www.ghbn.
or g
Bio-Matrix
n Fall 2009
We’re growing
into the future
Golden Horseshoe
Biosciences Network and
its partners in Hamilton,
Halton, and Niagara hope
to be expanding their role
and services as we head
into 2010.
While GHBN will remain,
it will be allied with an
innovation centre, a virtual
factory that is client-
management centred.
It would focus on small and
entrepreneurial businesses,
helping to move their
innovative products and
services closer to market.
The centre will play a
leadership role in human-
capital development, training
and mentoring innovators
and leaders of the
knowledge-based economy.
This is all part of an
Ontario innovation and
commercialization agenda as
the government seeks gains
in industries, jobs, and social
and economic prosperity for
the province’s leading-edge
technology and services. We
hope to have word soon on
how we’ll move boldly into
the future.
Inside –

n Cleanfield turbines
[page 2]
n RoboDoctor will
the only gnotobiotic (germ-free) animal facility in a Canadian
see you now
[page 3]
n An Achilles heel
[page 4]
n Worrisome
signs in
biotech
[page 5]
n v o l u me 3 n issue 3
Farncombe head ‘positive’ about research spinoffs
The new head of McMaster
University’s digestive health centre
– an entrepreneur noted for taking
research to market – is “very
positive” about similar spinoffs
for Hamilton.
John Wallace says the Farncombe Family Digestive
Health Research Institute has great potential, both for
commercial success and for partnerships with life
sciences companies.
“We are already moving forward on a number
of initiatives,” said Dr. Wallace, recent winner of
a Premier’s Summit Award, given to exceptional
medical researchers. “I hope that there will be an
announcement in the fall of a partnership that will
involve development of some compounds based on
research in our institute.“
Upon his appointment in March, he told The Globe
and Mail: “I’m very keen on the notion that research
doesn’t stop when we publish a paper. What we
really need to do is focus on taking what we find, and
both informing the public and translating that into
meaningful changes in how health care is delivered.”
Summit Award winners receive up to $5 million over a
five-year period, based on a $2.5 million contribution
from the provincial program, matched by an equal
amount from their sponsoring institution. The institute
itself was launched with a $15-million donation from the
Farncombe family in Oakville.
Dr. Wallace, who has been called “a superstar” in the
field of gastrointestinal research, has been involved in at
least three start-up bioscience firms, most recently GInova
Pharma, a Montreal-based company that is developing
novel therapies for digestive disorders.
McMaster’s centre is one of the pre-eminent digestive
health research institutes in the world. The facility includes
Golden Horseshoe
Biosciences Network
university and a Roche 454 high-throughput DNA sequencer,
used to genetically identify bacteria in the GI tract.
Global research has intensified into the role of the human GI
tract, and into the bacteria that colonize the tract. Scientists
are increasingly making connections between the state of
the intestinal system and a wide range of disorders, including
depression, obesity, and diabetes, as well as illnesses directly
tied to the gut, such as Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel
syndrome.
Among other research studies, Farncombe is involved in an
AFM (Advanced Foods and Materials Network, a national body
headquartered at University of Guelph) study looking at the
impact of diet and the intestinal microbiome on gut health and
general well-being. That work may lead to outside partners
developing new commercial products, said Dr. Wallace,
inaugural director of the institute.
A professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster, his
area of special interest is mediators of inflammation and
their contribution to mucosal injury and dysfunction. Much
of the inflammation and ulceration research is focused on
the gastrointestinal tract, although his study areas also take
in cardiovascular inflammation and platelet function. He has
published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers and is among
the top 0.5 per cent of biomedical scientists in the world in
terms of citations.
Among Farncombe’s research themes are inflammation,
infection and mucosal immunology, molecular microbiology,
gut-brain interactions (leading to emotional stress and
depression, for example), and hepatic blood flow and
vascular adhesion molecule expression in sepsis and
multi-organ failure.
Researchers estimate that irritable bowel syndrome affects up
to 20 per cent of Canadians. In some countries, the figure is
as high as 30 per cent of the population. In Canada and most
Western nations, IBS occurs significantly more often in women
than in men. IBS can have a significant effect on quality of
life and has been identified as the second-leading cause of
absenteeism from work or school. n
 www.ghbn.or g

Cleanfield turbines – a small wonder in the wind

As wind turbines go, they’re a somewhat odd shape,
they’re relatively small and they are almost unobtrusive.
Which is why a lot of attention is blowing their way.
Mac leads eye-
research team
A McMaster University-
based network will lead
inter-university research
on biomaterials, medical
devices and drug-delivery
devices that are designed
to seek treatment answers
to vision problems.
Researchers at McMaster,
the University of Waterloo,
University of Toronto,
and Queen’s University in
Kingston will collaborate on
the project. Private-sector
involvement includes 10
industry partners who will
work to take new products
to market.
The collaboration is called:
20/20 - the National
Science and Education
Ophthalmic Materials
Network. Eye-related
diseases, such as
glaucoma and macular
solar technology.
degeneration, are a
growing health concern
as much of Canada’s
population ages.
The V3.5 vertical-axis turbines made by Cleanfield
Energy can sit on top of a roof or a ground mount, catch
wind from any direction, and operate with a minimum
of audible noise. Favourable reviews – the company was
chosen a ‘Mind to Market’ finalist last year in an Ontario
Centres of Excellence competition – have led to sales in
Canada, the U.S., Europe, and even China.
“We’ve done about 50 sales and installations,” says
president and CEO Tony Verrelli. “But our pipeline is
substantial so we have a backlog which is increasing
in revenues.” With recent regulatory approval of its
V3.5 turbine inverter by UL (Underwriters Laboratory),
the company expects the U.S. soon to be “our primary
market”, he said. In the U.S., investment tax credits
loom large for buyers of small turbines as the Obama
government pushes green energy initiatives and
greater energy self-reliance.
Located in an Ancaster industrial park, Cleanfield has
avoided the NIMBY syndrome with its discreet systems
– although talk at the provincial level of setback
requirements from residential areas, a limit normally
imposed on large-tower turbines, is unnerving. The
units are small enough that installations can start at
$45,000 or so, including turbine, mounting, inverter
and any required drawings.
In the Hamilton area, Cleanfield turbines can be found
on the roof at Mohawk College’s campus in Stoney
Creek and at the technology park at Highways 5 and
6. Cleanfield is also looking to larger turbine products,
to exploitation of a 250 kW universal inverter (making
electricity grid-friendly by converting it from direct to
alternating current), and to development of nanowire
But for now, the 3.5 kW units remain the bread and butter
focus. The OCE believes that, “under favourable conditions”,
a Cleanfield unit can provide 9,000 kW over a year. If an
average Ontario home consumes about 10,000 kW a year,
that means Cleanfield’s turbines might provide more than
80 per cent of that home’s needs.
While the company – the operating arm of a publicly traded
enterprise on the TSX Venture Exchange based in Vancouver
– has its own in-house and also contract engineering
expertise, Cleanfield has partnered with public-sector
researchers at universities, the National Research Council,
and Ontario Centres of Excellence as it moves through
design stages and wind tunnel testing. McMaster University
has been a longtime research and development partner.
“This is a great place to be because we’ve got a great university
partner there,” says Verrelli, part of a management team
that holds a stake of just over 25 per cent in the company.
“McMaster has some outstanding professors and students.”
It is with OCE’s photonics centre and McMaster’s
engineering physics people that Cleanfield is working on the
commercialization of semiconductor nanowire photovoltaics
technology in solar cells. Verrelli believes the company may
be at least five years away from a commercial solar product.
But the idea is to reduce the cost of solar power by using
semiconductor nanowires to bump up the efficiency of
photovoltaic technology. That would bring such systems
closer in cost line to fossil fuels.
Nanowires are ultra-thin structures with controlled
lengths of one to five microns and diameters of 10 to
100 nanometres (a thousand times thinner than a human
hair). A McMaster 2008 news release noted that, among
advantages over thin film and crystal silicon, nanowires
required lower-cost substrates and had strong light-trapping
and absorption qualities.
The company has received investment capital, including from
OCE, from private equity raisings, and late last year from a
private placement of about $1 million by a Chinese investor-
company. n

V3.5 Installation at McMaster Innovation Park

2 in Hamilton.
 www.ghbn.or g

RoboDoctor will see you now Dr. Mehran Anvari

Hamilton doctors and scientists are entering a bold new era in

healthcare with a plan to offer personalized medicine where one of the caregivers is not a person.

They hope to provide not only world-class service but also to create a new industry and jobs as well. The key
behind the initiative is the newly created Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation (CSII). McMaster
heads huge
The centre plans to design and develop medical robots for sale to clinics, hospitals, and other centres, both at home
and abroad. The program would take advantage of the expertise of personnel at McMaster University and Hamilton
heart study
Health Sciences, and of scientists with MDA Corporation, the company behind the telescoping Canadarm space- McMaster University
shuttle robotic arm. is part of a team
of international
“Canada is at the leading edge in space robotics with Canadarm and so on,” says Dr. Mehran Anvari, one of the
researchers that has
world’s most prominent pioneers in robotic surgery and current president of the international Minimally Invasive
Robotic Association. “We’re now trying to translate that edge into the medical field.” come up with a new
medication to reduce
It’s very early days for the $30 million undertaking. But Dr. Anvari, CSII scientific director, believes the project could strokes and bleeding
design and build lightweight systems that would incorporate high-resolution imaging guidance, such as magnetic complications in patients
resonance (MRI) or computed tomography (CT). with the heart rhythm
disorder, atrial fibrillation,
Doctors would operate in “augmented reality”, seeing “around the corner”, says Dr. Anvari. They would use super-
at risk for stroke.
haptic sensing, with pressure-touch capability finer than that of a human hand. Surgeons would get the benefits of
motion scaling down to the level of a micron – one-millionth of a metre or so. Warfarin has been the
gold standard up to now.
Robotic systems in hospitals are not new and have been used in cardiothoracic surgery, cancer therapies, even
But the huge study shows
organ transplants. They assist doctors in minimally invasive surgeries, involving small keyhole entries into the body –
an area where Hamilton doctors have developed great expertise. Anvari and others hope their systems might take that oral blood thinner,
on other roles, such as assisting in tough procedures, such as pedicle screw drilling (in spinal fusions) or biopsies. dabigatran, is safer and
more effective than the
Minimally invasive surgery leads to shorter hospital stays. It also leaves smaller scars and results in fewer infection existing therapy.
complications and it promotes faster recovery times and reduced emotional impact on patients.
Professor of medicine
The global market for surgical robots is big. Some estimates put it at more than $10 billion by 2014. But it is a busy Stuart Connolly, in the
market, with many players in the field for a product that only large clinics and hospitals can afford. Michael G. DeGroote
– continued on page 6 School of Medicine
and also the
Population Health
Research Institute,
was co-principal
investigator of the
RE-LY (Randomized
Evaluation of Long-
term anticoagulant
therapY) study,
which involved
Doctors sit at a 18,000 patients in
control console, 44 countries.
directing a
surgical robot
during an
operation. 3
 www.ghbn.or g

An Achilles heel for bacteria?

Scientists from McMaster University and India may have
found an Achilles heel in potentially deadly bacteria
with their discovery of a new compound that interrupts
Salim Yusuf development of some pathogens that have proven highly
resistant to long-established antibiotic compounds.
One estimate is that methicillin-resistant staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE),
and other harmful bacteria that have proven in the last
few years to be able to survive commonly used antibiotics
infect more than 260,000 Canadians a year.

Hamilton helps
India’s heart
problems
The Population Health
Research Institute
(PHRI) in Hamilton is
partnering with an Indian
institute to prevent and
control chronic diseases
in developing nations.
The U.S.-based National
Institutes of Health is
partially funding the study
to create a research
platform in India to
address cardiovascular
disease.
The naturally occurring molecule appears to be
a good starting point to look at how bacterial
cell development and molecular activity can be
interrupted. The hope is that the discovery – published
in September in the journal, Nature Chemical Biology
– could lead to new treatments that target a growing
legion of drug-resistant bacteria.
“. . . We’re excited about
finding a new (chemical)
probe of a relatively uncharted
part of bacterial physiology,
It’s a new way of thinking about
Using high-throughput screening technology, the work
done by the DeGroote Institute of Infectious Disease
Research turned up a new chemical class and a small
molecule, named MAC13243. The actions of that molecule
showed promise in combatting the multidrug-resistant
Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Common symptoms of infection by that bacterium
in people with weakened resistance are generalized
inflammation and sepsis. However, if pseudomonas
colonizes in critical body organs such as the lungs or
kidneys, the infection can be fatal. It multiplies on moist
surfaces and is often found in hospitals and clinics where it
grows on equipment, such as catheters.
The scientists used the gram-negative bacterium,
Escherichia coli (E. coli), as their working platform, running
systematic screens and looking for compounds that
suppressed development of bacterial cells and inhibited
molecular pathways. (E. coli is often the culprit in food

The PHRI, based

the problem. Who knows, could poisoning outbreaks in humans.)

at Hamilton Health this chemical become a drug?
Sciences and McMaster
University, has worked Anything’s possible.”
in 80 countries on
reducing cardiovascular
disease. In this case,
it is partner for five “Really what we’re trying to do is understand
whether or not there are new ways to tackle
years with St. John’s
this problem,” Eric Brown, professor and chair of
Research Institute in
the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical
Bangalore, India. PHRI
Sciences in the Michael G. DeGroote School of
director Salim Yusuf Medicine, said in a university news release.
hopes to reduce CV “. . . We’re excited about finding a new (chemical)
incidence by 50 per probe of a relatively uncharted part of bacterial
cent in the next physiology, It’s a new way of thinking about the
quarter-century. problem. Who knows, could this chemical become a
drug? Anything’s possible. But at the very least we’ve
advanced the field and created some tools that people
can use now to try to better understand this pathway.”
Bacteria are highly adaptive microorganisms and, over
time, naturally develop resistance to compounds that
kill them. So, for example, repeated use of amoxicillin in
cases of strep throat can lead to bacteria that shield strep
4 germs from antibiotic actions.
The research showed that the small molecule MAC13243
inhibited the LolA protein in bacterial cell development.
LolA, a key protein in gram-negative bacteria, plays a role in
transporting lipoproteins from inner to outer membranes of a
cell. The McMaster-discovered compound was shown to block
the LolA protein’s role in developing the bacteria’s cell surface.
In this latest research, McMaster researchers worked
with colleagues at the Department of Biotechnology,
Indian Institute of Technology, in Roorkee Uttaranchal,
India. At McMaster, much of the bacterial detective work
occurs within the recently completed Centre for Microbial
Chemical Biology.
Founded about four years ago, the centre utilizes cross-
disciplinary research among several departments, much of
it designed to develop leads to new drug-like molecules
from both synthetic and natural sources.
Earlier this year, McMaster scientists worked in concert
with colleagues in Germany and Wilfrid Laurier University
in Waterloo, to come up with new findings on genetic
links among three cell-wall processes: teichoic acid,
peptidoglycan and poly-isoprenoid synthesis. n
 www.ghbn.or g

Worrisome signs in biotech country

Canada’s biotech and venture capital industries Even with all this bad news,
continue to warn against alarming trends that threaten some good stories did
to undermine the future of the country’s life-sciences break out during the
sector and the equity-raising needed to help it, and other summer in the way
technology sectors, continue to survive and grow. of new financings,
new joint ventures or VC activity
Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association more government aid tumbles
called upon Ottawa in September to commit to a national for technology-oriented
technology strategy to address what the CVCA saw as companies. Canada’s venture
a “technology-policy deficit”. President Gregory Smith capital and private
said falling levels of venture capital availability presented MaRS tenant BioQuest Innovations and equity association
“a very real risk that Canada will not be able to fully investment firm LOM Bancorp formed a joint reported more dismal
capitalize on its multi-billion dollar investment in R & D”. venture designed to nurture likely life sciences numbers for the second
successes. And some firms scored big money in quarter of the year. The
Among other things, the CVCA asked all senior levels of the summer. Montreal firm Enobia Pharma raised CVCA said $179 million
government to set up and grow fund of funds structures, $50 million from existing VC investors. Another
was invested nationwide
to improve the national Scientific Research and Montreal firm, Allostera Pharma, said it had
in the quarter – down 42
Experimental Development tax credit program, and to secured $17 million from four VC investors and
improve incentives for companies to invest in VC funds. the public-private Fonds Bio-Innovation per cent from the $309
million invested last year.
The current economic downturn and the tightening Ontario’s $250 million Emerging Technologies For the first six months,
noose for funding were among the reasons behind some Fund became the latest provincial fund aimed the amount invested was
biotech companies taking drastic steps this year, such as at providing equity to early-stage innovation $452 million – the lowest
laying off employees, including executives, halting some companies. Two of the fund’s three targeted total in 13 years.
clinical trials, retreating from markets, or postponing bids sectors are life sciences and clean technologies.
to seek regulatory approvals. The fund is meant to “act as a catalyst to “The data conclusively
leverage private sector capital”, according to demonstrates that there
The dismal picture was painted earlier in a survey study fund guidelines. And Ontario announced a is a venture capital crisis
by BIOTECanada which predicted in July that up to 70 $100 million genomics fund earlier this year. in Canada,” said Gregory
per cent of companies will be out of cash and unable to Smith, president of the
continue their current research operations within a year. Ontario’s Venture Capital Fund had about CVCA. That will mean
The survey indicated that companies would manage cash $200 million available in money linked to
“Canada’s ability to drive
by chopping staff and ending programs. Without short- co-investments – although early indications
innovation will weaken”,
term bridge financing, said BIOTECanada, job cuts might were that the money was going to information,
he said.
exceed 7,000 within a year. communications, and technology firms and
that cash allocated to biotech and clean-tech The VC weakness hit all
Falling off that corporate cliff would mean Canada opportunities seemed slow in coming. sectors. In clean-tech,
“may be going down a path where it is unable to
only $9 million went
provide the necessary environment a stable knowledge- Another good sign was the rise of risk-capital
to four companies. As
based economy needs to retain this talent,” said angel investor companies and collaborations,
Brad Thompson, president and CEO of Calgary’s whose capital is meant for innovative start-ups. a result, clean-tech
Oncolytics, a cancer biotech drug developer, and chair of But much of that sector’s money seems destined for sectors captured only
BIOTECanada Board of Directors. so-called clean-tech investments, technologies that 5 per cent of total
benefit the environment while also increasing the activity.
The biotech lobby group asked Ottawa for a “temporary performance of businesses.n
loan program” to stave off further cutbacks, exits, and
bankruptcies in the industry. BIOTECanada proposed
that loans be set up for qualifying companies without
interest or payments for the first two years, converting at
that time to debt with a 6 per cent interest rate for the
following three years.
5

Mac doctors
in the
peninsula
McMaster University’s
new family health
centre in St. Catharines
is providing not only
care for the community
but also training and
experience for family
physicians and medical
students.
The McMaster Niagara
Family Health Centre, at
22 Ontario Street, opened
in January. It is staffed by
an interprofessional team,
including nurses, doctors
and residents, mental
health workers and others.
The centre’s patients
also have access
to interdisciplinary
professionals, including
an adult and child
psychiatrist, nurse
practitioners, dieticians
and social workers.
The centre has close
ties to the Niagara
Regional campus
of the Michael G.
DeGroote School of
Medicine, whose
medical students will
take part in clinical
rotations at the
centre.
6 Bio-Matrix is a quarterly newsletter published by GHBN. Director and editor: Darlene Homonko
www.ghbn.or g
Innovation Café series MEEI/GHBN Entrepreneurship 101
Innovation in Cinematography series
Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009 Date: November 18, December 2,9, 2009
Location: McMaster Innovation Park Location: McMaster Innovation Park
City: Hamilton, ON City: Hamilton, ON
For more information visit: www.ghbn.org For more information visit:
Events listing
Future dates: February 24, 2010 www.businessinnovation.ca/entrepreneurship101
Research to receptor series Grow Niagara industry think tank &
Agricultural Solutions for Energy: BioMass marketplance
Date: November 17, 19, 24, 26, 2009
Locations:
Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Location: Niagara College
Ridgetown, Guelph, Burlington, Kingston City: Niagara-on-the-Lake
For more information: For more information visit:
www.research2receptor.com www.niagaracollege.ca/researchnews
GHBN/GHMN Innovation
breakfast series
Date: Tuesday November 24, 2009
Location: McMaster Innovation Park
City: Hamilton, ON
Speaker: Patricia Hoogendoorn
CFO and Co-Owner, Affinity Biologicals
Location: McMaster Innovation Park
For more information visit: www.ghbn.org
Future dates: Jan 26, Feb 23, Mar 30, April 27, May 25
n RoboDoctor will see you now (continued from page 3)
Hamilton innovates
In Canada, probably the lead university-industry consortium behind a robotic system is the University of
Calgary and MD Robotics, part of the same MDA Corporation that is partnering with McMaster. Calgary’s
robot, the MRI-compatible neuroArm, made international headlines last year when it operated on a patient’s
brain tumour.
But neuroArm, while close to commercialization, is still not at market despite eight years or so in
development. So, Hamilton’s big idea has many years before it gets there.
Doug Barber, chair of CSII’s board of directors and a past chair of McMaster’s board of governors, has high
hopes for the project. But Barber, a co-founder of semiconductor company, Gennum Inc., poses the perennial big
question: If you build it, will they come? Who are the customers, who is asking them what they need and want?
Even with his hard scrutiny, the specialist in innovation and commercialization does have an answer.
Barber feels good about Dr. Anvari’s long history with robots: “The thing that gives me some real hope and
expectation . . . is that he is a user, he is an end-customer. So (the initiative) has a huge leg up in that, if it
doesn’t work for him, it doesn’t work.” n
Contact Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network
McMaster University, Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery
5105-1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA L8N 3Z5
n Ana Paredes Office Administrator/Incubator Assistant – Tel: 905-525-9140 Ext. 26602 Fax: 905-528-3999
n Darlene Homonko Executive Director – Tel: 905-525-9140 Ext. 26609 Web: www.ghbn.org
Writer: Mike Pettapiece Graphic Design: Nadia DiTraglia