Synapse News
Ontario couple pledge bulk of estate to Hamilton health institutions in one of Canada’s largest ever legacy gifts
An Ontario couple who grew up in poverty during the Great Depression and became self-made millionaires have pledged to donate the bulk of their estate, totalling more than $100-million, to create a new health-research institute in Hamilton. The endowment from Charles and Margaret Juravinski, called the Juravinski Research Centre, will be a…
McMaster Researchers Create a Better Way to Transport Life-Saving Vaccines
Researchers at McMaster University have invented a stable, affordable way to store fragile vaccines for weeks at a time at temperatures up to 40C, opening the way for life-saving anti-viral vaccines to reach remote and impoverished regions of the world. The new method combines the active ingredients in existing vaccines with a sugary gel,…
Firestone Institute Receives OLA Funding to Study the Effects of Cannabis Smoke on the Immune System
The Ontario Lung Association (OLA) has announced a funding commitment of $50,000 to study the effects of combusted (smoked) cannabis on the immune system. The study is being led by Dr. Jeremy Hirota at the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. Dr. Hirota is the Canada Research Chair in Respiratory…
McMaster University researchers discover “kingpin” of human stem cells
The “ocean” of data expected to shift views on stem cells is so valuable it’s being made available to researchers all over the world. Hamilton researchers have discovered “kingpin” cells that orchestrate how surrounding stem cells develop and grow. “These cells organize the entire culture and they are responsible for…
Video: Stryker Canada begins new chapter
The new Canadian head office of medical technology company Stryker Canada opened in Waterdown on Tuesday. The building, just off Parkside Drive, includes nearly 130,000 square feet of operations, distribution and business functions, and is one of the most significant life sciences investments in Hamilton in the past decade. The facility will…
Stryker Canada Invests in Hamilton: New +$100M HQ
Stryker, one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, together with their customers, is driven to making healthcare better. They offer innovative products and services in orthopaedics, medical and surgical, and neurotechnology and spine, that help improve patient and hospital outcomes*. Since 1945, Stryker has grown to employ…
McMaster startup Fusion Pharmaceuticals nets historical $105 million investment
A McMaster University startup company has secured US$105 million in financing, one of the largest single private investments in Canadian biotech history. Fusion Pharmaceuticals — formed in 2015 and based at the McMaster Innovation Park on Longwood Road South — develops cancer therapy products including a delivery system that seeks out and…
University at Buffalo Selected as First U.S. Site for LaparoGuard Augmented Surgical System
Surgeons are pioneering LaparoGuard, a suite of new technologies for patients, at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo (UB). Developed by Mariner Endosurgery, LaparoGuard is a surgical navigation platform that augments visualization for minimally invasive surgeries. The first U.S. surgeries…
Fusion Pharmaceuticals Raises $105 Million in Oversubscribed Series B Financing
Hamilton Ontario based Fusion Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted alpha-particle radiotherapeutics for treating cancer, today announced the completion of a $105 million Series B financing led by Varian and new investor OrbiMed. Additional investors participating in the round are Perceptive Advisors,…