Last year, Techcouver reported on a local property management firm helping turn a pocket of the city into a world-class bio-technology hub.
Low Tide Properties, co-founded in 2011 by Vancouver celebrity entrepreneur Chip Wilson, has been advancing Great North Way in Vancouver as a biotech hotspot within Canada.
This plan includes the launch of Lab 29, described as a “cutting-edge laboratory and office building,” slated to become operational in 2026.
While we look forward to the development, beyond Wilson’s project, Vancouver has long been home to biotech firms.
Take, for example, the venerable anchor STEMCELL Technologies, whose founders Connie and Allen Eaves are BC Tech Hall of Famers. STEMCELL has been innovating in the field since the 1990s and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
These days, the ecosystem is expanding, and mainstays like STEMCELL are joined by newer innovators just emerging onto the scene. It’s an exciting time for the sector.
Below, we recap some of the region’s bio-tech buzz throughout 2024.
Zymeworks’ Crazy Comeback
Zymeworks endured a rocky 2022 that included substantial layoffs and an unsolicited offer from investment firm All Blue Capital to acquire the publicly traded company for US$10.50 per share.
Since that low, however, shares in Zymeworks surged. Some momentum hails from the BC company receiving a $50 million private placement from EcoR1 Capital earlier this year.
In 2025, the biotech firm expects to achieve “significant events in our progress to make a meaningful difference in the lives of cancer patients,” according to chief executive officer Kenneth Galbraith.
Borealis Biosciences Breaks Stealth
RNA medicines company Borealis Biosciences emerged from stealth in August with $150 million in financing from investors Versant Ventures and Novartis.
Borealis was founded on the premise that a convergence of scientific and translational breakthroughs can enable RNA therapeutics to address major unmet needs for patients with kidney diseases, including an improved understanding of patient stratification and genetically defined targets.
The company builds upon Chinook Therapeutics, which Versant founded in 2019 before Novartis acquired it last year. The Borealis team is being led “key members” integral to research at Chinook, and Borealis’ research site is based in Vancouver at the 23,000-square-foot operating site formerly leased by Chinook.
Major Momentum for CereCura
A preclinical biotechnology company developing a disease-agnostic approach to overcome barriers to central nervous system treatments garnered attention from New Ventures BC in September.
Based out of Vancouver, CereCura Nanotherapeutics was founded by neuroscientists Louis-Philippe Bernier and Nicholas Weilinger alongside Brian MacVicar, Peter Cullis, and Richard Howlett in June of 2022.
Next-generation RNA therapeutics can address challenges of neurological diseases, the team believes. CeraCura’s products are lipid nanoparticle-based messenger RNA therapies, targeting brain diseases from chronic conditions like Alzheimer’s and ALS to acute conditions such as stroke and injury.
The biotech startup launched from the University of British Columbia’s Human Health Venture Studio, which established in 2021. Since then, CereCura graduated from the Creative Destruction Labs Advanced Therapies Global cohort. The startup has secured $2.7 million in total fundraising.
Nano’s Big Fall
In November, NanoVation Therapeutics raised financing from Convergent Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on founders working on science-based technologies impacting health.
The financing will support advancement of NanoVation’s lipid nanoparticle technology platform for RNA delivery to cells outside of the liver, including the completion of large animal studies.
The news built on a September announcement of a US$600 million multi-year partnership with Novo Nordisk to advance the development of novel genetic medicines targeting cardio-metabolic and rare diseases, capping a strong autumn for the firm.
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