In 2014/2015 an outbreak of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (AI) struck British Columbia. A total of 13 poultry farms were affected and approximately 240,000 birds died or were destroyed to control the outbreak. In addition, the disease was detected in the USA where more than 48 million birds were lost and the outbreak was estimated to have cost US$3.3 billion and resulted in shortages and price increases for certain poultry products. Wild waterfowl are known…

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Edmonton based KMT Hepatech has been part of the Alberta delegation at BIO for several years now. Always on the search for new partners and always available to talk about its proprietary chimeric mouse, the effort has paid off. In another of my lightning hallway conversations from BIO2018 in Boston, Svetlana Sapelnikova talks about the success, and about a new challenge ahead. 

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One of the features of conferences such as the BIO International Convention hosted by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization in Boston this year, are the evening receptions. After a day of meetings and shaking hands with current and potential partners and clients, the evening receptions are a real change of pace. The entertainment is always interesting and this year the opening event at the Seaport Trade Centre featured a unique electronic drum group. In between sets…

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Sajeev Kohli has been engaged in some unique research aimed at developing a new way to use nanoparticles which can deliver targeted treatments for cancer and other diseases. Sajeev Kohil also happens to be a Grade 11 student at Sir John A Macdonald secondary school in Waterloo , Ontario. He has been working on his research with the mentoring of university level researchers and professors to give him advice and access to the facilities needed…

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Lyonbiopole is a one-stop shop for healthcare innovation in France. The objectives of the biocluster are to stimulate innovation in product development, solutions, and services in the life science sector. Located in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region, the network is spread across 15 research centres and has 208 members, which is a substantial increase since I first talked with the CEO several years ago. Human medicine, veterinary medicine, in vitro diagnostics, and medical devices and technologies…

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I have been at the BIO International Conference in Boston all this week and often meet people with busy schedules but who are involved in something new, different, or interesting. They don't have time to join me for a full interview but with recorder in hand I can have a quick conversation in the hallway or in the exhibit hall. One of those chance meetings was with Ryan Heit, Director of the Merck Accelerator in…

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Something I've heard a few of times at the BIO conference here in Boston is that it is a place where Canadians congregate.  We live in a big country and for many companies it is easier to meet up with other companies at a major gathering like BIO than it is to crisscross Canada. One of the people I caught up with is Chris Gardner, CEO of Sequence Bio. I talked to him 2 years…

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The drug industry has been close to finding a way to manufacture opioids using a yeast fermentation process. Close doesn't count however if you are missing the final gene in the pathway that you need to make a synthetic product. Now with a discovery by University of Calgary researcher Dr. Peter Facchini, that final step has been taken and the path is opening up to new possibilities in manufacturing novel painkillers. Dr. Facchini found the…

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In 2016, the Amgen Foundation and Change the Equation conducted a national (U.S.) survey showing that the majority (81%) of high-school students are interested in science. To keep that interest alive, research and practical experience in the U.S. and here in Canada shows that methods such as two-way, hands-on learning  are most likely to engage teenage students in biology. Then we need to add in some tools that help kids relate biology to real life.…

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Women in Bio is an organization with 12 Chapters in the U.S. and one in Montreal. Its mission is simple - encourage women to choose the life sciences as a career whether it is to be involved as a scientist, or one of the many other opportunities in biotech from marketing to leading from the C-Suite. I got 3 representatives from WIB (you'll hear them refer to themselves as exactly that - WIB) together as…

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