Page 17 - Synapse Life Sciences Consortium

Success Stories
A place for the future
Dr. Sheila Singh is a pediatric neurosurgeon
and co-founder of Empirica therapeutics, a
mcmaster start-up developing novel cancer
therapies.
Singh says Hamilton’s scientific community has
a legacy of great discoveries in radiochemistry,
clinical epidemiology, molecular probes, and
immuno-oncology.
Thanks to strong support for scientific
entrepreneurship, that research is being
commercialized and the cycle is growing
stronger because those innovators are staying
in Hamilton to train the next generation of
scientists. after Dr. Singh’s company was
acquired in 2020 by Century therapeutics, the
Canadian subsidiary established its primary
research activities out of mcmaster innovation
Park.
“We have a very differentiated set of skills in
Hamilton that have poised us for success in
the biomedical and biotechnology sector,” said
Singh. “the good news is that the scientists
who have made the seminal discoveries and
spun out companies currently at miP are
here training the next generation of research
scientists at mcmaster University.”
“I would definitely welcome any investors to
come and take a look at the world-class science
being done here and the incredible innovation
being applied to how we’ve been able to
translate those discoveries to patients.”
Adapsyn Bioscience has a proprietary
platform that applies patented algorithms,
proprietary artificial intelligence, and machine
learning to genomic and metabolomic data
from microbes to sift through thousands of
compounds a year with the goal of identifying
and developing novel drugs. Adapsyn has
completed a round of financing that was co-
funded by Pfizer R&D Innovate and Genesys
Capital. In addition, the company announced
a research collaboration with Pfizer Inc., in
2018 that entitles the Hamilton company
to potential preclinical, and regulatory
milestone payments of up to $162 million,
as well as royalties on potential future sales
of any product that may be derived from this
collaboration.
Allarta Life Sciences is a Hamilton
company out of McMaster that is providing
cell-based therapies for diabetes and other
endocrine disorders. The company holds a
number of patents in the U.S. and Canada
and secured $2 million in seed funding for
pre-clinical trials. Next up is closing a Series
A round.
Reliq Health Technologies is a rapidly
growing telemedicine company focused
on developing innovative remote patient
monitoring and care solutions. Reliq’s iUGO
CARE platform uses wearables, sensors,
voice technology and intuitive mobile apps
and desktop software that deliver constant,
real-time monitoring data that prevents costly
hospital re-admissions and ER visits. The
publicly traded company just announced a
200 per cent increase in sales for its most
recent quarter, exceeding $1.5 million.
Triumvira Immunologics is an
immunotherapy company co-founded in
2015 by Dr. Jonathan Bramson at McMaster
University. It is developing novel T-cell
therapies that are safer and more efficacious
than current cancer treatments. All the
company’s research happens in Hamilton and
its lead candidate is undergoing clinical trials.
Triumvira, which completed a $55 million USD
Series A financing round in 2020, ranked fifth
on BioSpace’s NextGen Bio Class of 2021, a
list of up-and-coming life sciences companies
in North America.
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