The recent Sweet Pharma Day brought together key players from the life sciences ecosystem at Sucrerie Bonaventure in Mirabel, creating a setting conducive to strategic discussions and meaningful collaborations between Canadian biotechnology companies and global pharmaceutical partners.
Co‑organized by CQDM, this annual event serves as a unique platform to showcase excellence in biopharmaceutical innovation while fostering dialogue among startups, established biotechs, investors and leading pharmaceutical companies. Year after year, Sweet Pharma Day highlights the vitality of the Canadian ecosystem and the importance of building lasting connections across the innovation value chain.
High‑caliber presentations and standout winners
Following a series of insightful presentations, the jury recognized the exceptional quality of the projects and selected three winning companies whose proposals stood out for their scientific rigor, ambition and potential impact:
- Neurenati Therapeutics
- Oligon Therapeutics (Oligon)
- dvrgntAI
CQDM warmly congratulates these teams on this important milestone, which reflects the strength and diversity of innovations emerging across Canada.
Spotlight on the “Sweet 16”
This edition of Sweet Pharma Day also showcased the 16 companies selected to present their projects:
- CellaraRx Therapeutics
- CEREBRO Therapeutics
- Cognate
- dvrgntAI
- Eyam Health
- HTuO Biosciences
- MendAI Labs
- MISO Chip
- Neurenati Therapeutics
- Oligon
- 20/20 OptimEyes Technologies
- Rime Therapeutics
- RNARevive
- Stereo Biotherapeutics
- TissueTinker Bio.
- YYZ Pharmatech Inc.
CQDM commends all participating teams for their professionalism and the quality of their presentations, which illustrated the breadth of technological and therapeutic approaches being developed within the Canadian ecosystem.
Strong engagement from pharmaceutical partners
CQDM extends its sincere thanks to its pharmaceutical partners for their active involvement, both in the selection process and through their participation at the event. Their expertise, time and commitment are essential to the success and impact of Sweet Pharma Day.
With thanks to the participating pharma representatives:
- Merck: Andrea Lai
- Servier: Irene Blat, PhD; Marine Dumont
- Pfizer: Gerald (Jerry) Shipps
- Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.: Xilu Jiao
- ONO PHARMA USA: Ihori Ebinuma; Wataru Morozumi
- Sanofi: Steve Poirier, PhD
- Roche: Michele D’Elia
Acting as a catalyst within the ecosystem
CQDM is proud to co‑organize initiatives such as Sweet Pharma Day and to play a bridging role between global pharmaceutical companies and Canada’s vibrant biotech and academic innovation community. This edition once again demonstrated the value of these encounters in generating strategic, forward‑looking collaborations.
CQDM was represented at the event by Simon Fournier, MSc, MBA; Mathieu Paquette, PhD, MBA; Jesse Paterson; and Véronique Dugas, PhD, MBA.
As discussions continue beyond the event, CQDM looks forward to following the progress of the showcased projects and to welcoming the community again at the next edition of Sweet Pharma Day.
