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Assunta Krehl

Go to MaRS - Canadian Newcomers Magazine - 0 views

  • nd development of new ideas. It provides not only office and lab space but also free mentoring assistance to new businesses in science, technology and social innovation. While there are probably no chickens hatching at MaRS, it wouldn't be at all surprising to find a company working on, say, a vaccine for bird flu. Approximately 20 incubator companies are currently housed at MaRS, including Clera Inc. - which is developing treatments for schizophrenia and depression; AXS Biomedical Animations Studio - a company that creates 3D medical animation for biomedical research and other applications; and Kanata Chemical Technologies (KCT), which has had great success developing catalysts for the chemical industry (catalysts speed up chemical reactions without being changed or consumed in those reactions
  • All of the above definitions could apply to the wider innovation community connected with the MaRS Centre. Located in the heart of Toronto's Discovery District - a 2.5 sq. kilometre downtown research district, MaRS is a non-profit environment for the birt
  • KCT founder and president Kamal Abdur-Rashid came to Canada in 1997 with a degree from the University of the West Indies
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  • With support from the Mississauga Technology Business Accelerator (MTBA) he started his business, which grew to occupy some state-of-the-art labs at MaRS and is about to take the next step forward by moving its business outside of the protecting and nurturing environment of MaRS. This is the entire purpose of MaRS, which says on its website (www.marsdd.com), "We measure our success through the companies that emerge after receiving help from MaRS." "The resources, the facilities, the training and everything else that MaRS is bringing to the table - we're able to capitalize on that and get off on a very solid footing," says Kamal. Inside the Incubato
  • Whether you're looking for work - or you want to start your own business, MaRS is one of the best places to start your search.
  • Everybody you talk to in the elevator, the hall, the cafeteria - they are all in the science field - so you can network with one another," says Ratheesh. "MaRS does not just provide research space, they are bringing business people, people with money." These are the connections that can turn your idea into a profit-making business that employs many people. This is exactly what MaRS is all about. As they say on their website, "MaRS connects the communities of science, business and capital and fosters collaboration among them." MaRS advisors are able to connect entrepreneurs with private funding opportunities as well as free educational programming and hands-on advisory services. Corporate sponsor CIBC funds an entrepreneurship lecture series, for example. Ratheesh adds, "Patent people are here as well, so if you have patentable technology, you can talk to them." Once you start your business, MaRS offers many supports. "When we had the lab space we had the chemical hood that had to be set up so MaRS came and provided people to set up our hood," explains Ratheesh. "They help us dispose of chemical waste, provide water service, fridge and freezer service - so these are all important. "For smaller companies that have problem buying fridges and freezers, they can use common equipment." MaRS facilities also include lecture theatres, meeting rooms and an auditorium. Growing Cultures Bacteria and tissue cultures aren't the only cultures that thrive in the MaRS environment. It's also a great place for newcomers from every culture to
  • Clera, one of many emerging companies housed in the MaRS incubator.
  • He says, "MaRS is a one-stop shop for job and information seekers. Here we have many companies - so quite a few job opportunities
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    A look at Canadian immigrants who started a business and are incubating at the MaRS Centre. KCT and Clera, MaRS Tenants tell their stories. Jan/Feb 2009
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    A look at Canadian immigrants who started a business and are incubating at the MaRS Centre. KCT and Clera, MaRS Tenants tell their stories.
Assunta Krehl

Pharmafocus.com - 0 views

  • Canada has always had to fight hard to attract talent and investment
  • MaRS Vital to Toronto's life sciences vision is MaRS (derived from Medical and Related Sciences) a non-profit organisation and business centre located in the heart of the city. Its core function is as a biotech incubator and business park, known as MaRS Discovery District. The venture was first established in 2000 to help foster and accelerate the growth of successful Canadian businesses and, after some uncertain times, it is now gathering momentum. A separate technology transfer office, MaRS Innovation, has also been established that, it is hoped, can be a world beater in its own right (see Turning good ideas into world beaters below). The location of the MaRS building in central Toronto is important, as it is just a stone's throw away from an existing cluster of universities and academic hospitals. MaRS has many links with other research-based organisations, including collaborations with three local universities, 10 academic teaching hospitals and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. MaRS occupies the Old Toronto general hospital, where insulin was first discovered by Best and Banting in 1921 and then developed for use in human trials. The 21st Century organisation can build on this heritage in patient-focused discovery and development. Formerly the head of venture capital firm Primaxis, Ilse Treurnicht is chief executive of MaRS Discovery District. She acknowledges the crisis in venture capital funding, and says Canada's sector has always had less access funds through this route than other countries. This is one of the drivers behind the search for a new approach. Treurnicht says the old models of building biotech and life sciences businesses have to be discarded, as they have failed to build companies with critical mass. She says MaRS' new 'Convergence Innovation' strategy of bringing science, capital and business together will pay off.
  • "We call our strategy 'Convergence Innovation' and what we are trying to do is move away from the old linear model of academics struggling in their spare time to build companies or entrepreneurs doing this in a very incremental way."It takes time and it has many risk points along the way. So using this Convergence centre model to create a much more dynamic organisation which can help accelerate good ideas towards the commercialisation." But she says Canada's geography and demographics are always going to be a challenge. "This is a very large country with a small population. If you think in terms of clusters and hub regions, Canada's business hubs are separated geographically, and there is not much in between in terms of people."That means we can't try to be a little United States, because we just won't show up on the radar. We have to take a different approach. We have to think about collaboration as our potential competitive advantage - that means using networks and associations to solve problems and build businesses."So as new opportunities emerge, we can take them to market faster and hopefully with a higher success rate." The centre currently accommodates numerous start up companies, as well as those providing legal and financial services to them. AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline also have offices on site. In all, MaRS provides mentoring for over 200 different companies across Ontario, and runs courses on entrepreneurship and preparing products for market.
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  • Transition Therapeutics is one of the companies based at MaRS, and is an example of a biopharmaceutical company that is taking a new approach to the science and business of drug development.
  • Now Toronto's MaRS Innovation (MI) has been launched to try to guide and accelerate these promising ideas out of the wilderness and onto the market. MI is a not-for-profit technology transfer company that will channel all the best ideas to come out of Toronto's renowned academic centres. In the Toronto and Ontario area there were between 14-16 different technology transfer offices in the different institutions, and MaRS Innovation resolved to bring these interests together into a single entity after industry partners told them it was an inefficient way to do business. Bringing together the different institutions under one umbrella organisation has been an arduous task for MaRS, but the reward could be considerable for all parties. MI now oversees probably the largest intellectual property pipeline of its kind, representing about $1 billion in annual research spending. This means MI will be a unified route for all of Toronto's academics and their institutions when they want to develop and commercialise a bright idea. Most importantly, investors from industry who are looking to collaborate will now be able to deal with just organisation and one IP process. MI will cover patentable ideas across a broad range of areas, and not just life sciences - the discovery pipeline in physical sciences, information and communication technology, and green technology ('cleantech') will all be funnelled through MI. MI now represents three universities, 10 academic teaching hospitals and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. MaRS Innovation, with support from MaRS and BioDiscovery Toronto, will advance commercialisation through industry partnerships, licensing and company creation.
  • ts chief executive is Dr Rafi Hofstein. Hofstein has been headhunted from Israel where he was chief executive of Hadasit, the technology transfer company of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem and chair of the publicly-traded company Hadasit BioHolding. He brings this considerable experience in technology transfer to what he thinks is a groundbreaking enterprise."MaRS Innovation is a unique global initiative, and I must commend the institutional leaders in Toronto for pulling this innovation powerhouse together to strengthen commercialisation output." He adds: "I believe this is going to modernise the whole notion of tech transfer." He says the scale and diversity of MaRS Innovation's remit puts it into a league of its own. Other research clusters elsewhere in the world have attempted similar projects before, but have been thwarted by the difficulty in bringing parties together. MaRS Innovation will also help launch and grow new spin-off companies and incubate them for 2-3 years to ensure a strong commercial footing. Hofstein says MI will also fund proof of concept trials which will persuade major pharma companies to invest in their development.
  • MI has just announced its first two commercialisation deals with academic partners in the city. The first is with the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital to develop stem cell from umbilical cords to treat cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neurological disorders. "With the Toronto area identified as a world-leading cluster in stem cell research, we are extremely excited to have identified this technology as our first commercialisation opportunity," said Dr Hofstein.
  • "Our partnership with MaRS Innovation on developing methods for using stem cells for diseases such as diabetes will allow us to work towards advancing care for these critical conditions."
  • The second collaboration is between MI and The University of Toronto (U of T) and involves a novel sustained release formulation of nitric oxide (NO) for applications in wound healing, including diabetic ulcers. "There are 300 million diabetics worldwide, of which some 15% develop troublesome foot ulcers. This wound healing technology is extremely exciting, making it an early commercialisation opportunity that MaRS Innovation has identified as being a potential win for some 45 million diabetics globally," said Dr Hofstein.
  • "This is one of many new commercialisation ventures that will be initiated by MaRS Innovation, our partner in commercialisation of research with 13 other academic institutions across the Greater Toronto Area," said Paul Young, U of T's vice-president, Research. "We at U of T are delighted that this innovation from Dr Lee will be taken to the marketplace to the benefit of society and the economy of Ontario and Canada." By aggregating the leading edge science of its institutional members and being a one-stop commercialisation centre for industry, entrepreneurs and investors, MI could really help put Toronto and Canada on the map."MaRS Innovation is deeply committed to facilitating strategic research collaborations with industry partners, strengthening the innovation capacity of Canadian industry through adoption of new technologies, and launching a new generation of robust, high-growth Canadian companies that will become global market leaders," added Dr Hofstein. "We look forward to working closely with all of our institutional members and to continue to jointly announce exciting commercial opportunities."
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    Canada has always had to fight hard to attract talent and investment. As stated in Pharmafocus.com, "MaRS Discovery District helps to foster and accelerate the growth of successful Canadian businesses." MaRS Innovation has also been launched to accelerate ideas onto the market.
Assunta Krehl

Smaller town, bigger edge - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

  • MaRS, a non-profit, collaborative entity of the university, provincial and federal governments and industry, which aims to turn these discoveries into commercial projects.
  • MaRS, a non-profit, collaborative entity of the university, provincial and federal governments and industry, which aims to turn these discoveries into commercial projects.
  • MaRS, a non-profit, collaborative entity of the university, provincial and federal governments and industry, which aims to turn these discoveries into commercial projects.
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  • Sure, some of the world's best biomedical minds work in Toronto's MaRS Centre and hospitals.
  • Sure, some of the world's best biomedical minds work in Toronto's MaRS Centre and hospitals.
  • Sure, some of the world's best biomedical minds work in Toronto's MaRS Centre and hospitals.
  • Sure, some of the world's best biomedical minds work in Toronto's MaRS Centre and hospitals.
  • Sure, some of the world's best biomedical minds work in Toronto's MaRS Centre and hospitals.
  • Sure, some of the world's best biomedical minds work in Toronto's MaRS Centre and hospitals.
  • Sure, some of the world's best biomedical minds work in Toronto's MaRS Centre and hospitals.
  • The closest thing to a would-be Waterloo in Toronto is the medical "discovery district" around College Street and University Avenue, near the University of Toronto and several teaching hospitals. In the midst of it is
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    MaRS aims to turn discoveries into commercial projects. Some of the world's best biomedical minds work in Toronto's MaRS Centre and hospitals.
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    Waterloo is getting better public traction with 500 tech companies, led by global juggernaut Research In Motion and its high-minded institutional spinoffs. MaRS aims to turn discoveries into commercial projects. Some of the world's best biomedical minds work in Toronto's MaRS Centre and hospitals.
Assunta Krehl

Toronto's $25 million commercialization "engine" celebrates the appointment of its Boar... - 0 views

  • MaRS Innovation is honoured to announce its permanent Board of Directors, who brings together a remarkable and broad set of experiences and networks to support the development of this dynamic partnership of Toronto research institutions.  Designed to enhance the commercial output of Toronto’s world-leading research cluster, MaRS Innovation is positioned to make a significant contribution to Canada’s innovation economy and the quality of life for Canadians and others around the world.
  • upported by the Government of Canada through the Centres of Excellence in Research and Commercialization (CECR) program, and its member institutions, MaRS Innovation is focused on converting important discoveries into a new generation of products, services and high value jobs. The newly appointed Board of Directors, which includes academic and business leaders from across Canada and the United States, has the targeted expertise to guide MaRS Innovation to deliver on this critical mission.   MaRS Innovation represents a unique collaborative model, which aggregates the exceptional discovery pipeline of 14 leading Toronto academic institutions to build a diversified portfolio of assets, and harness the economic and job creation potential of the best opportunities for Toronto, Ontario and Canada.
  • “MaRS Innovation is privileged to announce a Board of Directors of this caliber and breadth of skill,” said Mary Jo Haddad, Chair of the MaRS Innovation Board and President and CEO of The Hospital for Sick Children. “The collective experience and guidance of these individuals will be critical to developing a collaborative, integrated and agile approach to this transformational organization that will move Canada into its next phase of economic development.”
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  • W. Geoffrey Beattie – Deputy Chairman & President, Woodbridge Company Limited, Thomson Reuters Corporation, Toronto Christopher C. Capelli – Vice President, Technology Based Ventures, Office of Technology Commercialization, University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX Ron Close – Information technology entrepreneur, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, MaRS, and Executive Entrepreneur-in-Residence, The Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON Nicholas Darby – Formerly Director of Physical Sciences, Corporate Venture Capital, Dow Chemical Company, President, Darby & Associates Consulting LLC, Midland, MI  Mary Jo Haddad – President & CEO, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto Jacqueline H.R. Le Saux – Former General Counsel, North America and Corporate Secretary, Patheon, Inc., Toronto David A. Leslie - Chair, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and Former Chairman & CEO, Ernst & Young, Toronto Michael H. May – President & CEO, Rimon Therapeutics, Toronto Chandra J. Panchal – Founder, President & CEO, Axcelon Biopolymers Corp., Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC Ilse Treurnicht – CEO, MaRS Discovery District, Toronto Donald A. Wright – President & CEO, The Winnington Capital Group Inc., Toronto
  • MaRS Innovation serves as a business accelerator platform with a single point of entry for industry partners and investors.  It will increase the scale, scope and viability of IP offerings, and the quantity and quality of deal flow from partner institutions.  MaRS Innovation will also facilitate strategic research collaborations with industry partners, strengthen the innovation capacity of Canadian industry through adoption of new technologies from its member institutions, and launch a new generation of robust, high-growth Canadian companies that will become global market leaders.   The quality of the combined discovery pipeline will catalyze and attract sources of risk capital for translational research, market validation, company formation and growth.  “MaRS Innovation represents a unique and timely platform to contribute in a meaningful way to Canada’s knowledge economy, leveraging Toronto’s remarkable research excellence.  The vision and serious commitment of its members to work together to transform our commercialization results, and the support of the Federal Government, made this possible.  The announcement of this outstanding group of leaders to the Board of Directors for MaRS Innovation is an exciting step forward,” said Ilse Treurnicht, MaRS CEO and interim Managing Director of MaRS Innovation.
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    MaRS Innovation announced its permanent Board of Directors. MaRS Innovation is focused on converting important discoveries into a new generation of products, services and high value jobs.
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    MaRS Innovation announced its permanent Board of Directors. MaRS Innovation is focused on converting important discoveries into a new generation of products, services and high value jobs. Feb 6, 2009
Assunta Krehl

Test-tube industry - Canadian Business - 0 views

  • For Dr. John Evans, growing a strong biotechnology industry is much the same: cities must provide a nurturing environment where science and business can thrive together.
  • That's why Evans, former president of the University of Toronto and current chairman of Torstar Corp., is spearheading the $345-million Medical and Related Science initiative, or MaRS--a petri dish of sorts for commercializing science research. "A lot of intellectual property is being commercialized outside Canada," says Evans. "I think we've been slow in realizing just how important technology developments are to the economic future of the country. MaRS is an attempt to give this a kick into a higher gear." The centrepiece of the MaRS plan, which will officially launch May 12, is a 1.3-million-square-foot, five-building complex in downtown Toronto that will provide office and lab space for small and medium-size companies and incubators, including the not-for-profit Toronto Biotechnology Commercialization Centre. While Evans is reluctant to limit its scope, MaRS will generally focus on health-related technologies, from new drugs and genetic treatments to medical devices and imaging software. Branded a "convergence centre," it will also house a careful mix of support services: intellectual property lawyers, accountants, marketing experts, government funding organizations and venture capital financiers. Plus, start-ups will have access to all the latest equipment on site. For instance, MaRS is in talks with MDS Sciex to supply mass spectrometers, used in proteomics research.
  • But MaRS will be more than just a New Economy real estate development. Evans's intention is to funnel tenants' rent money into services--such as entrepreneurship seminars and angel-matching programs--that MaRS will offer to the broader biotech community. That's why MaRS's location is key: the centre will be built in the heart of what Toronto has dubbed the "Discovery District," a two-square-kilometre chunk of the downtown core, encompassing U of T and four major hospitals. From there, MaRS hopes to act as a network hub across Ontario, with links to research-intensive universities. "None of them," says Evans, "have the critical mass to put it all together on their own."
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  • MaRS's primary goal is to get Toronto and the rest of Ontario on the global biotech map. Evans came up with the concept in the late 1990s with Dr. Calvin Stiller, CEO of the labor-sponsored Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund, and Kenneth Knox, a former deputy minister for the Ontario government who's now CEO of MaRS
  • As far as schemes to support fledgling industries go, MaRS is refreshing. To start, it's a nonprofit corporation, not a government program, which will hopefully ensure that it runs more efficiently. The feds and the province of Ontario have each doled out $20 million for MaRS, and Toronto has donated in-kind $4.5 million. More than $12 million has come from a small pool of corporations, including Eli Lilly Canada and MDS, as well as individual donors like Joseph Rotman and Lawrence Bloomberg (who both sit on the MaRS board). U of T pitched in $5 million, and MaRS also did some innovative bond financing to round off the $165 million needed to build Phase I. "It was very important for us to not belong to anybody," says Evans.
  • Now MaRS's challenge is to get the word out. Its posted rate of $26 per square foot is very competitive for prime downtown real estate and is sure to attract attention, especially considering its customized lab space. But MaRS's success won't be measured by a low vacancy rate; getting the right mix of scientists, entrepreneurs and professionals is critical if it plans to commercialize some sustainable businesses. It won't happen overnight--in fact, it may be 10 years before anyone can gauge MaRS's impact. Seems growing a biotech industry isn't quite as easy as growing E. coli in a petri dish.
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    John Evans spearheads the MaRS project which will help to accelerate commercialization for scientific research. The official launch of the MaRS plan will happen on May 12, 2003.
Assunta Krehl

Look who just landed on MaRS - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

  • Look who just landed on MaRS
  • MaRS was known for just that – putting a collective roof over the heads of Canada's out-of-this-universe thinkers. Aside from hosting the unlikely duo of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dalton McGuinty at a funding announcement two years ago, the centre seems enveloped in galactic silence.
  • corner of College and University
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  • the country's most significant collection of scientific and medical researchers.
  • This week, a program called MaRS Innovation announced the appointment of its first full-time president, Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein, a Harvard-trained, Israeli biomedical wizard who wants to bring together companies, scientists and funding under one roof to create a special alchemy of science and shekels.
  • Since its inception, MaRS has focused on turning big ideas into commercial projects. The difference between the two entities is that pretty much anyone with an idea or discovery could come to MaRS for support, regardless of whether they had their “eureka” moment in a state-of-the-art research lab or in their garage. MaRS Innovation, a separate endeavour with its own board of directors, only works with researchers from its 14 partner institutions, which include some of the most prestigious universities and hospitals in Canada. The goal of that project is to do the kind of work those institutions would normally try to do in-house, but on a bigger scale and, the project's backers hope, with better results.
  • MaRS Innovation is very much in its infancy. Officially launched last June, the project is barely a year old, and the board of directors was only announced this February. It has secured about $25-million in funding over five years to be used for commercialization of projects.
  • Dr. Hofstein is giving himself two to three years to roll out a success story – be it the creation of a new small company founded on the back of a researcher's drug discovery and funded by a big pharmaceutical firm, or a new discovery that, packaged properly, attracts serious venture-capital money.
  • The federal government has also taken notice, naming MaRS Innovation as one of 11 new “Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research,” a designation that came with almost $15-million in funding.
  • California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at MaRs with Premier Dalton McGuinty after a tour of the building in 2007.
  • Indeed, the MaRS Innovation model of pushing for commercial applications of research seems to be directly in line with the philosophy of the Conservative government, which clearly favours practical results when it comes to funding for scientific research.
  • But those tasks involve two separate skill sets, Mr. Tabrizi suggests, and may be much better suited to a place such as MaRS, where academic and industry heavyweights converge.
  • Many of MaRS's biggest partners are in health care, and Dr. Hofstein is jumping in with a list of priorities that includes focusing on stem-cell research and oncology.
  • MaRS itself has always been good at bringing people from various sectors together, but there's no guarantee that Dr. Hofstein's plan will work, especially in the two-to-three-year timeline he mentions when talking about a rollout date for the first MaRS Innovation projects.
  • Indeed, Mr. Tabrizi says some Silicon Valley insiders marvel at what MaRS Innovation is trying to do. “I think there's something innovative there,” he says. “Something different is being done.”
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    MaRS Innovation announced the appointment of its first full-time president, Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein.
Assunta Krehl

Aggregate Therapeutics to play a key role in commercializing stem cell discoveries - 0 views

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    Biotechnologies au Canada: l'exemple de l'Ontario in Industrie Pharmaceutique, May 22, 2009 mentions that MaRS Discovery District is an Innovation Centre and mentions how it helps entrepreneurs to commercialize their research.
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    Cluster Growth Through Collaboration article in Ciencia Conocimiento Tecnologia, March 20, 2009 mentions about the MaRS story, MaRS' mission and programs and resources offered to entrepreneurs.
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    Cluster Growth Through Collaboration article in Ciencia Conocimiento Tecnologia, March 20, 2009 mentions about the MaRS story, MaRS' mission and programs and resources offered to entrepreneurs.
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    Cluster Growth Through Collaboration article in Ciencia Conocimiento Tecnologia, March 20, 2009 mentions about the MaRS story, MaRS' mission and programs and resources offered to entrepreneurs.
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    From Mars to MaRS - Taking engineering innovation to the world from Globe and Mail Supplement. Article features MaRS and Krista Jones states "MaRS helps emerging start-up and entrepreneurial companies commercialize promising innovations." Jones states that "40% of MaRS Clients are engineering-based companies."
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    Sowing the Seeds, Toronto Board of Trade member magazine, Dec 1, 2007. Skymeter Corp is working on a GPS technology for toll collection, parking management, and pay-as-you-drive insurance. The article talks about how entrepreneurs go about raising capital.
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    As stated in Burrill Canadian Biotech News, "MaRS Discovery Distruict and Canadian Stem Cell Network have entered into a partnership agreement to pursue long-term publc oro private financing for the translational development activities currently being undertaken by Aggregate Therapeutics."
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    As stated in Burrill Canadian Biotech News, "MaRS Discovery District and Canadian Stem Cell Network have entered into a partnership agreement to pursue long-term public or private financing for the translational development activities currently being undertaken by Aggregate Therapeutics."
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    As stated in Burrill Canadian Biotech News, "MaRS Discovery District and Canadian Stem Cell Network have entered into a partnership agreement to pursue long-term public or private financing for the translational development activities currently being undertaken by Aggregate Therapeutics."
Assunta Krehl

Science City - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

  • This is Toronto's research district, a maze of concrete and glass where the finest minds collaborate, turning the city into a global centre of biomedical discovery.
  • Nine research institutes employing 5,000 university faculty members, 2,000 graduate students and 1,100 postdoctoral and clinical fellows lie within a 20-minute walk of each other. This biomedical cluster at the heart of Toronto is one of the largest on the continent, and is one of the 10 largest in the world.
  • Tom Hudson from Montreal; cell biologist Ben Neel from Boston; and stem-cell biologist Gordon Keller, who came to Toronto in 2006, just months after New York magazine named him one of the scientists that city could not afford to lose. Toronto is also home to Tak Mak, who discovered the "key to the immune system" T-cell receptor, and John Dick, who discovered the first cancer stem cell in 1994 and last year grew a human cancer in a lab mouse for the first time.
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  • "There's an enthusiasm in the research community that's very exciting to be part of," says Dr. Keller, who now heads the McEwan Centre for Regenerative Medicine.
  • Dr. Hudson, who left Quebec to head the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, says the city's "tremendous power" is built on a strong history: Stem-cell research began here. "It's innovative," he says of Toronto. "I've never felt closer in my research career to thinking we will have an impact. I feel my goals are going to happen here."
  • Still, John Evans, board chairman of the non-profit MaRS Centre, which helps to turn research into viable businesses, envisages a day when research is seen as a social and economic driver, and the city shines as brightly as better-known centres such as Boston and Palo Alto.
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    Tenille Bonoguore, Globe and Mail features the MaRS Centre and meets 12 of its' "best specimens." MaRS is one of the 10 largest biomedical clusters in the continent.
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    Tenille Bonoguore, Globe and Mail features the MaRS Centre and meets 12 of its' "best specimens." Bonoguore states "MaRS Centre is one of the 10 largest biomedical clusters in the continent." Jan 5, 2008
Assunta Krehl

Ontario research organizations join forces - ITBusiness.ca - 0 views

  • Three technology research centres in Ontario Monday said they have agreed to work together to help the province compete more effectively against countries like India and China.
  • Communitech is working with the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, an economic development corporation located in the nation's capital, and the MaRS Discovery District, a Toronto-based not-for-profit geared towards the commercialization of scientific and technological intellectual property.
  • The three organizations have agreed their partnership will function under the name the MaRS Network. MaRS is by far the youngest of the three organizations – Communitech is almost a decade old and OCRI is about 25 – but has become a business force since it opened last year.
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  • MaRS originally stood for Medical and Research Sciences, but has since shied away from that label, said Ross Wallace, director of corporate strategy. The organization doesn't want to be pigeonholed as being just a life sciences or biotechnology outfit -- it lends equal weight to information communications and advanced manufacturing. MaRS may be Toronto-based, but its mandate is province-wide, said Wallace. By joining forces with organizations in other parts of Ontario, MaRS is more likely to fulfill that mandate, he said.
  • The three organizations aim to share best practices and contacts, and lean on the strengths of their respective regions. All three may have good venture capital resources, for example, but specialties that may be peculiar to a certain area.
  • Dale added that the MaRs Network is open to working with other Canadian technology organizations, including those with a national or a regional focus.
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    Communitech, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, and the MaRS Discovery District have ageed to work together to help the province compete more effectively against countries like India and China. These three companies partnership will function under the name MaRS Network. May 29, 2005
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    Communitech, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, and the MaRS Discovery District have ageed to work together to help the province compete more effectively against countries like India and China. These three companies partnership will function under the name MaRS Network.
Assunta Krehl

Want to learn about innovation? Head to Toronto - Business Innovation Factory - 0 views

  • Probably most impressive was The MaRS Centre - an old hospital converted into a non-profit innovation centre connecting science, technology and social entrepreneurs with business skills, networks and capital. The building is undeniably cool. Located in Toronto’s “Discovery District” -- two square kilometres have been designated as the city’s center of innovation. The MaRS Centre is a gateway of sorts to Canada’s largest concentration of scientific research. It’s anchored by major teaching hospitals, the University of Toronto and more than two dozen affiliated research institutes.
  • MaRS Centre from the outside
  • MaRS was created in 2000. The founding group raised significant capital (almost $100 million from all three levels of government and both institutional and individual private sector donors and an additional $130 million of debt and credit lease instruments were also secured) to support the development. What’s so clear is that leadership to drive public/private sector collaboration is required to effect real change. Many credit Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty for helping to not only create the MaRS Centre but also invigorate the region as a whole.
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  • Martin has transformed the Rotman School from a mediocre Canadian business school to a world-class institution. It’s one of the few business schools around with an innovative curriculum built around the fundamentals of design thinking. Martin believes designers approaches to thinking and problem-solving can and should be applied to all components of business (He calls it integrative thinking and business design.) Most of our own processes here at the Business Innovation Factory are firmly rooted in design thinking principles.
  • Martin also managed to lure Richard Florida to Toronto in 2007 to direct the Rotman School's new $120-million Martin Prosperity Institute. Spinning off from much of Florida's research, the institute's goal is to build a leading think-tank on the role of sub-national factors – location, place and city-regions – in global economic prosperity. By taking an integrated view of prosperity, the institute will look beyond economic measures to include the importance of quality of place and the development of people’s creative potential. I'm looking forward to ongoing conversations with our new friends at the Rotman school. I suspect there might even be a collaboration or two about to happen as well. Bottom line: if you want to learn about innovation, Toronto is the place to be.
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    Chris Flanagan talks about the benefits of moving to Toronto and the great work happening at the MaRS Centre. Mention of Martin transforming the Rotman School to a "world-class institution" ... that has "an innovative curriculum built around the fundamentals of design thinking." There is also a mention of the Martin Prosperity Institute spin off.
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    Chris Flanagan talks about the benefits of moving to Toronto and the great work happening at the MaRS Centre. Mention of Martin transforming the Rotman School to a "world-class institution" ... that has "an innovative curriculum built around the fundamentals of design thinking." There is also a mention of the Martin Prosperity Institute spin off. Oct 30, 2008
Assunta Krehl

MaRS Innovation appoints president and CEO - University of Toronto -- News@UofT - 0 views

  • MaRS Innovation appoints president and CEO
  • A research commercialization leader from Israel, Dr. Raphael Hofstein, has been named president and CEO of the new MaRS Innovation initiative.
  • MI was created as a single, market-facing commercialization storefront for Toronto's university and health research institutions. Located in the MaRS Discovery District complex, with business development and administrative support from MaRS, MI will advance commercialization through industry partnerships, licensing and company creation. MaRS Innovation (MI) was founded in 2008 with $14.95 million in funding from the Government of Canada's Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) Programme, matched by $10 million from the research partners. The MI partnership includes U of T, the 10 partner hospitals and health research institutes affiliated with the university, Ryerson University, the Ontario College of Art & Design, BioDisocovery Toronto, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and MaRS. Hofstein joins MaRS Innovation from his previous position as president and CEO of Hadasit Ltd., the technology transfer company of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem.
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  • "MaRS Innovation is a unique global initiative, and I must commend the institutional leaders in Toronto for pulling this innovation powerhouse together to strengthen commercialization output. In my experience, good science is the single most important ingredient for success in this business. Toronto is already known as one of the strongest science cities in the world, and it continues to grow. Leading MaRS Innovation is a wonderful opportunity to do something remarkable."
  • Dr. Tim McTiernan, assistant vice-president (research) and executive director of The Innovations Group (TIG), U of T's research commercialization operation, said Mars Innovation will provide significant benefits to U of T.
  • And he said that MI's role as a resource "is like putting a turbo charger on an engine. Having MI working with us and the other member organizations is a huge step in taking advantage of the enormous potential in the Toronto research community. Commercialization offices acting independently will not be able to manage in nearly as effective a manner as will be possible with the expertise of MaRS Innovation."
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    Dr. Raphael Hofstein named president and CEO of the new MaRS Innovation initiative.
Assunta Krehl

MaRS Discovery District - News - News Releases - 2009 - Toronto's MaRS Discovery Distri... - 0 views

  • Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District has combined the creative genius of science and technology with the drive of entrepreneurs and capital to create a marriage that will see more Canadian ideas commercialized in this country and for those efforts it has won the Canadian Urban Institute’s 2009 Creative City Award to be granted to MaRS on June 5 at the Urban Leadership Awards in Toronto.
  • “MaRS has found a creative way for science and business to collaborate rather than compete and to help Canada become a knowledge-based economy. This award recognizes them as a leader in stimulating the creative capacity of the city and advancing entrepreneurship, not only in science and technology but also in social ventures. 
  • Located in the Discovery District of Toronto, where billions of dollars of creative capital are created every year, the MaRS Centre first opened in 2005 in two new towers that bookend a heritage building that once housed the Toronto General Hospital. The three buildings, that total 700,000 sq. ft, house labs, companies of all sizes, business advisors and investors. Its professional services include hands-on advisory services, entrepreneurial programming and both structured and electronic networking. A second building phase of the MaRS Centre will add 750,000 sq ft and is planned to open in the next few years. “The underlining reason for creating MaRS is to capture the value of Canadian discoveries and to better commercialize these innovations at home in Canada,” said MaRS CEO Ilse Treurnicht. “Hub cities like Toronto are key drivers in shaping Canada’s innovation economy. MaRS works to strengthen the pull of that hub, acting as an accelerator and building the best ideas into companies that can compete on the world stage but are anchored here,” said Treurnicht.
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    "Mention of the the Canadian Urban Institute's 2009 Creative City Award being granted to MaRS on June 5 at the Urban Leadership Awards in Toronto."
Assunta Krehl

MaRS Awarded $1.3 Million By Rockefeller Foundation and J.W. McConnell Family Foundatio... - 0 views

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    MaRS Discovery District announced   substantial funding support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation will be made available for the Centre for Impact Investing, to be housed at MaRS.
Assunta Krehl

MaRS Entrepreneurship 101 Series: Week 1 - Techvibes - 0 views

  • MaRS Centre in Toronto runs a free entrepreneurship program from Sept to April called "Entrepreneurship 101" designed to teach those in the local scientific community the ins and outs of getting started with a business. Over the course of the program they cover topics ranging from how to write a business plan to protecting your intellectual property and get various prominent speakers to share their experiences as well. Classes are held 5:30pm to 6:30pm on Wednesdays, at the MaRS Centre (located in downtown Toronto). If you are in town, this is a great opportunity to learn. It is also completely free to attend - all you gotta do is sign up and show up and by the end of it, you'd be fairly well acquainted with the tools and knowledge you need to start your own hi-tech business, which is what the government and the folks behind MaRS Center want at the end of the day. MaRS is also making available full recordings of each of its classes online, which Techvibes would be posting on a weekly basis so you can still learn from the program if distance is an issue.
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    MaRS Centre in Toronto runs a free entrepreneurship program from Sept to April called "Entrepreneurship 101" every Wednesday from 5:30-6:30pm. MaRS is also making available full recordings of each of its classes online, which Techvibes would be posting on a weekly basis so you can still learn from the program if distance is an issue. Oct 13, 2009
Assunta Krehl

Building a Successful Biotech Incubator - 0 views

  • MaRS aggregates the discovery pipelines of its member institutions, which include three universities, 10 academic teaching hospitals, and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.
  • MaRS is another good example. Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, the MaRS facility is less than a mile from five major teaching hospitals, the Ontario legislature, and the University of Toronto. More than two dozen research institutes and Toronto’s financial district are also nearby.
  • Consequently, MaRS is a vertical incubator, with a wide variety of companies and stages of development. That mix helps companies better understand the conditions that foster growth. MaRS is home to more than 65 organizations, including The Hospital for Sick Children, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Merck Frosst Canada, the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Celtic House Venture Partners, AIM Therapeutics, and AstraZeneca Canada.
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  • “Collaboration is the essence of the new economy,” insists Ross Wallace, director of strategic partnerships at MaRS. “There’s a new focus on the power of institutions to generate intellectual property and ideas, and then build around them.”
  • MaRS has a virtual education program dubbed “Entrepreneurship 101.” One February class features budgeting, another agrifood innovation. The classes are available at no cost, and anyone can register. The program also includes blogs and discussion groups such as the drug development and cancer targets groups. So far, MaRS has relied on viral marketing to get the word out.
  • To provide that expertise, MaRS developed the MaRS Venture Group. This team of experienced investors, entrepreneurs, technology experts, and advisors works with companies to help them bridge the gap between entrepreneurial start-up and experienced growth company. The Venture Group provides market intelligence as well  as advisory services such as strategic planning, partnership and alliance building, intellectual property management, marketing and communications, sales strategy, channel development, financing, and human resource development. It works with groups outside the MaRS orbit, too.
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    To have a successful biotech initiative proximity to academic hubs and capital remains a crucial factor in hatching a thriving cluster. MaRS Discovery District is a good example of a vertical incubator and offers many services to help entrepreneurs at different stages.
Assunta Krehl

MaRS Discovery District - News - News Releases - 2009 - MaRS Innovation selects diabeti... - 0 views

  • MaRS Innovation and The University of Toronto (U of T) are pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement to collaboratively commercialize a novel sustained release formulation of nitric oxide (NO) for applications in wound healing, including diabetic ulcers. 
  • This wound healing technology is extremely exciting, making it an early commercialization opportunity that MaRS Innovation has identified as being a potential win for some 45 million diabetics globally,” said Dr. Rafi Hofstein, President and CEO of MaRS Innovation. 
  • disruptive technology that facilitates continued therapeutic release of NO over a two week period has been developed by Dr. Ping Lee, Professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and GlaxoSmithKline Chair in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery at U of T.
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  • This is one of many new commercilization ventures that will be initiated by MaRS Innovation, our partner in commercialization of research with 13 other academic institutions across the Greater Toronto Area,” said Paul Young, U of T’s Vice-President, Research. “We at U of T are delighted that this innovation from Dr. Lee will be taken to the marketplace to the benefit of society and the economy of Ontario and Canada.” 
  • With the launch of this second commercial opportunity, MaRS Innovation will continue to aggregate the exceptional science of its institutional members by being a one-stop commercialization centre for industry, entrepreneurs and investors. MaRS Innovation is expediting the transformation of the Toronto-based research into a powerful commercialization engine. 
  • “MaRS Innovation is deeply committed to facilitating strategic research collaborations with industry partners, strengthening the innovation capacity of Canadian industry through adoption of new technologies, and launching a new generation of robust, high-growth Canadian companies that will become global market leaders,” added Dr. Hofstein. “We look forward to working closely with all of our institutional members and to continue to jointly announce exciting commercial opportunities.”
  • MaRS Innovation is dedicated to bringing brilliant discoveries to market by converting the outstanding science of its member institutions into outstanding economic results for Canada and the world.
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    MaRS Innovation and The University of Toronto (U of T) announce that they have entered into an agreement to collaboratively commercialize a novel sustained release formulation of nitric oxide (NO) for applications in wound healing, including diabetic ulcers.
Assunta Krehl

MaRS Awarded $1.3 Million By Rockefeller Foundation and J.W. McConnell Family Foundatio... - 1 views

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    MaRS Discovery District announced  substantial funding support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation will be made available for the Centre for Impact Investing, to be housed at MaRS.
Assunta Krehl

MaRS to launch Centre for Impact Investing - The Globe and Mail - September 28, 2011 - 0 views

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    MaRS Discovery District announced  substantial funding support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation will be made available for the Centre for Impact Investing, to be housed at MaRS.
Assunta Krehl

MTS Allstream and MaRS partner to showcase innovative green technologies at the 2009 Al... - 0 views

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    "MTS Allstream Inc. ("MTS Allstream") has partnered with MaRS Discovery District ("MaRS") - a leading innovation centre that supports Canadian innovation by connecting science, technology and social entrepreneurs with business skills and capital. MaRS will showcase new and dynamic green technologies at the 2009 Allstream Global Forum: An Evening with Vice President Al Gore being held November 24 at the Allstream Centre, Toronto. "MaRS will showcase the following three emerging Canadian companies at this year's "Green Gallery of Innovation": Echologics Engineering Inc.,Skymeter Corp., and Clean Energy Developments. Nov 6, 2009
Assunta Krehl

Global Giant Seeks Ontario Biotech Deal - National Post - 0 views

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    Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc is establishing its first Canadian sales office in Mississauga ON, but they have also confirmed that they are considering to become a MaRS tenant. Merck Frosst Canada announced that they will become a tenant in the MaRS Centre.
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    Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc is establishing its first Canadian sales office in Mississauga ON, but they have also confirmed that they are considering to become a MaRS tenant. Merck Frosst Canada announced that they will become a tenant in the MaRS Centre. July 10, 2005
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