I had the opportunity to witness policy development in action at the recent Medical Devices Summit co-organized by OCRI and the Medical Devices Innovation Institute.

Representatives from across the medical devices sector had gathered at the Summit on October 13-14 to assemble recommendations and strategies to achieve this sector’s potential for growth. The speakers, moderators, and audience included representatives from funding agencies, research institutes, venture capital, local and multinational companies, universities, and technical colleges. From among this variety of perspectives, the session moderators facilitated a balanced dialogue resulting in eight key recommendations supported by action steps. Topics included encouraging research investment, enhancing the education of young researchers and technology transfer professionals, identifying barriers to commercialization, and improving access to global & domestic markets.
The final report arising from the Summit promises to be a valuable resource for policymakers at all levels who seek to understand the many factors that are necessary to support innovation.

So how is it possible to take this discussion further? What’s going on in other sectors? How might strategies for strengthening the medical devices sector fit into a national science & technology strategy for Canada?

Opportunities for this type of dialogue are becoming more numerous, especially in Ottawa.

Just around the corner on November 18, the Chemical Institute of Canada is hosting a panel entitled “Drivers of Innovation in the Chemical-Related Industry Sector”. Representatives from the Ontario BioAuto Council, the Forest Products Association of Canada, DuPont Canada, and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers will give their perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of national and provincial policies that attract or hinder research investments in Canada’s largest chemical-related trade sectors.
Genome Canada’s GPS Series: Where Genomics, Public Policy, and Science Meet, facilitates dialogue on policy issues arising at the interface of genomics and its ethical, enviromental, legal, and social aspects. It includes a November 17 panel, open to the public, on “Genomics and Regulatory Science” which explores the evaluation of scientific and technological applications resulting from advances in genomics, and where the audience will be invited to participate in a plenary discussion to refine the policy brief.

The Canadian Cleantech Summit, which just took place on Oct 27 & 28, was another such forum, including three days of policy discussion relevant to environmentally friendly technologies.

These are just a few examples of how and where to learn about the current state of science & technology policy in Canada, and participate in discussions that help to shape it.

The Chemical Institute of Canada and Genome Canada events are both part of the Canadian Science Policy Conference, Nov 16-18 in the Ottawa Convention Centre. Conference highlights also include a special keynote address by Hon. Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) as well as presentations by chief scientists, a university president, three MPs, and two provincial legislators. OCRI members are eligible for a special discount on General registrations with promo code OCRI2011. For more information and to register, visit www.cspc2011.ca

An Thien Ngo, Ph.D. is the Ottawa outreach coordinator for the Canadian Science Policy Conference. The opinions expressed here are entirely her own. Contact her at an.ngo@sciencepolicy.ca

The 2011 Summit opens with a keynote presentation from Manny Villafaña, Chairman, CEO, and Founder of Kips Bay Medical, Inc. Every year, 250,000 Americans receive life-saving medical devices developed by companies founded by Mr. Villafaña, who has been designated a Living Legend of Medicine by the International Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons and been named a National Master Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. Drawing from years of experience in starting and growing companies, Manny will share his insights on what it means and what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

Following what promises to be an insightful and inspiring keynote session is a “can’t miss” panel discussion on the importance of medical devices for Canada. Sector leaders and experts, representing industry, academia and the research community, will take the stage to explore this $330B worldwide market that is growing at a rate of 8-20 per cent a year and expected to quickly reach a trillion dollars. Growth in the sector has been so strong, that the medical devices sector is now outperforming the pharmaceutical sector in terms of overall growth rate.

Breakout sessions will cover: policy to enhance R&D; commercialization; interdisciplinary skills training; access to domestic and global markets; venture funding for medical devices companies; and more. Carla Ubrich, a singing, songwriting humorist known as “The Singing Patient” will provide laughs with some entertaining healthcare humor at the banquet dinner.

Your opportunity to join this important discussion on the medical devices sector in Canada and take an active part in building a national medical devices strategy is here on October 13-14 at the 2011 Medical Devices Summit.

In a second indication of the increasing convergence of IT and healthcare, Vocantas also announced on February 17 that they had increased their team to meet growing demand.  “We’re excited to again be growing our development team as the need for our Interactive Voice Response Solutions continues to increase,” said Gary T. Hannah, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vocantas “.  Click here to read more about the newest members of the Vocantas team, Antonio Prado and Erick Cardenas-Mendez.

Thirdly, another Ottawa health IT company, PatientWay, announced on January 12 that Southlake Hospital in Newmarket became the first Cancer Centre to introduce a patient-friendly symptom and registration kiosk developed by PatientWay.  Click here to read more.

Of course, we also have a great forum right here in Ottawa for those looking to learn more about opportunities in IT and healthcare/life sciences:  OCRI’s IT in Healthcare luncheon series.  Click here to view videos of recent sessions and be sure to register for the next session on April 19, 2011 at www.ocri.ca.

Given Ottawa’s strong health/life sciences base and existing IT strengths, new things are happening every day! Keep posted for more news about convergence of IT with healthcare.

Currently, archives include media clips and entire presentations from our events to give you a full picture of what you’ve missed but going forward we’re just going to let you in on the Q&A. If you want more you’ll have to come check out an event to reap all the benefits of the presentation and networking.

Cheers!

The preliminary version of the asset map represents over 200 Ottawa Life Sciences organizations (including companies, research institution departments/laboratories, hospitals, and government departments) and it is working great – but we need everyone’s help to make it better. 

Our goal is to use the asset map to highlight Ottawa’s Life Sciences strengths and to promote opportunities for partnerships and collaboration both locally and internationally. 

Please take a look at the asset map and let us know what you think.  And if your organization is not on the map, please let us know! 

The asset map is very easy to use but 1:1 demos are always available as well – just contact Karen Robb, Manager, Life Sciences, OCRI at krobb@ocri.ca.

Since the start of the Canada’s Top 10™ Competition, winners from across ICT, Life Science and Cleantech have raised more than $600 Million in investment to really take their companies to the next level and become global players. Have a look at some past winners like Bel Air Networks, I Love Rewards, Variation Bioscience, Bioniche, and Paradigm Technologies or Menova Energy and you’ll know what I mean. These companies all had similar traits that made them catch the eye of investors, strategic partners, and customers – the Competition, its partners and sponsors, and its jury members including angels, venture capital and private equity investors from around the world, was just the catalyst to help get them in front of the right people at the right time.

What do winners receive for this prestigious honour of being named a winner? I’ve already mentioned that winners are chosen by investors that may have a direct interest in digging deeper into the companies they chose. Even more important than that however are the targeted road shows and events that winners will have a chance to participate in. In addition to a one day dedicated coaching session with partners and sponsors to get them ready to raise capital, other events where we will showcase the Canada’s Top 10™ winners of 2010 will include the Banff Venture Forum, the National Angel Capital Organization Summit, and a host of targeted investment and partnering events in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, Washington and locations in Europe. All for winners and alumni of the Canada’s Top 10™.

So what are we looking for in this year’s competition? First of all, applicants need to be raising funds in the next 12 months of $1M or more and must fall in to the broad categories of ICT, Life Sciences and Clean Technology. Technologies should be validated and there should be a defined market opportunity and path to market. A sales plan and a strong management team round out the high level categories. Keep in mind that an independent jury of investors makes the final decision based on their collective agreement on investing in an applicant. Think syndication in its simplest form with investors at least agreeing on the best investments.

I am looking forward to the road ahead and to seeing all of the applicants over the next two months. The competition is open now and will remain open until August 20, 2010. Winners will be announced in early September. You can find more information at www.topcanadiancompanies.com .

See you on the road.

You are probably wondering when I will land this “story airplane” and get to my food related point.  Well, the fact is that my grandfather was a visionary “tinkerer” who found ways to be innovative, efficient, and adaptive to the times.  Last week, I had the opportunity to meet some great people right here in rural Ontario doing the exact same thing, but as farmers.

It all started with a trip out to Eastern Ontario to visit some farms in and around Ottawa.

http://ow.ly/jlnd

http://www.pharmagap.com/news/pr/08-06-2009.html

This year’s program features presenters and panelists from the life sciences industry and other business sectors with a variety of backgrounds. Each will add their unique perspective to the conference’s theme: The Value Proposition.

You can check out the program, as well as other important conference information, at www.bionova.ca/bioport. Visit often, as additional details will be added as the event draws closer.

According to a 2009 survey by Harvard Business Review, 95% of global executives say face-to-face meetings are key to building long-term business relationships.  BioPort is your opportunity for face-to-face discussions with the region’s leaders from business, research and the organizations that support the life sciences industry in Atlantic Canada.

SDTC’s SD Tech Fund™ is accepting Statements of Interest
from September 2 to October 21, 2009

The SD Tech Fund™ invests in late-stage development and pre-commercial demonstration of clean technologies by Canadian companies. For more information please visit:

http://www.sdtc.ca/en/SOIinfo.htm