing commercial fertilizer usage and pollution runoff • and enhancing soil fertility. The humble bacteria are rhizobia. As they inter-act daily with the root nodules of beans, peas, clover, alfalfa and similar host plants, they create natural fertilizer in a process called nitrogen fixation. The bacteria reduce dinitrogen (N2) gas to ammonium, used to create plant protein.

Fixation “is a much preferable method” of enhancing fertility than using expensive and polluting commercial fertilizers, says Turlough Finan, chair of the biology department at McMaster. And rhizobia leave behind excess nitrogen in the soil. If researchers could bio-engineer the genes of corn and wheat so they also engaged in nitrogen fixation, the benefits would be huge. That requires understanding how the bacterium’s genes function, learning which sugar and other compounds turn them on, and how they transport materials inside the plant. McMaster has led the way in decoding the previously unknown functions of more than 2,000 rhizobia genes. Much work remains to be done. “Right now, it’s a black box,” said McMaster biology professor Brian Golding. “There’s lots to figure out so everybody’s got a different question.” n

Life sciences and VC capital Biopharmas and other life sciences firms saw smaller VC investment in the second quarter of 2007 compared to last year, says the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association. The CVCA reports that $127 million went to 27 biopharma and life sciences companies. Overall, the sector secured 30 per cent of all VC capital invested, the same share as last year. VC investment in all sectors in Canada was down in Q2 but a strong first quarter pushed up total capital for the first half to just over $1 billion – up 21 per cent over last year.



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Innovation CafeTM Series Innovation in Horticultural Industry

On the Other Side Everything from financing to regulation to tax credits – that’s on the agenda for the Oct. 19 Cross-border Matching seminar at the Hilton Garden Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The all-day event is aimed at life sciences companies, particularly those in the medical devices field, that

Date: November 28, 2007 Time: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.  Location: Niagara College City: Niagara-on-the-Lake For more information: www.ghbn.org

Interact Sessions Vista Science & Technology Inc. Date: October 24, 2007 Time: 12:00 - 1:30 p.m.  Location: Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network, City: Hamilton For more information: www.ghbn.org

Top 10 Contracts Every Entrepreneur Needs To Have Speaker: Rudy Morrone, Associate, Gowlings Lafleur Henderson LLP Date: November 21, 2007 Time: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.  Location: Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network, City: Hamilton For more information: www.ghbn.org

are looking to do business

Events

in the United States or,

FDA Part II Seminar – Good Manufacturing Processes for Medical Devices     

conversely, in Canada. Seminar leaders will talk about legal issues, accessing capital and government grants, and navigating regulatory

Date: September 25, 2007 Location: Oakville Conference & Banquet Centre City: Oakville For more information: contact Marcelle at: [email protected]

environments.

Research to Receptor: Profiting from Active Food Date: October 10, 2007 Location: Brescia University College City: London For more information: www.marslanding.ca Date: October 11, 2007 Location: Springfield Golf & Country Club City: Guelph For more information: www.marslanding.ca Date: October 16, 2007 Location: CIBC Banquet Hall, McMaster University City: Hamilton For more information: www.marslanding.ca

Cross Border: Seeding Medical Technology Partnerships Date: October 19, 2007 Time: 7:30 a.m - 3:30 p.m. Location: Hilton Garden Inn City: Niagara-on-the-Lake For more information: www.ghbn.org

Hear it from the Grapevine Date: October 22, 2007 Time: 4:00 - 8:30 p.m.  Location: CCOVI and Chateau des Charmes City: Niagara-on-the-Lake For more information: www.tbionline.ca

Biofuels Discovery Workshop Date: October 29, 2007 Time: 8:00 a.m - 4:00 p.m. Location: CIBC Banquet Hall, McMaster University, City: Hamilton For more information: www.ghbn.org

Health Research in the City Date: February 6, 2008 Time: 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Location: Hamilton Convention Centre City: Hamilton For more information: www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca 

Go to www.ghbn.org for more details.

Contact

Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network McMaster University, Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery 5105-1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA L8N 3Z5

n Ana Paredes Office Administrator/Incubator Assistant – Tel: 905-525-9140 Ext. 26602 Fax: 905-528-3999 n Darlene Homonko Executive Director – Tel: 905-525-9140 Ext. 26609 Web: www.ghbn.org 

GHBN News is a quarterly newsletter published by GHBN. Director and editor: Darlene Homonko Writer: Mike Pettapiece

Contributor: Marg Leyland

Graphic Design: Nadia DiTraglia