What main milestones has Life Sciences BC achieved since you took over as CEO three years ago, and what is your vision for the association?
Since I joined, we collaborated with British Columbia’s government and wrote the first economic report that serves as a source of information on the life sciences sector and its rapidly growing ecosystem, highlighting the economic impact that its various players bring to the region. Covid-19 was a pivotal time for us and the industry rose to the challenge, more than we world realizes. LSBC coordinated with labs, companies, and medical manufacturers and dispensed PPE and critical medical supplies to the frontline and provincial hospitals to meet any shortages. Also, we switched entirely to virtual events. But one main thing became apparent –
BC has become a hub for academia and entrepreneurialism in the life sciences space, contributing to the first development of the vaccines and attracting more and more innovators.
My vision is for the association to keep fostering this incredible climate.
Can you expand on the role the region played in mobilizing research in the lipid nanoparticle mRNA space and what other therapeutic areas are being developed here?
BC played a critical role in crisis management during the Covid-19 pandemic. UBC professor Pieter Cullis is credited with laying the foundational technology behind lipid nanoparticle mRNA Covid-19 vaccines such as those manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, through his Vancouver based biotech company Acuitas. But we also played a key role in bringing to life the first therapeutic. AbCellera was part of the US BARDA project and entered into an agreement with Eli Lilly to co-develop antibody products for the treatment and prevention of Covid-19. Within a week of receiving the blood sample from one of the first U.S. patients who recovered from Covid-19, AbCellera’s platform delivered hundreds of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 with unprecedented speed. The future of the technology behind the vaccine is exciting with respect to its application to many other disease conditions. It’s a game changer and a validation of Pieter Cullis’ contributions that began 35 years ago.
Canada’s decentralized education system places high emphasis on entrepreneurial activity and economic growth with competition being the key catalyst of growth and innovation. British Columbia’s research-intensive universities and scientific expertise on lipid nanoparticles, precision medicine, HIV, and oncology makes it attractive to academicians and companies alike. Likewise, Canada has been making strides in the area of medical devices, with great successes such as StarFish Medical.
That makes it fertile ground for innovative start-ups to co-exist with well-established anchor companies and learn from them. What makes or breaks a start-up in life sciences?
Cutting-edge scientific research is the cornerstone, the type that solves real world problems. On top of that you also need capital, talent, and infrastructure to drive impact at scale. So, wet labs, manufacturing, intellectual property, data, and market access and adoption of your innovation are the way to go. Successful companies then reinvest either in their own research or early stage research in academic or research institutions.
What is the interplay between technology and life sciences and the resulting innovation examples?
BC has strong roots in the technology sector and takes a cross-disciplinary approach to health, climate change and aggrotech, so technological advancements play a pivotal role in the life sciences ecosystem. We also host one of the world’s largest and most advanced interactive and digital entertainment clusters, and a thriving gaming industry. You see that crossover between healthcare and computer games as well, with gamification in healthcare gaining momentum. AbCellera exemplifies the interplay between physics and biology with its proprietary antibody drug discovery technology. There is also a similar interplay between chemistry and other sciences. And this is just the beginning – tech is shaping the future of life sciences as we speak.
Interesting times ahead, indeed. What challenges is the industry gearing up to meet next, for a cluster that is still relatively young?
The local life sciences sector is stronger than ever, with cutting-edge research at our fingertips, but we are still in the early stages of commercialization, and attracting large companies. So, it goes back to the enablers and to sustaining a strong talent pipeline with the right mix of scientific and business leadership. Canada also has to strengthen its biomanufacturing capacity and enhance intellectual property laws and policies that enable business growth through maximizing collective intelligence. For companies to transition from concept to commercialization, we need a stronger regional supply chain. Vancouver has virtually zero wet labs at the moment.
What policies are in place to advance the industry and overcome these hurdles?
The BC government has never been more supportive, but there are a lot of competing demands. We need to keep doing what we have been doing, as with scientific success in an industry born to protect lives, comes prosperity for the region’s economy.
