VascuBio Innovation (Toronto) is bioengineering tissues for the research and healthcare industries.

What they’re doing: VascuBio is helping to advance personalized and regenerative medicine with their technology that grows and maintains 3D tissues better than current lab methods.

How will this be used in the real world? Lab-created 3D tissues are a more ethical and accurate way to test medicines of the future. VascuBio’s technology could help de-risk drug development by cutting costs and speeding up testing while providing valuable data to train AI drug discovery platforms.

Tessella Biosciences (Hamilton) is developing a bio-printed dissolvable bandage for burn wounds.

What they’re doing: Tessella is now developing a bio-printed dissolvable bandage for burn wounds that has shown faster wound closure and better skin regeneration than current treatments.

How will this be used in the real world? Thousands of Canadians go to the hospital every year with burn wounds. Not only are these injuries very painful, they can also be deadly. Tessella is working on a state-of-the-art dissolvable bandage that can give patients more comfort by helping heal their burns faster.

Synakis (Toronto) is bioengineering treatments for eye diseases like retinal detachment and glaucoma.

What they’re doing: Current gas and oil treatments for eye diseases cause negative reactions and leave patients with a very long and cumbersome recovery. Synakis has created an injectable hydrogel made from a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer that is injected directly into the eye, making for quicker recovery and a possible substitute for retinal surgery.

How will this be used in the real world? Hundreds of thousands of Canadians suffer from retinal detachment and/or glaucoma. Treatment for serious eye diseases like these haven’t been updated in a very long time. But Synakis’ hydrogel formulated specifically for the eye has the potential to speed up recovery time and reduce the need for multiple surgeries, giving patients a significantly better quality of life and easing the burden on our healthcare system.

NuvoBio (Ottawa) is using an AI platform to speed up and de-risk peptide drug discovery.

What they’re doing: NuvoBio is de-risking production of new peptide therapies by using a drug discovery platform powered by AI that can quickly validate and fine tune potential new treatments.

How will this be used in the real world? Developing medications takes a long time, but what if AI could speed up the process? NuvoBio is using computational modelling to confirm the effectiveness of peptide therapies that can lead to quicker production of new medicines.

New Code Oncology (Toronto) is developing AI technology to detect rare and complex cancers faster.

What they’re doing: New Code is using AI technology to better detect rare cancers and also provide more detailed information about a patient’s tumour to improve treatment.

How will this be used in the real world? We’re getting closer everyday to personalized medicine and New Code projects their cancer testing technology can simplify the process and cut the wait times for quicker and more accurate results leading to patients getting the right treatment for their tumour.

I-RNA (London) is using precision medicine to improve diabetic retinopathy detection and treatments.

What they’re doing: I-RNA is using RNA technology to make a more effective and less invasive treatment options ranging from injections to eye drops. They also have RNA-based testing kits to both detect and assess the stages of diabetic retinopathy.

How will this be used in the real world? Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness around the world. I-RNA is using precision medicine to replace current detection and treatments with a potentially more effective injection and less invasive eye drops, giving patients better quality of life.

ProteinQure (Toronto) is looking to lead the charge in making Ontario a thriving hub of drug development and research, while focusing on breast cancer therapies.

What they’re doing: ProteinQure is testing the safety of their peptide-based tumour targeting drug ahead of a North American clinical trial.

How will this be used in the real world? We’re getting closer to personalized medicine and ProteinQure is working to raise the bar by designing anti-cancer therapies that are highly effective with less side effects for patients.

Noa Therapeutics (Toronto) is a biotech company working to create better treatments for the millions of people struggling with inflammatory illnesses like eczema, ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

What they’re doing: Noa is in the advanced development phase of a non-steroidal medication that targets inflammatory barrier diseases and are preparing to conduct a clinical trial on humans.

How will this be used in the real world? Over 200 million people around the world suffer from eczema, making it the leading cause of skin disease. Current treatments temporarily address the symptoms but Noa is developing medications that can provide lasting relief.