NEWSBRIEFS

Ontario government invests $50 M in cancer research

The Ontario government has accepted the recommendations of a working group led by Dr Calvin Stiller and is investing $50 million in cancer research through the new Ontario Cancer Research Network. The province will invest the funds in three areas: the Ontario Cancer Research Fund to support clinical research in new cancer treatments with an emphasis on prostate and breast cancers; a provincial Tumour Bank Network to support laboratory-based cancer research into the make-up of cancer tissues; and, a Virtual Cancer Information Network website linking cancer care providers and researchers in Ontario. An unspecified level of private sector funding is also expected. Stiller headed up the working group following the announcement in the last provincial budget of a doubling of funding for the Ontario R&D Challenge Fund (CF), which he chairs (R$, May 12/00). Details on the new spending will be released in the coming months....

Cytochroma strikes R&D and licensing deal with US univ

Cytochroma Inc, Kingston ON, has entered a research and licensing agreement with John Hopkins Univ focusing on the discovery of vitamin D-related compounds which inhibit the activity of the cytochrome P450 enzyme that breaks down the vitamin in the body. The research will build on the work done by Dr Gary Posner, who is responsible for the chemical synthesis of vitamin D analogs. The agreement gives Cytochroma exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize any intellectual property (IP) vitamin D analogs, as well as any new IP arising from the research collaboration....

MDS Nordion licenses NRC dose calculation software

MDS Nordion has licensed new dose calculation software developed by the National Research Council's Institute for National Measurement Standards that improves the speed and accuracy of radiation therapy treatment planning for cancer patients. Base on the Monte Carlo code developed at the NRC, the software algorithms were originally developed by Dr Ivan Kawrakow in conjunction with a colleague at the Univ of Leipzig and enhanced at the NRC. Kanata ON-based MDS Nordion, a subsidiary of MDS Inc, will be used in treatment planning systems developed and marketed by the firm, enabling precise radiation dose distribution for treatment....

Ford Canada donates to St Clair College R&D facility

Ford Motor Co of Canada Ltd has donated $3 million towards the construction of the $32-million Ford Centre of Excellence in Manufacturing at St Clair College in Windsor ON. Supported by the province's SuperBuild Growth Fund, the facility will house new shops, engineering laboratories and classrooms, including an applied research/presentation area. The Ford donation is being viewed as further evidence that the auto industry is stepping up efforts to ensure an adequate supply of highly qualified personnel in key areas that are beginning to suffer from labour shortages. The announcement follows on the heels of the much larger $500-million commitment by DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc at the Univ of Windsor (R$, October 2/00)....

Ontario optical instrument and services lab privatized

Another piece of the Ontario government's in-house R&D capabilities has been spun off into the private sector, with the commercialization of the Instruments Services Laboratory of the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech). The spin-off creates Spectral Applied Research Inc, located in Concord ON near Toronto. The firm offers expertise in optical systems and services, and its creation comes as the Ontario government continue to ponder the future of the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) program. A proposal to create a commercialization fund prior to the last provincial budget is still pending, and the government has appointed David McFadden to head a committee examining the OCE's role in commercialization. Spectral dates back to 1989 when it was called the Electro-Optics Laboratory within the Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science (ISTS). ISTS was merged with the Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research to form CRESTech in 1997....

Innovance Networks raises $115 M in financing

Six-month-old Innovance Networks Inc has raised $155 million in largely US venture capital in the largest round of venture capital financing for a private technol-ogy company. The Ottawa-based developer of photonic transport solutions for global backbone and regional network service providers will use the funds to accelerate its R&D program, with a product prototype anticipated some time in 2001. Participating in the financing are: Morgenthaler Ventures, Thomas Weisel Partners, Bank of America, Azure Capital and KPL Ventures (headed by former JDS Uniphase CEO Kevin Kalkhoven). It employees 100 people (70 in Ottawa and 30 in Piscataway NY) and plans to triple its staff within a year....

SpaceBridge raises $25 M in second-round financing

SpaceBridge Network Corp has raised $25 million in a second round of financing for the Hull PQ-based developer of broadband wireless semiconductor devices. A joint venture between Newbridge Network Corp (now part of Alcatel SA) and COM DEV International Inc, privately-held SpaceBridge received the financing from Royal Bank Capital Partners, TRW Inc, MWI & Partners and Altamira Management Ltd. Also taking part were original investors Val O'Donovan (COM DEV chairman) and Terry Matthew, CEO March Networks Corp and former Newbridge chairman. The funds will be used to further develop its product line of broadband wireless access chipsets and bolster sales and marketing activities.....