Biotech Impact

Catalyzing and Enhancing Canadian Biotech Companies

With over $162M invested into research projects and clinical trials across the country, SCN has advanced approximately 28 biotech companies through research funding — funding that has either enhanced an existing company or resulted in the spin-out of a new company. A 2024 internal analysis of SCN-supported companies shows that for every dollar SCN has provided, over $30 has been raised in private investment.

Today, SCN-supported biotech companies are working on innovative products and therapies that will change the lives of those living with diabetes, cancer, liver disease, muscular dystrophy and much more. Below we spotlight a few of these companies and highlight their ground-breaking research.

Towards a Cure for Diabetes with Bioprinted Tissue Therapeutics: Aspect Biosystems

Founded: 2013
# of Employees: 100+
Location: Vancouver, BC
Most recent investment: US$115 million Series B financing

Aspect Biosystems is a Vancouver-based biotechnology company focused on developing Bioprinted Tissue Therapeutics (BTTs) that are designed to replace, repair, or supplement biological functions in the body. Led by Founder & CEO Tamer Mohamed, Aspect is creating these next-generation cell therapies by applying its full-stack tissue therapeutic platform, which integrates proprietary AI-powered bioprinting technology, computational design tools, therapeutic cells, and advanced biomaterials.

In early 2020, Dr. Timothy Kieffer, at the University of British Columbia, was awarded $500,000 by SCN for a collaboration with Aspect Biosystem to advance Aspect’s implantable 3D bioprinted cell therapy for delivering insulin-producing cells to treat type 1 diabetes – a chronic disease affecting more than 300,000 Canadians. This research award allowed Dr. Kieffer’s lab and Aspect Biosystems to join forces in building a data package to prove the science.

That data set later played a key role in Aspect securing a US$2.6 billion deal with Novo Nordisk in April 2023. The Aspect-Novo Nordisk collaboration is initially focused on developing pancreatic BTTs designed to maintain normal blood glucose levels without the need for immunosuppression, a potentially transformative treatment for people living with type 1 diabetes.

For more information, visit www.aspectbiosystems.com

Resetting the Body’s Self-Repair System to Treat Devastating Muscle Disorders: Satellos Bioscience Inc.

Founded: 2018
# of Employees: ~25
Location: Toronto, ON
Most recent investment: US$40M or CA$57M gross process following equity offering

Muscular dystrophy is the term used to cover the 160 known neuromuscular disorders, with the following six being the most common: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), spinal muscular atrophy, myotonic dystrophy, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and myasthenia gravis. Collectively, neuromuscular disorders impact more than 50,000 Canadians, costing the Canadian economy an average of $4.6 billion annually. DMD is caused by an absence of the protein dystrophin that supports the integrity of muscle cells, affecting 1 in every 3,500 male births worldwide.

Satellos Bioscience Inc. is a publicly traded, clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel therapeutics to restore natural muscle repair and regeneration in people living with degenerative muscle diseases. Co-founded by Frank Gleeson and Dr. Michael Rudnicki in partnership with Bloom Burton & Co. — Canada’s leading healthcare investment firm — Satellos is built upon foundational research from the Rudnicki lab, funded by the Stem Cell Network. Satellos is leveraging its proprietary MyoReGenX™ discovery platform, built on breakthrough insights into muscle stem cell polarity, to identify diseases where impaired stem cell division limits muscle regeneration. This platform is enabling the development of first-in-class treatments that directly address underlying deficiencies in the muscle repair process.

The company’s lead program, SAT-3247, is a first-in-class, orally administered small molecule drug currently in clinical development for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). SAT-3247 targets the AAK1 protein, identified by Satellos as a critical regulator that mimics the repair signal normally provided by dystrophin in healthy muscle. By restoring this signal, SAT-3247 supports proper muscle stem cell division and promotes natural repair and regeneration of muscle tissue. In addition to DMD, Satellos is investigating broader applications of its platform in other muscle disorders and injury-related conditions where enhancing the body’s regenerative capacity could provide therapeutic benefit. Satellos is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.

Transforming the Treatment of Liver Disease: Morphocell Technologies

Founded: 2018
# of Employees: 39
Location: Montreal, QC
Most recent investment: US$40 million in Series A financing

Based in Greater Montreal, Morphocell Technologies is a preclinical regenerative medicine company focused on liver disease, borne out of game-changing research originally funded by the Stem Cell Network. Liver disease affects one in four Canadians, costing the healthcare system an average of $39 million annually.

In 2016, Drs. Massimiliano Paganelli and Claudia Raggi of the Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) Sainte-Justine set out to find an alternative solution for patients suffering from Acute Liver Failure (ALF). Patients with ALF often require a liver transplant within days of diagnosis to survive, and it is not always possible to find a donor. Those who do typically require a lifetime of immune-suppressant drugs. Using stem cells, Drs. Raggi and Paganelli created “mini livers” or liver organoids and combined them with a special biomaterial to generate an encapsulated liver tissue (ELT). This innovative product promised to provide liver function to patients with ALF, keeping them healthy while their own liver heals, or they wait for a transplant. It was a novel idea and SCN was excited to take a risk and invest nearly $200,000 in this initial research.

To date, the Network has invested $1.4 million in this high-quality research as it has the potential to provide not only new treatment options for those with ALF but those with chronic liver failure and other liver diseases. In 2018, this game-changing, stem cell-based technology was used to spin out Morphocell Technologies. After raising $8 million in seed investment, in February 2024, Morphocell secured US$40 million in Series A financing to advance its first therapeutic product, ReLiver®, a novel cell therapy platform that promises to transform the treatment of liver disease.

For more information, visit www.morphocell.com

Delivering “Fit” Blood Stem Cell Therapies for High-Risk Cancer Patients: ExCellThera

Founded: 2015
# of Employees: ~20
Location: Montreal, QC
Most recent investment: Undisclosed (private company)

Based in Montreal, ExCellThera Inc., is an advanced clinical-stage company and world leader in enhanced blood stem cell expansion, developing stem cell-based therapies to treat blood cancers and other diseases. The company was founded by SCN-funded scientists Drs. Guy Sauvageau and Peter Zandstra.

In June 2024, ExCellThera announced that their top product, UM171 Cell Therapy, received fast-track review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for adults with blood cancers who need a stem cell transplant but can’t find a suitable donor. To date, UM171 has been tested in 120 patients in clinical trials across the United States, Europe and Canada. It’s already received special designations from both the U.S. FDA and the EMA, recognizing it as a promising treatment and giving it priority status.

ExCellThera’s EnhanceTM technology, which includes UM171, helps grow and rejuvenate stem cells by counteracting the effects of cellular aging and stress observed in older/manipulated cells. This technology has the potential to revolutionize blood stem and progenitor cell-based therapies for the treatment of blood cancers and other diseases.

For more information, visit www.excellthera.com.

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