CWD Impacts Hunting Revenue

Dr. Vic Adamowicz

Chronic Wasting Disease is a prion folding disease that attacks deer. It is similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy that riddles the brains of cattle and kills them.
Dr. Vic Adamowicz is a rural economist at the University of Alberta. With funding from the Alberta Prion Research Institute, he is studying the social and economic impacts of CWD on hunting, agriculture and aboriginal people.
Resident hunting, for example, is worth $50 million a year to the Alberta economy.
According to Dr. Adamowicz, “…avoiding the spread of chronic wasting disease to the extent that it may occur if we can’t slow it down, we’re looking about a half a million dollars a year in losses to hunters in this worse case scenario. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but that half million dollars a year would occur every year if we can’t stop CWD. If we could invest in a program that in two years reduces CWD at a cost less than a $2 to $4 million, it’s worth it just from the hunting perspective.”
Dr. Adamowicz is quick to point out that there is no documented case of humans catching Chronic Wasting Disease from infected deer. His research shows that hunters are split on their perception of health risks, and that about one third of hunters feel comfortable eating deer meat before it is tested for CWD. √

Unfolding the mystery of misfolding PRIONS

Just mention the term prion and you’ll draw a blank look from most people. But say mad cow, and you’ll get a reaction.
Mad cows have spongy brains. They fall over. And, if you eat their parts, you might get the disease, too. That’s what most people remember of the mad cow crisis that swept Britain in the late 1980s. Thousands of cattle were destroyed before the epidemic was contained.
The culprit turned out to be cattle feed which contained ground up sheep offal contaminated with scrapies, a neurodegenerative disease of sheep. Scientists eventually figured out misfolded prions were behind the infection that had crossed the species barrier from sheep to cows and, sadly, to humans. In humans, it is called Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
In May 2003, Canada’s first official case of mad cow or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) popped up on a farm in Alberta. Overnight trade borders closed, stifling a $4.1 billion dollar a year beef export business. While barely a dozen mad cows have appeared in the ensuing years, the BSE crisis here cost billions in lost trade and lost jobs.
The Alberta government responded with a $35 million fund to support research into BSE and prion related diseases through Alberta Ingenuity and the Alberta Prion Research Institute. The federal government poured support into PRIONet, a member of the Network of Centres of Excellence. The University of Alberta set up the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases.
Over the past few years, the scientists involved with these groups have collaborated on some of the most important prion research in the world.
This year, I have had the opportunity to interview some of these scientists, thanks to a journalism award from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.
What I find remarkable is the breadth of their research projects and the advancements they are making here. What started with one mad cow in Alberta has evolved into an intriguing investigation of a host of neurodegenerative diseases that impact all of us.
Two of the many talented researchers working in this area are Dr. David Westaway and Dr. David Wishart. Both are professors at the University of Alberta, although Dr. Westaway arrived from Britain via the University of Toronto. He is director of the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases.

Dr. David Wisehart

Dr. Wishart is a bio-informatics specialist and he was the lead scientist on the Human Metabolome Project. He describes prions as “small proteins that we all have. They’re in every living organism as far as we can tell, from yeast all the way to humans.”
The exact purpose of prions is not known, although they are thought to play a protective role. The normal or cellular prion protein is harmless. But sometimes things go wrong.
“Occasionally, if the protein has been mutated or if some external agent modifies the prion protein, it changes shape. Once it changes shape, it starts doing something bad. It actually starts self-assembling into what are called fibrils. And these fibrils start filling up brain cells, leading to brain cell death,” explains Dr. Wishart.
His most recent work uses a variety of techniques, including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectronomy and circular dichroism, to observe the prion protein at an atomic scale. The point is to observe the folding process in real time and hopefully find a way to stop it.
“Prions are naturally helical, meaning they look like a bunch of springs stuck together. But, when they misfold,” Dr. Wishart says, “they turn from a helical protein to something that’s called a beta strand or a sheet. And the beta sheet is in a sense a bunch of ribbons. And, in fact, silk is an example of a fibre that is made up almost exclusively of beta sheets. So when prions go from the helical to a beta sheet, they say that they convert or they misfold. This is something that proteins will often do. Normally, the body gets rid of them but, in the case of prions, when they misfold, they aggregate and they actually become toxic.”
It’s this aggregation the gives rise to the term “infectious”. A chain reaction starts and cannot be stopped.

Dr. David Westaway

According to Dr. Westaway, a normal prion or protein is a solo operator. As such, the outside of the molecule is covered with chemical charges that like water.
“The positive and negative charges interact with the water molecule and the protein molecule stays under control. It’s basically dissolved in water and everything is fine and dandy. But, in the context of disease, the proteins start to assemble into aggregates and very often this aggregation property is somehow linked to the fact that the non-water loving part of the molecule gets turned inside out. So, in chemical jargon, the hydrophobic parts of the molecule, instead of being hidden inside, come to the outside. The hydrophobic parts of a molecule like to interact with the hydrophobic parts of other molecules. So you start to get an assembly where the contact between the molecules is a bit more like an oily interface that pushes water out of the way.”
This initiates a domino effect where the proteins build up on one another.
In his lab, Dr. Wishart has been exploring how the prion converts or misfolds and has identified that the tail end of the molecule seems to be the part that gets disrupted or unfolded first.
“It aggregates first in what we call dimers or pairs, then in tetramers or sets of four and then, ultimately, in octamers, or groups of eight molecules. These aggregates are all hung together near the back end from last to about 70 residues. So they produce this insoluable, tightly massed core that can’t be cut… that can’t be broken down. Then these octamers eventually start forming fibrils or threads.”
Dr. Wishart goes on to say that it appears the tetramer and octamer, the groups of four and eight proteins, become highly toxic and form the principle seed that leads to infection.
It’s an exciting discovery that opens up the door to developing a means of stopping the misfolding process.
Dr. Westaway suggests that once you define the misfolding process in molecular terms, “then you can create an anti-molecule to stop it from happening. It’s what is called smart therapy.”
Over in his lab at the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, Dr. Westaway has uncovered at least two important pieces to the prion puzzle. These are chaperone and shadoo proteins.
Chaperones are helper molecules. Sometimes when proteins start folding into the right shape, they get stuck, so along comes a chaperone to smooth it out so it goes into the right shape. This is well known in the science of cell biology for proteins inside the cell.
Says Westaway, “The field of chaperones is well known in the science of cell biology for proteins inside the cell. But prion disease is a bit more cutting edge because it seems there may well be chaperone-type activity involved in the wrong way, in helping a good protein go bad. Some of the crucial events of refolding or misfolding may not be going on inside the cell. In fact, they may be going on outside the cell. This is an important frontier that will bear close scrutiny in the coming years.”
A student in Westaway’s lab, Joe Watts, confirmed that this protein exists. It is quite abundant in the brain and has a lot of features similar to normal prion proteins.
“We think that shadoo may be part of a family of a molecules on the surface of brain cells that help brain cells deal with damage,” Dr. Westaway explains. “We have looked at what happens to the shadoo protein in an animal that has a prion disease and we were very surprised to get a very simple answer: that the shadoo protein starts to disappear when animals are replicating prions. It is what we call a tracer. We didn’t expect to make this discovery but, somehow when the protein is disappearing, it’s telling you that prions are replicating.”
He goes on to speculate that in a disease state, the shadoo proteins are being cannibalized by what he calls chopping proteins known as proteases. These get rid of proteins that are no longer needed by the body. What triggers the sudden attack warrants further investigation.
So what is it that brings home all this talk about how prions fold?
Catching Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease from a mad cow is still a very rare event. The odds in Canada are one in a million. However, there are other protein folding diseases that are all too common: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
The research of Westaway and Wishart goes a long way toward informing discovery on this front.
A provocative article, published in the journal Nature in early 2009, suggests that normal prion proteins, thought to be the protectors of nerve cells, are involved in the killing of brain cells. It appears the misfolded protein aggregates that cause Alzheimer’s bind to the normal prion proteins to initiate the killing.
Dr. Westaway is adamant. “We’ll check that out, and other labs will check that and very likely some important new knowledge will come out of looking at those ideas with a fine tooth comb.” √

New Mite Species Discovered— Grizzly Bears of the Soil World

Jim Herbers

The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute has laid out a grid of 1656 points across the entire province, with each point 20 kilometres apart. The data collected from these sites gives scientists a measure of the changing state of biodiversity in Alberta.
When ABMI researchers collect samples from these sites, they check for various kinds of flora and fauna in the water, in the trees, on the ground, and in the soil. And it’s not uncommon to discover new species.
Of particular interest are mites, tiny invertebrates that play a big role in maintaining the health of our soils.
Jim Herbers, director for information for the ABMI, says,“We’re very proud to report that there are well over 100 new species to Canada that we’ve identified and well over 30 new species to the world.”
These mites are microscopic, but don’t let their diminutive size fool you. Herbers explains, “Some of them are like the grizzly bears of the soil world. They go around and they’re predators. Many of them are frugivores. Many of them eat fungus and mushrooms. And then there are a number of other species that live in the soil that break down the soil organic matter, making sure that it’s turned over and that the nutrients are available for plants to use.”
These new species of mites were identified for the ABMI when scientists at the Royal Alberta Museum analyzed soil samples collected from the grid points

TEC Edmonton Searches for New CEO

Pamela Freeman

Now that David Cox has left TEC Edmonton for a new post at Radient Technologies, TEC Edmonton is looking for a new CEO to take his place.
And, according to Pamela Freeman, the interim CEO, TEC Edmonton is looking for a very special leader. “That person would have experience working in the private sector… public markets, private markets, to raise capital for companies… and will also have a very strong and effective way of working with our research community. So we have retained a recruitment firm to help us find someone who can help take TEC Edmonton to the next level where we continue to expand our programs and services that reach out to the entrepreneurial community, for those who have a technology who wish to develop a company and that can also interact effectively with our University community.”
Freeman says TEC Edmonton is continuing to build on three very successful years under Cox’s leadership. New programs include TEC Source which provides free consults to technology based companies. And there’s the new regional alliance which sees five Edmonton incubators collaborating to provide “one-stop shopping” for entrepreneurs and inventors.

Wheat Straw Panel Board Houses for China’s Earthquake Zone

Boewer Besseling

New homes in China’s earthquake zone will now be made from wheat straw instead of bricks and cement.
A Dutch company has licenced technology developed by the Alberta Research Council to make wheat straw panel board—OSSB or oriented straw strandboard—for the Chinese market.
According to architect Boewer Besseling of Panel Board Holdings, the wheat straw panels are superior for this earthquake zone since they are framed with light gauge steel.
Says Besseling, “First of all, the buildings are all made out of concrete and bricks. And the quality of these bricks and concrete is a little bit less than what we are used to in Europe and also in Canada. So if there is an earthquake, there is a big possibility that it just cracks because it is not flexible, and it comes down. Unfortunately, that happened a lot last year during the earthquake. And this light gauge steel is more flexible, so it can withstand an earthquake much better than concrete and bricks. And together with our OSSB, which we can use like a bracing element, it stands better in earthquakes than what they have right now.”
The wheat straw panel boards also offer an environmental break for China. ARC’s forest products technologist Wayne Wasylciw says the OSSB panel boards make use of straw that in China would otherwise be burned. They also save agricultural land from being dug up for clay to make bricks. √

From great muffins to great minds

Jenni Salonga, Neil Caarsemaker, David Riddell, Brian Mycholuk, Candace Brimsmead

You’ll find the Edmonton Research Park at the junction of Parsons Road and Karl Clark Road.
A linear red and grey building marks the spot. That’s the Advanced Technology Centre where Candace Brinsmead has her office. She is the vice-president of technology advancement with the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation.
Brinsmead describes the ATC, built in the 1980s, as “looking like a bunker from the road but it’s actually very cool, still a contemporary looking space. The Advanced Technology Centre was one of the premier buildings and it was designed as an incubator. It’s an award winning architectural wonder.”
The ATC currently houses 33 tenants: startup companies with a focus on biotechnology, information and communications technology and energy technology.
“We also have Research Centre One which was built in the late 1970s. It’s more for second stage companies. And then, more recently, we’ve added the Biotechnology Business Development Centre to our stable of incubators and it focuses on biotechnology development.”
As you wind down Karl Clark Road through the Edmonton Research Park, you’ll pass by a number of buildings which house companies like Micralyne, Schlumberger, C-FER, Syncrude, and Affexa, the company that makes Cold-fx… and then there’s the ill-fated Dell building. Then you curve around a large pond where flocks of Canada geese gather year round, finally ending up at the Alberta Research Council.
Just in case you’re wondering who Karl Clark was, he’s the scientist who, in the 1920s, invented the hot water process for separating bitumen from the oil sands, thereby laying the foundation for today’s oilsands industry. His work was among the first projects of the Alberta Research Council.
Edmonton Research Park covers a quarter section of land. It was much larger until a few years ago when the City sold off the Park’s reserve on the other side of Parson’s Road. That’s where you’ll now find the shopping complex known as South Edmonton Common. Seems at the time, our City fathers didn’t think this “research and technology stuff” would ever amount to much.
But today, not only is Edmonton’s biotechnology cluster taking off, the Research Park is bursting at the seams.
According to Brinsmead, “We only have four lots available, and there are negotiations going on for three of those. So yes, we’re going to need to expand fairly soon. And we will be looking to the Southlands to do that.” The Southlands is 85 acres of provincially controlled land immediately south of the Research Park.
“Because we see a boom coming in the technology sector, it will be a much more dense area than the Research Park is now,” Brinsmead predicts. “Right now we pretty well have a zoning limit of two floors. We see that we’re probably going to have to go up to eight floors and have fairly dense office and lab space.
“We’re also going to have to start initiating conversations with the City and with the Province to look at what we can do to bring rapid transit down here, or at least shore up the mass transit system that we’ve got now.”
This is where’s Brinsmead’s enthusiasm really kicks into high gear. She has that gut sense honed by years of experience that this Research Park holds great potential.
As an entrepreneur, she ran a company that sold low fat muffins to McDonald’s across Canada, then sold it to a multi-national enterprise. She put her banking experience to good use at the Alberta Research Council where she ran an investment fund worth $6 million. Her supervisor at ARC was Ron Gilbertson, the man who is now heads up EEDC.
“I respected him as a visionary, and I think he respected the skills that I had that probably executed towards that vision. So when he came over to EEDC, he approached me because they were looking at an expand role in trying to get technology to market, where the City could play a larger role.”
Brinsmead describes the vision for the Edmonton Research Park as a community where great minds mingle and great ideas are born and nurtured into new technologies.
“It will be a very exciting campus of different technologies, different researchers, different minds but with synergies created between the sectors.
“So we have a gated community where once you’re in, you’re in a whole different world. We plan on having one restaurant, one fitness area, one daycare centre, one social committee where events are being planned. The idea is the more we can get these minds to socialize… to talk… to exchange ideas… to be able to run across the street if they are thinking about something that might be needed in whatever they are working on. That is the vision, where we’ve got a focused, tightly knit community.”
And it doesn’t stop there. The plan is to reach outside the Park by building networks throughout the innovation community across Edmonton, the province, the country, maybe even the world.
“It’s a big vision, but it’s totally doable.”
One of the immediate projects that Brinsmead is involved in is the new regional alliance between ERP, TEC Edmonton, the National Institute for Nanotechnology, novaNAIT, and NABI, the Northern Alberta Business Incubators.
She explains the alliance. “Primarily we create space. The idea is we horse trade. And we will be able to work together, the five of us, to do what’s best for the tenant.” Those tenant needs may be office space, lab space, or services like mentorship, help with commercialization, and so on. But the regional alliance becomes one point of entry for the tenant or inventor who’s trying to move a new concept along the innovation chain.
Then comes the second and third layers of the regional alliance. Says Brinsmead, “The second layer, we’re going to get into the product developers, the people who can help scale up. And, at some point, the third level will be the people who can fund some of these ideas.”
The system Brinsmead describes is very much aligned with the new innovation framework introduced this spring by Doug Horner, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. There’s the emphasis entrepreneurship and technology commercialization, the concierge concept, and the focus core strengths, energy, health, ICT and biotechnology.
Has Edmonton got what it takes to stand out on the world stage?
Brinsmead is confident we do—given the people, facilities and support both public and private.
“If you look around the world and look at the major research parks, there are none out there that have the technology or the government support and map that we’ve got. Finland is the only one that I’ve read about so far where there’s actual government involvement and collaboration.
“Instead of saying we have to make money from this right off the bat, they are saying create value for us. Create the technologies that are going to create the businesses that are going to succeed and contribute to the city. Create the technologies that are going to save lives. Create the technologies that are going to save our environment.”
And you can count on Candace Brinsmead to make sure the Edmonton Research Park will be front and centre in facilitating these breakthroughs. √

Powerhouse moves to Ottawa

Denise Carpenter

If history is any indication, the Canadian Nuclear Association is about to get booted from obscurity into the limelight.
That’s because Denise Carpenter is coming on board as the association’s new president and CEO.
No pun intended, but Carpenter is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to getting the message out.
This public relations diva honed her skills in the 1980s and 1990s at Palmer Jarvis and Weber Shandwick Worldwide. Since 2003, she’s been the senior vice-president of public and government affairs with EPCOR and, until July, she guided the company through many hot issues.
Twice chosen as one of Alberta’s 50 most influential people, Carpenter is now setting her sights on Ottawa. Her task is to build public confidence in one of the most controversial industries in Canada.
When asked what someone from a province devoid of nuclear power could possibly bring to the industry, Carpenter replied, “I have a very strong track record of developing and executing really strong strategies for industry. And I also think they may have picked me because I have advocated for almost every fuel source in Canada. So I understand the importance and the regionalization of fuel sources.”
Carpenter looks upon the nuclear industry as one that is not well known to Canadians. Nor are its benefits, she says. “The reason people are interested in nuclear energy quite frankly is because it is an emission free method of producing power.”
And, what about the public’s concern over nuclear waste?
“That’s certainly something I’ m going to want to learn,” says Carpenter. “I certainly don’t know a lot about it right now, other than the government has put together a commission and there is a body that is working quite aggressively on solving that problem.”
Carpenter takes a global view when it comes to the immediate challenges. “The world needs energy… how do you produce energy that people want to consume? I don’t see that people will stop driving their cars or stop heating their homes. The consumption of energy is growing and growing. So how do we do that in a responsible manner as a society? On the other side, there are special interest groups that advocate for and against every energy source. So that’s the challenge. How do you meet the industrial and the residential need for individuals and companies, and at the same time, build bridges with all the special interest groups?”
With the current interest in developing nuclear power to supply Alberta’s oilsands development, there’s no doubt the nuclear industry is gearing up for a major campaign.
Carpenter will be missed by the many people and organizations she has helped over her years in Edmonton. She’s lent her energies and PR expertise to the arts community and many boards like the Space and Science Centre, to name but a few of her commitments.
“I cherish all the relationships that I’ve developed and people I’ve worked with more than I could ever express. And I really cherish the fact that there were a lot of people along the way who taught me a lot: Eric Newell, Jim Carter and George Ward, they were always great mentors. So I think I had the privilege of being mentored by a lot of people in this community.” √

Re-thinking HEMP

Dr. John Wolodko

Hemp was an important industrial material before World War II, but then it was supplanted by the development of petroleum-based products.
Sixty years later, hemp is making a comeback as an environment friendly biofibre.
The Alberta Research Council has developed a new technology to separate the very long fibres of the hemp plant from its inner core. And according to Dr. John Wolodko, a program leader in the Advanced Materials Group, when these fibres are chopped and formed into a mat, they make a very good substitute for energy intensive glass fibres used to make fiberglass.
One potential application for this hemp fiberglass is in the production of molded automotive parts.
Wolodko says, “We’ve been working with a company out of Calgary called Motive Industries who are developing prototype cars for electric vehicles, for example. The big advantage with the hemp material is that is very light weight compared to fiberglass. So it offers an incredible value in terms of energy savings, as well as reducing the weight of the vehicle, which is of paramount importance for increasing that kind of driving distance for electric vehicles. So it’s a very good fit. “
Wolodko’s group at ARC is also working with a boat manufacturer in the Okanogan to produce hemp fiberglass parts for boats. √

BioAlberta

Ryan Radke President, BioAlberta

BioAlberta chose National Biotechnology Week in late September to release its State of the Industry 2009 Report. And, to no one’s surprise, the long tentacles of the global recession touched even Alberta’s biotechnology sector
“It’s been a tough year,” says BioAlberta President Ryan Radke.
“The life science industry in Alberta is not immune to what’s going on with the general economy, so generally I’d say a lot of the categories were down anywhere between 10 to 30 percent. Revenues were down in the past year. Definitely investment was down. This is one area that is key to the life science industry in Alberta. For all elements of biotechnology, whether it is health biotech, ag biotech, industrial, environment, the key element is for companies to be able to access capital. And, unfortunately over the last year it just wasn’t there.”
This is the third time BioAlberta has surveyed its members; the previous two reports were issued in 2005 and 2007.
The 2009 report was developed in collaboration with Deloitte & Touche LLP, the results based on a questionnaire sent to the executives of 124 life science companies in Alberta. In all, 105 companies responded, giving at least partial if not complete answers, providing a response rate of 84.7 percent.
“Essentially we were looking to get in touch with our constituents, our members and get a sense from them how things are out there,” explains Radke. “How is the economy impacting the company? What could we be doing better here in Alberta? What’s working? What isn’t working? Just to get a state of the industry and see how things are going.”
Edmonton has the largest biosciences cluster in Canada and the city is certainly the life sciences kingpin for Alberta. The report shows that 58 percent of bio-industry companies are located in the Edmonton region, 33.6 percent in Calgary, and 8.4 percent in other areas.
Health biotechnology and medical devices account for 60 percent of the bio-industry. Agriculture biotechnology accounts for 12.3 percent. The rest of the industry is devoted to such things as specialty packing for infectious substances, biological specimens, natural products, industrial chemicals, and engineering services. What’s interesting is that most companies are active in more than one sector.
About one-third of companies are involved in manufacturing and another third in research and development.
As well, almost half have lead products that are already in the market; 16.7 percent are in pre-clinical testing, and 20.8 percent of companies are testing their lead products in clinical trials.
The State of the Industry report indicates some disturbing trends. For example, two-thirds of Alberta’s life science companies were created before 1999. Only one-third of Alberta’s life science companies have been formed since 2000. The report shows a downward trend in the creation of new life science companies, with only 10.5 percent being established between 2005 and 2009. It’s not exactly the sort of thing you want to hear when the province says it is trying to build a strong life sciences industry here.
Also on a downward trend is the ability of companies to raise capital for ongoing operations and research and development.
Radke points out, “Here in Alberta the investment situation has always been a tough one. Even during good times two years ago, we weren’t securing necessarily as much investment as the rest of Canada was. I think here in Alberta in all of the technology sectors, we don’t see as much venture capital action as we would like. Our public companies tend to struggle a little bit on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the venture exchanges. And so we saw a fairly large dip in this area for the 2009 report. We saw investment capital raised was almost at an all time low. It was just over $100 million, which is okay. But for the technology industry that we have here, we should be securing a lot more investment than that.”
This drop in investment is having a significant impact on cash flow for companies, most of which are small with fewer than 30 employees. The amount of cash on-hand for companies has decreased from an average of 15 months to less than 10 months. Companies are tightening their belts by letting employees go, some shutting their doors, and most cutting their R&D spending.
And revenues? The report indicates these will drop by 22 percent for 2009, although most companies also express a certain degree of optimism that they will see a recovery through 2010.
Radke suggests, “It’s not all terrible news, really. Some of the areas didn’t decrease as much as we thought they would. Employment numbers weren’t down all that dramatically, about 10 percent. So, compared to some industrial sectors, that’s not bad. This industry has managed to weather the storm really well, actually.”
He says the report indicates that companies are looking to a brighter future for the life sciences industry.
“When we started asking companies about what they saw one and two years out, I think they see the end in sight to the recession or the economic downturn. They can see that perhaps lenders will be coming back into the market, looking for good opportunities. So there’s something on the horizon that looks like a bright spot and it’s just a matter of weathering the storm right now.”
What’s significant is that the most common source of capital is what the report calls “government-facilitated programs”. Fully half the respondent companies have used these in the past and almost two-thirds intend to pursue these programs to raise capital in the future. These include the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Tax program, NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program, along with funding from Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Alberta Ingenuity Fund, AVAC, and the Alberta Innovation Voucher Program.
The report concludes that the number one issue for Alberta’s biotechnology companies is securing financing. And, as for government initiatives, they believe the most important thing the Alberta government can do to stimulate growth for the companies is improve the provincial tax environment through the SR&ED and other tax incentives.
“This kind of information gives us some solid data that we can talk about with members of the community, members of government, members of the industry, and say, ‘What do we want to build here in Alberta?’ And then what we need to do is figure out the roadmap of how we’re going to get there.”

Radient Technologies Leaves Lotus Land for Edmonton

Dr. David Cox

Radient Technologies Inc has pulled up stakes and is moving from Vancouver to Edmonton.
This is good news for the Edmonton’s biotechnology sector which has experienced some tough times over the past few months.
Radient has commercialized technology first developed by Environment Canada for use in environmental remediation. Called a microwave assisted solvent extraction process, it also has applications in other areas including flavourings, herbs, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and biochemicals.
An investment of $5.5 million from AVAC, Foragen and Agriculture, and Agrifood Canada will boost Radient’s marketing efforts.
And the man leading that charge is Dr. David Cox. He was lured from his position as the head of TEC Edmonton to become the new CEO of Radient.
According to Dr. Cox, “It’s a business exercise in understanding the market. We have a nice problem. The problem is there are so many things that you can do with this technology. so many problems that you can solve, we’re spoiled for choice. And if we’re not careful, we can get distracted on too many interesting things rather than the necessary few. So job one is to understand the global market for this kind of application and then target those companies where the Radient solution will be transformative for them. And they don’t know that they need us yet. It’s my job to show them how they need us.”
Cox expects Radient will achieve this growth through licensing its technology to other companies and by manufacturing its own products.