SPOTLIGHT:
Due North

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By Kristine Archer

Companies from across the country were among those chosen as Canada’s Top 10 Life Sciences Companies, as determined by the Ottawa Life Sciences Council (OLSC) (Ottawa, ON).
Finalists for the annual award were announced in advance of the OLSC’s annual conference, BioNorth, where the finalist companies were featured presenters. The ten winning companies — five in the early-stage category and five in the emerging and late-stage category — also earned inclusion in three U.S.-based investment forums in 2006.
Entrants were evaluated by an international panel of life sciences venture capitalists who determined which of the contenders offered the best investment and partnership prospects.

A brief overview of each finalist is presented below.

Early-Stage Companies

Axela Biosensors Inc. (Toronto, ON)
Founded by University of Toronto (Toronto, ON) chemistry professor Cynthia Goh, PhD, Axela is focusing on the commercialization of its Diffractive Optics Technology (DOT™) Sensor, an optical biosensor that uses microfluidics and photonic technology to deliver unique benefits to users. The technology is designed to accommodate several applications, such as biomarker discovery, protein confirmation, target identification, small molecule interaction, quantitative antibody/antigen measurement, on- and off-rates of molecules, as well as real-time kinetic information analysis.

iCo Therapeutics Inc. (Vancouver, BC)
Choosing to focus on development in lieu of research, iCo Therapeutics acquires drugs that are either off-patent, currently approved or close to commercialization. These drugs are then redosed or reformulated — in some cases, by adding a drug-delivery technology — for use in isolated biological environments, such as the eye, spinal cord and joints. The company’s first product is iCo-007, licensed from Carlsbad, Calif.-based Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., for treatment of eye diseases related to new blood vessel formation.

Innodia Inc. (Montreal, QC)
Innodia concentrates on in-licensing early-stage compounds for treatment and prevention of Type 2 diabetes. Founded in 2002, the company’s lead product is ID 1101, a novel anti-obesity drug that increases insulin secretion in the pancreas while decreasing diabetes-related insulin resistance. It is currently undergoing an escalating, multiple-dose human Phase 1b clinical trial. The company also has three other compounds in early-stage development, and has established collaborations with several world-renowned diabetes research centres around the globe.

Trillium Therapeutics Inc. (Toronto, ON)
Founded in 1996 under the name Transplantation Technologies Inc., Trillum Therapeutics focuses on the discovery and development of therapies for immune-mediated diseases. The company has six potential products across three R&D programs currently in preclinical development. Trillium’s lead product, CD200Fc — a soluble version of the immunoregulatory molecule CD200 — has been shown to exhibit significant immunosupressive qualities, showing efficacy in the treatment of transplantation, fetal loss, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

Variation Biotechnologies Inc. (Gatineau, QC)
Born out of more than 20 years of research, Variation Biotechnologies uses its Varitosite platform technology to generate vaccines and immunologicals for viral infections, such as influenza, HIV and hepatitis C. Varitosite uses bioinformatics to design vaccines that account for the genetic variability of viruses, creating a vaccine that induces neutralizing antibodies, killer T-cells and T-helper cells specific to a given virus’s genetic variations.

Emerging and Late-Stage Companies
Allon Therapeutics Inc. (Vancouver, BC)
Neurodegenerative conditions are the main focus of this drug-discovery and development company, which currently has two compounds undergoing clinical trials. AL-108 is an NAP-based, intranasally formulated neuroprotective peptide comprised of eight amino acids that is being evaluated as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. AL-208, which has the same composition in an intravenous formulation, is being tested as a treatment for mild cognitive impairment associated with cardiac bypass surgery. Allon’s pipeline also includes three preclinical-stage compounds.

BioAxone Therapeutic Inc. (Montreal, QC)
Founded in 2000, BioAxone deals solely with Rho and Rho-related pathways, developing drugs for disease indications where largely unmet medical needs exist: spinal cord injury, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. The company’s lead product is BA-210, an engineered variant of C3 exoenzyme, a naturally occurring bacterial protein. BA-210 is the active ingredient in Cethrin®, which is a combination of the drug and an approved fibrin sealant, designed to be delivered to an injury site during surgery, facilitating the repair of spinal cord injuries.

Inimex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Vancouver, BC)
This privately held biopharmaceutical company focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines based on the selective modulation of innate immune response. Inimex is currently developing a series of innate immune modulators. These compounds rapidly activate innate immune deficiencies without causing inflammation. The company’s first product will deal with hospital infections, such as pneumonia and chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.

YM Biosciences Inc. (Mississauga, ON)
Cancer-based product development company YM Biosciences currently has four different compounds in various stages of clinical trials, targeting solid tumours and cancer pain. In May of this year, the company acquired Mississauga, Ont.-based Delex Therapeutics Inc. and added Delex’s AeroLEF™ proprietary pain-treatment formulation to its pipeline. YM’s lead product, Tesmilifene — a small molecule that augments chemotherapy agents — is undergoing a pivotal Phase III trial for treatment of metastatic breast cancer.

Zelos Therapeutics Inc. (Ottawa, ON)
Founded in 2001, Zelos is centred on the development of Ostabolin-C™, a small osteogenic analogue of parathyroid hormone (PTH), for treatment of osteoporosis. PTH analogues stimulate the bone replacement function of the remodelling process, and are the only class of drug currently available that have a direct effect on bone building. In addition, unlike other larger PTH analogues, Ostabolin-C does not induce hypercalcemia. Zelos is also working on formulations for treatment of psoriasis and bone marrow transplantation.