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With over $148M invested into research projects and clinical trials across the country, SCN has advanced approximately two dozen 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, $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
Number of Employees: 99+
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Most recent investment: $US2.6 billion deal
Based in Vancouver, Aspect Biosystems is a Canadian biotechnology company,
led by Founder and CEO Tamer Mohamed, focused on developing bioprinted tissue therapeutics designed to replace, repair, or supplement biological functions in the body.
In early 2020, Dr. Timothy Kieffer, at the University of British Columbia, was awarded $500,000 by SCN to advance Aspect Biosystem’s implantable 3D bio-printed 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 was vital to securing a US$2.6 billion deal with Novo Nordisk in April 2023. The Aspect-Novo Nordisk collaboration will initially focus on developing bioprinted tissue therapeutics designed to maintain normal blood glucose levels without the need for immunosuppression, a potentially transformative treatment for people living with type 1 diabetes.
TRANSFORMING THE TREATMENT OF LIVER DISEASE: MORPHOCELL TECHNOLOGIES
Founded: 2018
Number of Employees: 12
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Most recent investment: US $40 million in Series A financing
Based in 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 provides liver function to ALF patients, keeping them healthy while their own liver heals, or they wait for a transplant.
In 2018, this game-changing, stem cell-based technology was used to spin out Morphocell Technologies. To date, the Network has invested $1 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 April 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.
It was a novel idea and SCN was excited to take a risk and invest nearly $200,000 in the research, an investment which ultimately led to the creation of Morphocell Technologies in 2018. Since then, Morphocell has unlocked an additional $8 million in investment, and, in April 2024, secured US$40 million in Series A financing to advance its novel cell therapy platform — one that promises to transform the treatment of liver disease.
DELIVERING “FIT” BLOOD STEM CELL THERAPIES FOR HIGH-RISK CANCER PATIENTS: EXCELLTHERA
Founded: 2015
Number of Employees: ~20
Location: Montreal, Quebec
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 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.
