TBI Hosts the Life Science Coalition

On Sep. 17, 2008, representatives from companies, industry organizations, government agencies as well as academia gathered at the Renaissance Airport Hotel & Conference Center for the Life Science Coalition (LSC) - a collective initiative to promote Ontario as a world-class Life Sciences cluster. The objective of this meeting, hosted and organized by TBI, was to discuss the issues and priorities in shaping the future of Ontario Life Sciences industry, and plan productive collaborations.

Sean Kelly (from Pfizer Canada) and Rosemarie Childerhose (from Rx & D) began the session by recapping the results from a previous LSC Phase II survey on enhancing the role of Life Sciences as a contributor to the Ontario economy, through public policy alignment. Several of the key results were later brought up in discussions over measures that can be taken to achieve this goal.

Grant Tipler (President, TBI and Head, Life Sciences and Health Services, RBC) introduced a vision for Life Sciences in Ontario – as a sought after destination for developing & commercializing technologies in the life sciences arena. He engaged the participants in a very enthusiastic discussion of their own visions for the province, along with comments on finer issues, like the scope of this vision and a time frame as well as concrete measures required to realize this vision.
The group then discussed Ontario’s branding and positioning on a global platform. BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) was recognized as the most popular event, with a lot of potential to showcase the brilliance of Ontario Biotech. Besides BIO, other notable conferences include BioContact Quebec, BioPartnering North America (BC), ASCO, and Medical Devices Conferences.

Sam Lee (TRRA) and Robert Foldes (YORKBiotech) moderated an active roundtable dialogue on issues related to collaborations and commercialization. Ideas from each table were shared in building a consensus on the issues that ought to be prioritized for the next 5 years. Everyone agreed that one of the immediate actions that could be taken was active and productive networking between companies as well as with government and industry organizations.

Several organizations have been supporting & steering the LSC, like the Ontario Agri-Foods Technologies, Toronto Region Research Alliance, MaRS Landing, YORKbiotech, MEDEC, Rx&D, TBI as well as Pharma and Biotech Companies and Consultants.

The Life Sciences Summit, also hosted and organized by TBI (date and location TBA) to discuss and finalize position papers on topics including access to capital, uniform IP policy and Government procurement.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Arti Sinha
Koenig & Consultants Inc.
60 Haliburton Ave.
Toronto, Ontario, M9B 4Y4
Office: +1.416.640.0773
www.koenigconsultants.ca