Health research sweeps competition for new classic Networks of Centres of Excellence

Two-stage announcement process

Health research dominated the latest competition for classic Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) winning four new networks out of a field of 10 full proposals. Details of two of the four new NCEs were announced December 15th, with details on the remaining two expected in January (see chart page 2).

The competition also saw two existing NCEs vie for a second tranche of five-year funding but only NeuroDevNet was renewed. GRAND (Graphics, Animation and New Media) NCE will sunset after a five-year run. Both are headquartered in Vancouver.

"The competition shows that there's strength across health research," says Dr Jane Aubin, VP and chief scientific officer, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). "The complexity of health research has driven health researchers to look for good collaborations across disciplinary boundaries for the kind of partners that can help move evidence into practice."

The four new networks push the number of classic NCEs to 14, although funding for another four is expiring in 2015, returning the total to 10. Health and life science-focused NCEs of all types (including Business-Led NCE and Centres for Commercialization and Research) now total 25 or fully half of the 48 NCEs currently operating. Yet Aubin says it would be a mistake to suggest that other disciplines are not engaged.

"The new networks actually include research disciplines that are affiliated with NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) and SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council)," she says. "The fact that the networks are in health-related areas doesn't mean that all of the activity is unidisciplinary (and) this NCE competition is a reflection of that."

BioCanRx

The Biotherapeutics for Cancer Treatment will use its $25 million, five-year award to leverage an additional $35 million in cash and in-kind from a range of 40 partners including 16 academic institutions, eight companies, several charities and four provincial research organizations and institutes.

The network will focus on various aspects of immunotherapy, exploring the use of oncolytic viruses, immune cells and synthetic antibodies to treat cancers. Researchers will develop several therapeutic strategies and test them alone and in combination, moving from the lab to clinical trials where it's hoped industry will lead in their commercialization.

BioCanRx CEO Drew Lyall says that despite the network's long-term commercialization prospects, the initial focus is on fundamental research, making the classic NCE a perfect fit.

"It's as much about getting therapies into the clinic as it is about getting products to the market and a lot of fundamental research has to be done," says Lyall, who was previously the executive director of the Stem Cell Network. "The classic NCE program really provides the opportunity to bring together scientists from across the country — the fundamental scientists and clinicians to do that early work ... The last five years of the network (classic NCEs are funded in three five-year tranches) will be more directed towards developing the therapies and the relationships (and) get a little more commercial in our output. But now is not the time. This is the time for the basic science."

Headquartered at the Ottawa Hospital, BioCanRx's scientific director is Dr John Bell, a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and professor at the Univ of Ottawa.

CANet

The Canadian Arrhythmia Network received $26.3 million over five years and has leveraged $66 million from its partners, $26 million of which is cash. Headquartered at Western Univ in London ON, CANet aims to transform arrhythmia care practices by developing treatments for heart rhythm disturbances such as syncope, atrial fibrillation and sudden cardiac death, which are the cause of more deaths than cancers.

"Our Canadian group is well recognized internationally for its ability to collaborate, developing research that has changed clinical practice," says CANet scientific director Dr Anthony Tang. "This NCE will include a significant engineering component that allows us to move to the clinical sphere and engage industry to develop new IP (intellectual property) for new tools and commercialize them."

Tang says arrhythmia is now treated once people complain or risks are identified such as dizzinesss, weakness or heart palpitations. What follows is extensive investigation that often doesn't turn up much, leading to a referral to specialists — a time consuming process involving much duplication.

"With our new approach, patients could be living anywhere and involve in their own specialized treatment," he says. "This is very patient-focused from design to implementation to give patients control. We see this as a 15-year initiative, so the first five years just gets us started."

AGE WELL

The Aging Gracefully across Environments using Technology to Support Wellness, Engagement and Long Life NCE has received more than $25 million (exact figure unavailable) and received commitments of nearly $22 million from external organizations. There are 78 partners including 23 companies that have signed on, dedicated to assisting in the development and dissemination of technologies to assist healthy aging Canadians.

AGE WELL has developed 24 R&D projects to answer key questions about the needs of aging people, what they want from technology and various social and ethical issues.

"We'll be working with a large range of companies. There will be small companies to develop sensors for remote care systems, medium-sized companies for robotics and large multinationals like IBM and Philips," says Tang.

AGE WELL has similarities to an existing NCE — the Technology Evaluation in the Elderly Network established in 2012 — but Tang says the two are complementary rather than overlapping.

"TVN is focussed more on trying to look at new care practices for frail and sick elderly, and not on the development of technology," he says. "AGE-WELL focuses on not only understanding the needs of technology but translating this knowledge into new technologies. We also focus on healthy aging as opposed to those who are already sick and frail."

GlycoNet

The Canadian Glycomics Network received more than $25 million (exact figure unavailable) over five years and leveraged an additional $11 million to date with a longer-term target of 1:1. The network will pursue research into the role of carbohydrates in biological systems and develop new carbohydrate-based drugs to combat diabetes, seizures, migraines, influenza and blood clots.

Univ of Alberta-headquartered GlycoNet connects 22 institutions. It aims to develop a pipeline of promising technologies in partnership with organizations such as the Alberta Glycomics Centre, National Research Council, McMaster Univ high-throughput screening centre, the Centre for Drug R&D in Vancouver and Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal.

"This is basic research that will quickly translate into tangible outcomes ... The research will evolve over time but we've identified low-hanging fruit," says Dr Todd Lowary, GlycoNet's scientific director. "We'll be providing funding directly to translational research and providing core services. The key thing is to attract partners to the network. Our target is $50 million (in total funding) but it would be tremendous if we could get to $60 million."

GlycoNet has established five research themes in the areas of diabetes and obesity, antimicrobial drugs, genetic diseases, new therapeutic proteins and vaccines and chronic disease.

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