TBA The Biotechnology Initiative

The Voice of Bioscience in Ontario



Thursday December 20th, 2007 TBI breakfast

With six speakers and five presentations, December’s TBI breakfast session lived up to its ‘marathon billing’. Attendees were treated to a literal information buffet with experts covering such topics as the future workplace, what consulting companies can do for biotech, a new approach to defeating diabetes and more.

Dr. John Kelly, executive director of MaRs Landing and TBI member, got things underway first by citing the strong relationship being built between MaRs Landing and TBI and then by giving some background information on the significant strides that the MaRs Landing organization has made for companies in the flourishing Guelph AgBio cluster through its pre-commercialization and commercialization initiatives.

Workplace strategist Betty Hase of Hermin Miller followed with her presentation entitled “Eye on the future workplace”, postulating the idea of incorporating the natural environment into buildings and how such a move would have a positive influence on psychological, physical and social well being within the workplace. With the blurring of the lines separating work, life and play this approach is all the more important she states.

Representing the country’s largest biotech product supplier, Thermo Fisher Scientific general manager scientific instruments, Murray Wigmore, was the third speaker of the morning. Not only did he discuss the ways TFS is helping its customers stay at the forefront of discovery and innovation, but he also took the time to announce a huge move on Thermo Fisher Scientifics’ part in expanding its product portfolio with its recent acquisition of NanoDrop.

Attendees also heard from two consulting firms, Alba Biologics Group and Konig & Consultants. Alba president Don Stewart president spoke of the ways his company helps clients advance drug candidates from the bench through to regulatory approval while Dr. Ingo Koenig and Dr. Christine Koenig Konig & Consultants, explained how their firm is able to help companies target their strong and weak points and then follow that up with the development of tailored strategies to shore up the latter.

Perhaps the most stirring presentation of the five came from Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute Professor Hans-Michael Dosch. Dosch, the president of Afference Therapeutics Inc., grabbed centre stage talking about the company’s recent breakthrough in its diabetes research and its early finding that neuro-peptide deficiency may be the cause of the disease. His premise that the disease is a close cousin to multiple sclerosis was also an eye opener. He cautioned in his presentation that the company has yet to confirm their findings in people, but says they expect results from human studies within a year or so. It will be interesting to see where their research takes them.