24th Annual Life Sciences BC Awards presented by Farris

Precision NanoSystems is a global leader in technologies, solutions and services for the development of lipid nanoparticle delivered genomic medicines, including mRNA vaccines and therapeutics. They support (bio)pharma companies who are ushering in the next wave of genomic medicines in infectious diseases, cancer and rare diseases. They work with the world’s leading drug developers to understand disease and help create the therapeutics and vaccines that will define the future of medicine. Our mission is to accelerate the creation of transformative medicine that significantly impacts human wellbeing.

Simon has spent more than 25 years dedicated to life sciences in British Columbia as a clinician, a scientist and an entrepreneur, both in the for-profit and the not-for-profit sectors.

Simon received his MD from the University of Cape Town in 1991 and his specialty internal medicine degree from UBC in 2001. He received his PhD in 1998 from the University of Amsterdam in lipid genetics and has published widely in the field. Simon continues to consult at the UBC Cardiology Clinic where he founded and is co-PI of SAVE BC, a provincial network dedicated to research, treatment and disease prevention in families with early coronary artery disease.

Simon has served on the Boards of numerous industry and healthcare associations including as chair of LifeSciences BC and Providence Healthcare Research Trust and vice-chair of BIOTECanada. He has played advisory roles to Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the Center for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics and co-chaired the internationally recognized Science Technology and Innovation Council State of the Nation Report for the federal government.

Eupraxia is a Victoria B.C.–based clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of locally delivered, extended-release alternatives to currently approved drugs. Each of Eupraxia’s product candidates has the potential to address therapeutic areas with high unmet medical need and strives to provide improved patient benefit by delivering targeted, long-lasting activity with fewer side effects.

Eupraxia’s lead product candidate, EP-104IAR, is currently in Phase 2 development for the treatment of pain due to OA of the knee. In addition to EP-104IAR, Eupraxia is developing a pipeline of earlier-stage long-acting formulations. Potential pipeline candidates include a range of drugs for indications such as postsurgical pain (EP-105), and post-surgical site infections (EP-201), each designed to improve on the activity and tolerability of approved drugs.

Dr. Lauchlan Fraser, an ecosystem ecologist, is a Professor and Senior NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Ecosystem Reclamation at Thompson Rivers University. Fraser conducts research on ecosystem reclamation following industrial landscape disturbances, with a particular focus on biodiversity, climate change and grassland ecology, resulting in over 100 peer-reviewed publications in the world’s leading scientific journals. His expertise is internationally recognized through invitations to serve on national and international boards and committees including the Genome BC Extractive Industries Sector Steering Committee, BC Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation, International Association of Vegetation Scientists Global Sponsorship Committee and board of the Grasslands Conservation Council of BC. He also holds editorial positions with several international scientific journals and serves as a referee for more than 50 journals.

Pieter R. Cullis, PhD, FRSC, FNAI (USA), OC, Director, Nanomedicines Research Group, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia. Dr. Cullis and co-workers have been responsible for fundamental advances in the development of nanomedicines employing lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology for cancer therapies, gene therapies and vaccines. This work has contributed to five drugs that have received clinical approval. Dr. Cullis has co-founded eleven biotechnology companies that now employ over 300 people, has published over 350 scientific articles and is an inventor on over 60 patents. He has also co-founded three not-for-profit enterprises including the Centre for Drug Research and Development (now AdMare) in 2004 and the NanoMedicines Innovation Network in 2019. Dr. Cullis has received numerous awards including the Order of Canada in 2021 and the VinFuture Prize, the Prince Mahidol Award and the Gairdner International Award in 2022. Two recently approved drugs that are enabled by LNP delivery systems devised by Dr. Cullis, members of his UBC laboratory and colleagues in the companies he has co-founded deserve special emphasis. The first is Onpattro which was approved by the US FDA in August 2018 to treat the previously fatal hereditary condition transthyretin-induced amyloidosis (hATTR). Onpattro is the first RNAi drug to receive regulatory approval. The second is Comirnaty, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech that has received regulatory approval in many jurisdictions including Canada, the USA, the UK and Europe. Comirnaty is playing a major role in containing the global Covid-19 pandemic with approximately 3B doses administered worldwide in 2021.

Thrive Health was founded in 2016 by a diverse group of patients, clinicians, researchers, parents, and students who came together to help individuals going through complex care journeys. Their platform enables their customers to configure digital health and wellness solutions to deepen their relationships with and empower individuals in their care. Thrive Health operates across North America, headquartered in Vancouver BC, and they’re on a mission to serve as a catalyst in the transformation of access to efficient, effective, empowered care for everyone.

With a wealth of globally-competitive scientific discovery, Canada is primed to lead the life sciences world. To make this a reality, at adMare BioInnovations, they use their scientific and commercial expertise, specialized R&D infrastructure, and seed capital to build strong life sciences companies, robust ecosystems and industry-ready talent — and re-invest their returns back into the Canadian industry to ensure it is sustained for the long-term.

Genome BC is a not-for-profit organization supporting world-class genomics research and innovation to grow globally competitive life sciences sectors and deliver sustainable benefits for British Columbia, Canada and beyond. For more than 20 years, Genome BC has generated over $1.27 billion of investment in more than 498 genomics research and innovation projects, including over 1,000 collaborations with partners across BC and internationally. The organization’s initiatives are improving the lives of people throughout BC by advancing health care in addition to addressing environmental and natural resource challenges. In addition to scientific programming, Genome BC works to integrate genomics into society by supporting responsible research and innovation and fostering an understanding and appreciation of the life sciences among educators, students and the public.