Competition and Funding / FOCUS Competition

Previous Competitions

2011-2012 Competition

Richard Hoge (Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal). Quantitative O2 MRI: a new window on mitochondrial dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease

2010-2011 Competition

Following this year's competition, 4 innovative research projects have been selected. These projects received a total investment of $6 million and involve the participation of 52 researchers from 3 universities and 3 private companies. The technologies and tools that will be developed within the next three years will have an impact on the crucial challenges faced by the biopharmaceutical research industry.

Michel Bergeron (Université Laval). Selectomics to monitor and predict the emergence of resistance to antibiotics.
This new approach will use the human gut microbiome to predict the emergence of resistance genes to antibiotics.
Morag Park (McGill University). Integrated tumour-microenvironment biomarkers for improved targeting of breast cancer therapy.
The aim of this project is to develop enabling tools for better stratification of breast cancer patients by integrating information from tumor and the surrounding stromal tissu. This will allow the development of personalized therapies relevant to specific tumor subtypes.
Sylvain Martel (École polytechnique de Montréal). Magnetically guided drug delivery platform based on bio-carriers for the treatment of colorectal cancer.
This innovative approach, based on special bacteria that can be directed by a magnetic field, will enable targeted therapeutic intervention at the tumor site. The proof-of-concept of this new technology will be performed using SN-38 encapsulated in liposomes in colorectal cancer models.

Jocelyn Dupuis (Montreal Heart Institute). PulmoBind: A new non-invasive marker for the early diagnosis of patients with pulmonary hypertension.
This project is aimed at evaluating in human subjects PulmoBind, a novel marker that can detect early abnormalities of the pulmonary blood circulation. This non-invasive test will allow to establish an early and effective diagnosis of subjects suffering from pulmonary hypertension and to evaluate the disease progression.

2009-2010 Competition

During its second competition, CQDM received 32 letters of intent. Twelve projects were selected and invited to submit a full application. Finally, four outstanding research projects have been initiated on September 1^st, 2010. These projects receive a total investment of $5.8 million and involve the participation of 54 researchers from 4 universities and 3 private companies. The technologies that will be developed within the next three years will address crucial challenges faced by the biopharmaceutical research industry.

Emanuel Escher (Université de Sherbrooke). A new biosensor paradigm for continuous detection of multiple analytes.
This new generation of miniature biosensors will be designed to monitor in real time several analytes simultaneously in living animals. A first application will be developed for glucose and insulin measurements. This technology will then be applied to numerous therapeutic fields.

Matthias Götte (McGill University). A novel phage-based screening technology for antivirals..
This approach will bring a new highly sensitive assay platform to reduce time and costs associated with screening of antiherpetic compounds. The technology could eventually be translated to other viruses.

Michel Maziade (Université Laval). Profiling patients with major phychiatric disorders using electroretinography.
This technology based on the response of the retina to light stimulation will allow to accurately and non-invasively stratify patients with major psychiatric disorders and to measure the pharmacological response to specific treatments.

Gordon Shore (McGill University). Integrated platform to identify synthetic lethality opportunities in cancer therapy.
The proposed platform will allow the identification of cellular pathways and gene targets acting in synergy with new or existing drugs for cancer therapy. This platform could also generate novel biomarkers to predict treatment response through personalized medicine.

Information Session on the 2009-2010 Competition

"An innovative response to the parmaceutical industry's challenges" by Max Fehlmann, Ph.D., MBA
President and CEO, CQDM
"Competition 2009-2010 Presentation" by Diane Gosselin, Ph.D., MBA, Vice president, Research and Business Development, CQDM
"Creative Partnerships in Biopharmaceutical Research : Challenges, Bottlenecks and Innovation" by Patrice Roy, Ph.D., MBA, Director of R&D - Québec et Atlantic, Pfizer Canada
"Introduction to Project Management" by Sara Costa Gomes, Project Manager, CATO Research
Presentation CQDM at BioContact 2009

2008-2009 Competition

During its first competition, CQDM received 78 letters of intent. Twelve projects were selected and invited to submit a full application. Finally, three outstanding research projects have been initiated on September 1^st, 2009. These projects receive a total investment of $6 million and involve the participation of 71 researchers from 4 universities and 3 private companies. These projects aimed at developing new enabling technologies that can significantly facilitate the drug discovery process.

Louis Philippe Vézina (Medicago). VLPExpress: a novel, high-throughput technology to accelerate the discovery and development of new vaccine antigens based on Virus-Like Particle (VLPs)
The proposed VLPExpress platform, based on a technology already developed by Medicago, will enable to identify the best VLP-based antigen presentations for a disease-causing agent within 10 weeks. This platform will allow the rapid and cost-effective identification and validation of immunogenic VLP vaccine candidate among several classes of viruses.

Michel Bouvier (Université de Montréal). Multiplexed biosensors for identifying and monitoring cellular events associated with drugs therapeutic efficacies and side effects.
These new biosensors and bioinformatics tools will be generated to monitor the multiple signalling pathways engaged by G protein coupled receptors in response to ligand binding. The signalling signature established for each established or candidate drug will help to predict their activity and side effects.

Eustache Paramithiotis (Caprion Protéomics). Developement of biomarkers for measurement of early stage diabetes disease and for prediction of response to therapy.
This project will use Caprion’s proprietary CellCarta proteomics technologies to discover and validate panels of protein biomarkers that are predictive of diabetes disease. These biomarkers will allow to improve the monitoring of disease progression as well as the screening of susceptible patient populations and evaluating their therapeutic response.