IBDA funding for incoming and outgoing business missions to help bring expertise, sales.
June 15, 2015 – Moncton, N.B. – Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Twenty-three Atlantic Canada life sciences companies and research organizations are attending and sharing exhibition space this week at the 2015 BIO International Convention and Trade Show in Philadelphia, PA, thanks in part to funding of up to $84,812 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and funding of up to $36,348 from the four Atlantic provincial governments. The support, provided through the Canada/Atlantic Provinces Agreement on International Business Development (IBDA), will help with booth rental costs, marketing and business-to-business meetings. The Prince Edward Island BioAlliance is coordinating the Atlantic region delegation to the 2015 BIO Convention and Trade Show.
In addition to supporting the BIO International Convention, IBDA funding of up to $50,738 from ACOA and up to $21,744 from the four Atlantic provincial governments has also been set aside to support up to 26 incoming biopartnering missions to Atlantic Canada during the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2016. During various incoming missions, Atlantic Canada life sciences companies will meet with international organizations to help with new product development, talent recruitment, investment opportunities, and collaboration on research and development and export opportunities. Many of this year’s incoming missions will build on successful international business development activities undertaken over the past several years. BioNova, the life sciences association of Nova Scotia, is coordinating the recruitment for the incoming Atlantic Biopartnering missions for the current fiscal year.
The life sciences sector in Atlantic Canada is composed of over 150 companies and 30 research organizations ranging from established operations with global reach to newer startups seeking new markets and expertise. The sector includes all science- and technology-based products and services related to human health, as well as certain segments of the animal health industry. The major industry segments covered are pharmaceuticals (including vaccines), medical technologies, animal health, bioproducts, digital health and natural health products.
Quick Facts:
- Last year’s BIO Convention and Trade Show yielded 29,145 one-on-one meetings between companies and attendees over a three day period. The meetings provide the opportunity for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, academic research institutions and investors from around the world to schedule 30-minute face-to-face discussions about potential partnerships.
- During 2014-2015, 18 incoming life sciences missions were completed under the Atlantic Biopartnering project funded by IBDA, yielding 92 export or market development activities.
- Canada enjoys a low cost research and manufacturing base, ranking second in the G7 for clinical trials operation and in cost-effectiveness in the establishment and operation of manufacturing facilities.
- In Canada, 44 percent of University Spin-Offs (firms created by universities and staff to commercialize their intellectual property) are in the life-sciences sector.
- The IBDA is a federal/provincial agreement between the Government of Canada (ACOA, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, and Industry Canada) and the four provincial governments in Atlantic Canada and is designed to help Atlantic Canadian businesses enter, explore and succeed in international markets. The IBDA is a key component of a pan-Atlantic effort to foster business relations, attract foreign investment and nurture technological co-operation.
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BACKGROUNDER: 2014-2015 Atlantic biopartnering missions
Atlantic Canada’s life sciences sector may be one of the region’s best kept secrets – known mostly among its immediate circle of stakeholders. But there are a lot of interesting developments happening in the laboratories and manufacturing facilities that dot the region’s landscape that may soon change that perception.
Life science companies and researchers in the region are as innovative as they come. From tackling some of the world’s biggest health challenges, to developing safe ways of growing food or raising animals, Atlantic Canadian firms involved in life sciences are working hard to find solutions.
One of the ways the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and the four Atlantic provincial governments are helping the life sciences sector is by supporting incoming trade missions to the region through the Canada/Atlantic Provinces Agreement on International Business Development (IBDA). The premise is simple enough – if local companies cannot fill a need domestically, they invite companies and researchers from around the world to meet with them here, in Atlantic Canada.
“One of the best aspects of this program is its versatility,” says Scott Moffitt, managing director of BioNova, which coordinates the incoming missions on behalf of the Atlantic Canada BioIndustries Alliance. “Whether you’re looking for an investor, key opinion leader or a new distributor, this program has the ability to facilitate that. Every life sciences company could use this program to benefit their growth. From a regional perspective, this results in more relationships built, more products developed and sold, and more money and jobs for Atlantic Canadians.”
Participation in the initiative provides companies and research organizations an opportunity to move existing international contacts to the next level of the collaborative process, which can include new product development, company recruitment, investment opportunities, collaboration on research and development to speed commercialization and finding export opportunities.
The participants in last year’s Atlantic Biopartnering project recorded nearly 100 export and market development activities, which include everything from getting to know their competitors in a particular market to identifying new ways to improve their own products or processes.
Acadian Seaplants Limited in Nova Scotia, a globally recognized industry leader in the processing of seaweed-based products for food, biochemical, agricultural and agri-chemical markets worldwide, is a big believer in the benefits offered by the incoming biopartnering missions.
“The program enables our company to regularly invite a wide range of strategically important collaborators to Nova Scotia,” says Jean-Paul Deveau, president of Acadian Seaplants Limited. “Some have had immediate commercial interest resulting in field testing of our products in Latin America, and ultimately sales. In other instances, we’ve been able to invite leading academics to meet our own researchers and their technical network throughout Nova Scotia. These meetings have resulted in those academic guests working together on Acadian Seaplants projects, or independently proving product efficacy in their countries.”
“The biopartnering mission is highly valuable for both early stage companies and those exporting,” notes Moffitt. “Early stage companies need to get in front of business collaborators and don’t often have the budget to do it. For companies exporting, looking for additional distribution channels or entering new markets can be challenging and expensive. Relationship building is crucial which is what makes this program invaluable.”
A case in point is Breviro Caviar of New Brunswick, the only CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) licensed captive breeding facility for Acipenser Brevirostrum sturgeon in the world.
“We were able to bring in an expert that reviewed our entire facility and processes in the context of a large agreement for both distribution and possible direct investment into Breviro,” says CEO Jonathan Barry. “The results were excellent, and we are proceeding to next steps on all fronts. If successful, substantial investment and export sales increases of 300 to 500 percent can result through this partner. In addition, the expertise from this organization can provide considerable operational improvements and technical expertise that couldn’t be developed on a timely basis on our own. We can’t quantify this benefit, but we believe it to be extremely valuable in de-risking our business and amplifying the speed of company development.”
Through the IBDA, ACOA and the four Atlantic provincial governments have been funding the Atlantic Biopartnering missions to the region every year for the past eight years. Recruitment for this year’s missions is open, and Moffitt encourages anyone interested in the project to contact their provincial life sciences industry association (listed below).
“The Atlantic Biopartnering program overcomes the buy-in to get a business collaborator here to see what we are all about,” says Moffitt. “The vast majority of international guests walk away from the experience thoroughly impressed by what we have and what we can do, which results in an accelerated path to market.”
Provincial life sciences industry associations:
NB - BioNB
NS - BioNova, Nova Scotia's Life Sciences and Biotechnology Industry Association
NL - NATI - Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries
PEI - Prince Edward Island BioAlliance
Contacts:
Kelsie Corey
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Rob Moore
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
613-941-7241
Ronald Levesque
A/Senior Communications Officer
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
506-851-2085
Ronald.Levesque@acoa-apeca.gc.ca
For the 2015 BIO Convention and Trade Show:
Rose FitzPatrick
Manager, Marketing and Communications
Prince Edward Island BioAlliance
902-367-4403
rose@peibioalliance.com
For the 2015-2016 incoming Atlantic Biopartnering missions:
Scott Moffitt
Managing Director
BioNova
902-421-5705 Ext. 1
smoffitt@bionova.ca
Provincial contacts:
Ron Ryder
Innovation PEI
Government of Prince Edward Island
902-368-6859
rrryder@gov.pe.ca
Elaine Bell
Communications
Opportunities NB
Government of New Brunswick
506-453-8607
Wendy Barnable
Communications Director
Department of Business
Government of Nova Scotia
902-424-6271
wendy.barnable@novascotia.ca
Tansy Mundon
Director of Communications
Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development
Governnment of Newfoundland and Labrador
709-729-4570
tansymundon@gov.nl.ca
