Medical Briefs

Merck Frosst invests $250 million in facility

Merck Frosst Canada & Co is investing $250 million in its Kirkland PQ facilities, including $156 million for operational and manufacturing systems and the construction of laboratories for medicinal chemistry, molecular biology and pharmaceutical R&D. The expansion also includes construction of new administrative space, various other infrastructure projects and the acquisition of adjacent land for future needs. Canada's largest pharmaceutical R&D spender operates the Centre for Therapeutic Research, which employs more than 300 scientific personnel and is geared towards new therapies for respiratory, inflammatory and other diseases. Once completed, the firm's complex will have a total surface area of 88,700-sq-m....

Ontario funds first of series of biotechnology incubators

Ontario's first biotechnology regional incubator has been established in Toronto with the awarding of $9 million to a consortium of public and private research groups representing nearly all of the city's medical research organizations. The award to the Toronto Biotechnology Commercialization Centre (TBCC) is contingent on matching funds to cover infrastructure and first-year operating costs and marks the first announcement since the province created the $20-million Ontario Biotechnology Commercialization Centre Fund. (R$, November 10/99). The TBCC represents the Univ of Toronto, its five affiliated research hospitals, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the City of Toronto and the federal government. Two more incubators are to be announced in the coming weeks....

BioChem enters development & licensing deal with Cytovax

BioChem Pharma Inc has taken another step towards growing its vaccine business with a development and licensing agreement with Cytovax Biotechnologies Inc, an Edmonton-based firm that has an anti-adhesion technology platform currently in late-stage pre-clinical development. The deal will see BioChem make milestone and royalty payments based on sales while contributing its vaccine expertise to the project. In return, it will receive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and market the product. Cytovax's technology platform is aimed at preventing infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common hospital-acquired infection found in cystic fibrosis patients, burn victims and those in intensive care units. Initial development of the prophylactic vaccine will be conducted at Cytovax's facilities before moving to BioChem's facilities for final development.

DREV transfers imaging technology to DIAGNOS Inc

Commercially promising imaging technology has been transferred to DIAGNOS Inc, Sainte-Foy PQ from Defence Research Establishment Valcartier (DREV). The technology will provide the basis for development of an automatic data analysis system for making rapid and precise diagnoses of cancer. DREV's Auto Context Image Database Exploitation System was originally designed for applications in space, permitting causal relationships to be established quickly and continuously processed. Under the tech transfer deal, DIAGNOS will produce diagnostic support software to help with the screening of breast cancer patients, with plans to develop equipment for other types of medical analysis....

CIHR inks alliance with Japanese agency

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has been added to the list of responsible organizations maintained by the Japanese Science and Technology Agency (STA), making it eligible to train in Japanese national institutes in all areas of health research. The STA fellowship program provides successful post-doctoral applicants resources, facilities and ancillary benefits. CIHR has a quota of 18 fellows, with applicants chosen through a joint CIHR-NSERC screening system. The STA fellowship program provides opportunities for foreign researchers to work in Japan's national laboratories and public research corporations, excluding universities and affiliated institutes. The agreement was signed at the biennial Canada-Japan Joint Commission on Science and Technology meeting recently held in Ottawa....

Promising UBC nerve regeneration technology receives $500,000

Neuro Therapeutics Inc, Vancouver, has received $500,000 to finance initial commercial development and preclinical studies of nerve regeneration technology for spinal cord injury. The funding from Milestone Medica Corp and University Medical Discoveries Inc will assist the Univ of British Columbia over the next two years as it seeks to prove the research of Drs John Steeves, Hans Keirstead and Jason Dyer. Steeves is director of Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (CORD) at UBC, which has received funding for two endowed chairs and other research from the Rick Hanson Institute....