CQDM – An important player for economic revival in Quebec and in Canada as a whole
Projects funded by CQDM are a source of major scientific breakthroughs, allowing for the development of innovations that provide considerable value to participating businesses and offering numerous socio-economic benefits to Quebec and Canada as a whole. You can see some examples below.
Creation of an innovative platform to develop the therapies of tomorrow
How can innovative approaches developed in Quebec be used to design new targeted treatments applicable to a wide range of therapeutic indications? This is the challenge that awaited Professor Michel Bouvier and his numerous partners from seven university and hospital centers in the province as part of the large-scale initiative launched by the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) in 2018.
The success of this $20M structuring project, supported by the Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie (MEIE) through the Fonds d’accélération en santé (FACS) included in the 2017-2027 Quebec Life Sciences Strategy, was based on:
- The complementary expertise and creativity of its co-researchers affiliated with l’IRIC, the Montreal University Hospital Center, the CHU de Québec-Université Laval, the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, l’Université de Sherbrooke, l’Université de Montréal (MILA) and the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital,
- The sharing of state-of-the-art technological platforms,
- The financial and scientific contribution of the biopharmaceutical partner Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and,
- The know-how of IRIC’s Drug Discovery Unit led by Professor Anne Marinier.
The aim of the project was to set up a structuring program for a portfolio of projects for the development of innovative therapies to treat cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
EPITOPEA – A new weapon against cancer
The story of Epitopea achieved something exceptional: this innovation-driven start-up has quickly raised an impressive amount of seed fund to accelerate its impact in the fight against cancer.
CQDM, Oncopole and the Cancer Research Society are proud to have supported the innovative research work conducted by Dr. Claude Perreault and his collaborators, which allowed the development of an internationally competitive approach and contributed to the creation of Epitopea Company, thereby reducing the investment risk required for its start.
Distinguishing Healthy Cells from Tumor Cells – The Innovative Approach of the Project Led by Dr. Claude Perreault
Cancer spreads when the immune system is unable to effectively eliminate abnormal cells. However, the immune system has the ability to fight tumor cells when it recognizes certain tumor-specific antigens (TSAs) on their surface that can activate it. So, which TSAs are best recognized by the immune system? Are they shared by individuals having the same cancer? This is what Dr. Claude Perreault (IRIC) and his collaborators answered:
“My team has developed a unique and global approach that includes two components. The first is to identify TSAs more efficiently and accurately. The second is the development of new in vitro tests that can predict the immune response in vivo. Combined, these two components allow to select the TSAs that are most likely to activate the immune system.”
The approach of the multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Perreault was used to identify promising TSAs for acute myeloid and acute lymphoid leukemias as part of the CQDM-supported project. In parallel, other works carried out by the team have also shown encouraging results in breast and ovarian tumors. This Québec innovation is therefore not only effective for specific tumor types, but also applicable to a broad spectrum of difficult-to-treat cancers.
From Research Project to Company Creation
Rather unusual, the results very quickly led to the valorization of the intellectual property developed by the Université de Montréal and to the creation of Epitopea Company, with the support of IRICoR. The Company’s mission is to make better cancer treatments available by marketing TSA-based vaccines against different types of tumors. This ability to rapidly transfer knowledge and approach is primarily due to the highly innovative nature of the research, which was immediately recognized by several venture capitalists.
As Steven Klein, Epitopea’s Chief Business Officer, states,
“Having licenses under one company, through the creation of Epitopea, facilitates opportunities for collaboration with pharmaceutical companies. Depending on the projects, we have the option of developing elements in-house or partnering with pharmaceutical companies in a collaborative research approach.”
Major Investments to Create a Significant Impact
Since its creation in the spring of 2022, the start-up has raised $14M USD in seed funds, a significant funding for the Company. Strongly backed by 4 groups of investors from Québec and elsewhere, the team has given itself the means to achieve its ambitions.
Thanks to the advances that will be conducted by Epitopea, it will be possible to target several TSAs in the same treatment for a given type of cancer, which will optimize and simplify treatment for patients. Other positive economic and social benefits are expected as the Company intends to continue to expand the range of immunotherapies developed through new discoveries made by Québec researchers.
OPTINA DIAGNOSTICS’SUCCESS – Details
Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 55 million people worldwide. Even today, diagnosis occurs at an advanced stage of the disease, most often on the basis of observable clinical manifestations, when it is late to intervene.
Would it be possible to detect the disease earlier using the eye? That was the hypothesis posed by McGill University clinical professor Jean-Paul Soucy and the startup company Optina Diagnostics in 2015.
It was at this critical phase in the development of Optina’s innovation that CQDM intervened. With the help of its public and private partners, including the Brain Canada Foundation and the Ontario Brain Institute, the organization granted $1.5 million in funding to enable the company to establish clinical proof of concept.
From Innovation to Therapeutic Application
The hyperspectral camera technology used by the Quebec company, which was initially used for stargazing and industrial applications, had immense potential in the human health sector. At the time and still today, there are cameras to probe the back of the eye, but none offer this level of precision in color resolution.
“Optina’s technology reveals 92 specific color channels compared to the 3 channels offered by conventional retinal cameras, which provides an unparalleled wealth of data. It is then possible to see things that were previously unnoticed,” adds Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, Vice-President of Technology at the start-up.
This wealth of data opens the way, in the long term, to the development of a whole series of complementary tests and diagnostic tools supported by artificial intelligence for a range of other diseases that manifest themselves in the eye.
The Leverage Effect of CQDM Funding
Once clinical proof of concept was attained, the company was in an excellent position to raise a series of additional financings: $4M round led by Zoic Capital in 2018, $25.8M round led by DigitalDx Ventures in 2021 and finally, $3.0M led by the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation in early 2022.
“The support we received from CQDM also allowed us to structure the story to raise additional funding: what clinical value do we bring to the patient and his doctor? What medical needs do we address, beyond the scientific innovation aspect?” adds Marie-Claude Marchand, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development.
Thanks to this extra support, the company was able to carry on developing its technology and strengthen its team.
In addition to accelerating the development of an innovative Quebec technology, this project helped build a whole ecosystem of relationships: “We gained credibility through contact with experts like Dr. Jean-Paul Soucy, Dr. Sandra Black and Prof. Lesage,” explains Mr. Lapointe.
The benefits for the company went beyond the financial aspect: the public-private collaboration opened doors for the Optina Diagnostics team in terms of access to patients and for the realization of other projects.
Ultimately, the benefits for the organization will translate into benefits for people with Alzheimer’s disease and their loved ones: by using the eye as a window into the brain to detect the status of biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s, the Optina team intends to offer an accessible, non-invasive and reliable diagnostic alternative at an early stage. A potential revolution that would also pave the way for the discovery of innovative treatments by supporting more targeted clinical studies.
THERATECHNOLOGIES’ SUCCESS
Theratechnologies is a publicly traded Québec biopharmaceutical company that was founded in 1993. It successfully commercialized innovative treatments for HIV and is currently developing a treatment for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The company recently secured funding from CQDM, among others, in order to expand its innovative activities and accelerate the achievement of scientific milestones.
After focusing on HIV therapies for many years, Theratechnologies ventured into the cancer research sector by acquiring Katana Biopharma in 2019. Based in Montreal, Katana Biopharma is a university spin-off founded by UQAM Professor Borhane Annabi, a leading expert in the development of innovative cancer technologies who built the targeted drug screening oncology platform.
Theratechnologies is currently working with Professort Annabi’s lab to test new therapeutic approaches targeting sortilin-expressing cancers. This project is receiving financial support from CQDM and the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). Their approach focuses specifically on cancer cells expressing the sortilin receptor, a hallmark of many types of cancer. Their investigational compound, TH1902, is conjugated to a drug and delivers its payload to tumors by using sortilin as a gateway to penetrate cancer cells. This mechanism could improve the efficacy of anticancer treatments, while minimizing side effects in patients.
Their research recently confirmed in vivo efficacy of TH1902 against several types of cancers including ovarian, colon, pancreatic, endometrial, and skin cancer, as well as triple-negative breast cancer. The results to date a very promising. Specifically, sortilin-expressing cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer, are more difficult to treat and are associated with a higher risk of relapse.
As part of their collaboration, Theratechnologies and Professor Annabi pooled their expertise and created a unique approach to oncology treatments. The funds from CQDM and CCS allowed them to expand the scope of their research activities, to explore and develop opportunities which they might not otherwise have considered. Their collective efforts accelerated the development process from early-stage research to clinical testing in cancer patients. These key milestones foster the potential development and future growth of the company.
FELDAN – Details
Feldan Therapeutics has developed a drug delivery system called the “Feldan Shuttle” designed for the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents into cells to treat, prevent or cure many diseases.
While discussing opportunities with experts from the pharmaceutical community through CQDM, Feldan Therapeutics considered a bold R&D project proposed by one of them. This high-risk high-reward exploratory research project was made possible with funding from CQDM and five pharmas that were interested in the potential impacts of the study. In fact, the outcomes of the project have generated significant interest from the pharmaceutical industry, as such a drug delivery system could improve the effectiveness of their existing treatments.
With the sound advice offered by pharmaceutical industry KOLs as part of the mentoring program, companies aligned their innovations with worldwide market needs, thereby positioning their technology early in the process with leading pharmaceutical stakeholders. The relationships and partnerships established with pharmas build value for companies as they establish numerous lucrative collaborations, for example by adapting a given technology to the specific needs of the pharmaceutical industry. In turn, this promotes future collaborations that feed the growth of companies.
NMX RESEARCH AND SOLUTIONS – Details
A Collaboration Between INRS and NMX Research and Solutions that Accelerates Drug Discovery
Although Fragment-Based Lead Discovery (FBLD) is one of the most promising strategies for discovering future medical compounds, there are still until today barriers that discourage industry from pursuing this approach.
Redefining Drug Discovery and Chemical Optimization Strategies
In collaboration with Sacha Larda (NMX Research and Solutions) and Michael Serrano-Wu (3 Point Bio), Professor Steven Laplante launched a project to find solutions to these problematic situations.
Together, the researchers have enhanced a drug discovery platform to identify drug candidates from molecular fragments. Each step of the FBLD has been reviewed and improved through redefining the fundamental strategies used in industry as well as in the academic world for the discovery and optimization of new therapeutic molecules. Compared to other frequently used drug discovery methods, the platform that was developed within the framework of this project allows to significantly reduce the identification of false positives, thus allowing to decrease costs by more than 30% compared to conventional methods. Research can therefore be focused on the development of candidates with the best therapeutic potential, while avoiding considerable waste of time and resources.
More than 20 scientific articles and two patent applications, one submitted by Professor Laplante and the other by NMX, also confirm the success of the initiative.
Tangible Economic Benefits for the Industry
The methods developed by Professor Laplante and his colleagues have been added to the service offering of NMX Research and Solutions, allowing it to increase its competitiveness. The platform now lets several companies innovate by accelerating drug discovery. This service is currently used by more than 12 Canadian companies, including the Montreal-based Repare Therapeutics, which has been using NMX’s contract research services since 2019.
Simultaneously, NMX’s revenues have hiked by 200% between 2017 and 2021 with an equivalent of 20-30% growth per year. In a similar timeframe, it also grew from 8 employees in 2018 to 15 in 2022.
Furthermore, the project also had positive results for partner 3 Point Bio, which used the new FBLD strategies in its research program to discover candidate fragments and compounds for multiple targets.
A Bridge Between the Industry and Academic Worlds
Another benefit resulting from this collaborative project is the training of highly qualified and specialized staff. Indeed, throughout the project, several students were trained and developed highly sought-after skills. In fact, at least eight of them were hired by companies at the end of their studies, thus meeting the industry’s need for qualified employees.
Important Financial Support for Translational Research
Finally, Professor Steven Laplante’s project could not have come into being without the financial involvement of CQDM through the SynergiQc program, the contribution of the SMEs NMX Research and Solutions and 3 Point Bio, the research community through the INRS and the support of Mitacs and the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation.
IMMUNE BIOSOLUTIONS – A true success story ! Succes stories of companies supported by CQDM
Immune Biosolutions: from start-up to an established biopharma company thanks to CQDM’s support
When it began in 2012, Immune Biosolutions specialized in antibody production for research. However, the company, hosted by the Sherbrooke Pharmacology Institute, wanted to explore a transition towards the development of therapeutic antibody projects.
As part of its SynergiQc program, CQDM granted Immune Biosolutions funding, which gave it the impetus needed to initiate cancer immunotherapy projects. In partnership with senior research scientists at l’Université Sherbrooke, Professors Fernand Gobeil Jr, Philippe Sarret et Fernand-Pierre Gendron the young company launched programs to develop therapeutic antibodies targeting two membrane receptors from a family involved in the progression of many cancers, the G protein-coupled receptors.
« CQDM’s support helped us establish our credibility, draw considerable interest for our technology and build partnerships with world-class pharmaceutical companies.”
Frédéric Leduc, Chief Business Officer, Immune Biosolutions
Thanks to the impetus generated by CQDM’s collaborative research model, Immune Biosolutions has seen a marked increase in its growth. Not only have antibody candidates made progress towards establishing a proof-of-concept by moving into preclinical development, but the funding also enabled the company to develop several innovative platforms:
- A high-performance platform of recombinant antibody production;
- Production of tthree-dimensional peptide antigens that take in to account the complexity and conformation of the therapeutic targets;
- High-throughput antibody screening able to measure the affinity of antibodies for the target as well as their effect on cellular activity.
These advances allowed Immune Biosolutions to boost its abilities to develop therapeutic antibodies, which was a critical factor enabling the establishment of a clinical program against COVID-19 at a remarkable speed! In just a few months the company has developed a breakthrough COVID-19 immunotherapy and initiated Phase I clinical trials in South Africa.
CQDM has contributed to Immune Biosolutions’ positive positioning and credibility in the industry, resulting in partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies and a new round of financing to further its development activities.
Collaborative research, at the core of CDQM’s funding model, propelled the Sherbrooke-based research antibody company to become a highly credible and promising drug development company, well positioned to become a key player in this competitive field.
To learn more about Immune Biosolutions: https://immunebiosolutions.com/
A new world-class hub for clinical research and precision medicine
Reaching nearly $17.5 million, this initiative launched as part of the first FACS program call for proposals is supported by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation (MEI) with a $6.45 million grant and is co-funded by private partners, including Quebec-based DalCor Pharmaceuticals, world-class biopharmas AstraZeneca, Bayer Inc. et Pharmascience as well as the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation.
Headed by Jean-Claude Tardif, Director of the Research Centre at the Montreal Heart Institute, this initiative builds on a network of nearly 100 multidisciplinary experts from industry and academia, as well as a multi-centre network of Quebec hospitals. Its goal is to create a world-class hub for clinical research and precision medicine in the cardiovascular field, and to subsequently broaden its scope to other disciplines such as oncology and neurology.
The project has delivered several innovative technologies since its launch in 2018. Among them is a federated data platform integrating results from more than 90 clinical trials, which includes genomic and clinical data from 675,000 patients. It also produced artificial intelligence-based (AI) analytical and statistical tools designed to support the development of clinical trials in precision medicine by making it possible to confirm the potential of therapeutic targets, predict their outcome, and target the groups of individuals most likely to benefit from a treatment, including:
- ExPheWas: A bioinformatics tool that provides access to over 24 million test results to conduct an association study of genes and clinical indicators, as well as tools for interpreting the results.
- PheWeb: A web-based tool that quickly displays genome-wide association results queried from the platform datasets.
- An artificial intelligence with a neural network: A genomics discovery tool that is more sensitive than tests using classical statistics.
These cutting-edge tools, now available to the scientific community at large, are already drawing interest from academic groups and the private sector that are now using similar tools to revisit data from large population-based clinical studies to optimize the time and resources invested in drug discovery programs.
Attracted by the expertise and innovations developed by the network, world-class pharmaceutical groups are now choosing to conduct their clinical studies in Quebec. More than $20.5 million in additional public and private funding has been invested since the project was initiated and four new clinical trials in precision medicine have been launched. The COLCOT (COLchicine Cardiovascular Outcomes Trial) study, coordinated by the Montreal Health Innovations Coordinating Center (MHICC) exemplifies this success by demonstrating the benefits of colchicine in patients with myocardial infarction. In August 2021, colchicine was approved by Health Canada for the treatment of patients with existing coronary heart disease. The drug has since been included in the guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. This achievement demonstrates the successful repurposing of a readily available and inexpensive generic drug previously prescribed for the treatment of gout and pericarditis.
According to Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, “This initiative allowed our team of academic and commercial partners to test personalized treatments, thereby adding a repurposed drug to the treatment options for cardiovascular disease. By finding new therapeutic uses for well-known drugs, we can improve the health of Canadians in a timely and cost-effective manner. The cardiovascular indication for colchicine that has been approved by Health Canada will foster changes in medical care, help patients with coronary heart disease and save costs for the health care system. The COLCOT academic clinical study could not have been accomplished without the financial support of the Government of Quebec’s FPQIS and FACS programs. We are very proud of this remarkable achievement resulting from the efforts of Quebec researchers, institutions and funders.”
Pharmacogenomic studies, led by Professor Marie-Pierre Dubé, Director of the Pharmacogenomics Center of Université de Montréal, are underway as part of the FACS initiative. They have already uncovered genetic markers that influence the efficacy and safety of drugs. Study results have also identified new therapeutic targets for cardiovascular diseases.
As an added bonus for Quebec, the network attracts world-class experts in science and health. The Quebec ecosystem promotes knowledge transfer and talent mobility, which attracts the next generation of health professionals and “hybrid” profiles. The FACS initiative will have trained talented individuals who can readily harness the significant innovation potential of artificial intelligence and the challenges of health research. As a result, Quebec benefits from the tremendous added value of experts who can apply their dual expertise to drug discovery and development.