Mount Allison Univ aims to exploit world-class biotechnology research capacity

For one of Atlantic Canada’s smaller post-secondary schools, Mount Allison Univ (MTA) has big plans. Located in Sackville NB, the 165-year-old institution has recently spun off three companies as it begins to exploit its small but potent cluster of biotechnology expertise. In a short period of time, MTA has had remarkable success in leveraging a series of partnerships and funding opportunities and has plans to go one step further with the creation of an International Centre for Innovation in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics.

Perhaps even more audacious, MTA is exploring a closer affiliation and possibly even a partial or complete merger with the Moncton-based Beausejour Medical Research Institute (BMRI). The two institutions are already collaborating on a project-to-project basis between researchers.

“We’re too small to create a big mass of operations on our own, but to stay in the game we have to play globally. We want to focus on quality rather than quantity and aim for a far higher success rate for commercialization,” says Andrew Paskauskas, MTA’s director of research development. “We have enough talent and capability to find our niche area in five or 10 years to be competitive for international funding as well as in New Brunswick and Canada.”

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING MODEL

Paskauskas says the concept for the Centre is based on a software engineering model where any gaps in skills or infrastructure are filled through partnerships with other institutions. It’s an approach that allows the fast-tracking of promising discoveries and has attracted the attention of venture capital from Canada and abroad. The Centre proposal is supported by the university’s executive committee and Paskauskas is now seeking up to $10 million to kick-start the centre and fund some initial drug development projects.

A particularly promising area of research is being pursued by Dr Jack Stewart, who has isolated a bioactive peptide from the saliva of a northern short-tailed shrew that can paralyze its prey for up to 16 days. The peptide has generated interest from as far away as Sweden, where Paskauskas presented initial findings to researchers at the Karolinska Institutet. Potential applications include pain management, Botox replacement therapy and topological treatments for wounds.

In addition to the new Centre, MTA is also pursuing a wide range of funding opportunities including the industrial chairs program at Science and Engineering Research Canada (NSERC), the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s (ACOA) Atlantic Innovation Fund and private investors in Toronto. Success on any of these fronts would place it in a better position to negotiate with BMRI, which has emerged as a small but highly regarded research institute with a strong cadre of researchers. MTA researcher Dr Steven Westcott has teamed with BMRI in a proposal for the next round of AIF funding to examine boron-related compounds for cancer in the areas of drug development and personalized medicine.

“ACOA is providing funds to hire a consultant to explore models for merger or affiliation,” says Paskauskas. “The study may happen quickly and could contain short-term recommendations. We’ll see what the consultants say. Perhaps we’ll only merge the international centre.”

In the area of bioinformatics, two MTA researchers are part of a Genome Canada-funded project on bar coding led by the Univ of Guelph. Paskauskas hopes to establish several NSERC industrial chairs in the field. There are also initial plans to plug into the Structural Genomics Consortium which is currently examining hundreds of proteins to determine their drug potential.

MTA is currently seeking a new president and VP research and when those positions are filled next year, Paskauskas says he’ll present his research and commercialization plans to the new executive team. MTA has 125 full-time staff, 70% of whom are involved in research.

“These are all works in progress. I want to stay small and do great things,” he says “Collaboration has a powerful impact on what we do. We’re a small university but we don’t have to be left out. ”

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