In the news: the ideal site for IT, China and the US at the Technoparc, great news for Inolife and Repare, 2 galas, the work on the NIC. Services: transportation committee, Igloo Technoparc, virtual holidays, Technoparc advantages, zoom on resident and monthly tips from our collaborators.
IN THE NEWS
Information Technologies at the Technoparc de Montréal.
The future is created here.
At the beginning of 2019, the Technoparc de Montréal had 2,396 IT jobs, representing 32.6% of the site’s 7,350 jobs. In terms of proportions of firms by sector, the percentage was 29.3% for a total of 41 IT firms. It is therefore a high presence of SMEs spread throughout the site. Also on the site are larger companies such as Accedian, Amdocs, Belden, Ciena, Cologix, Compugen, Exfo, Genetec, Haivision, HP, Keysight Technologies, KPI Digital, Semtech, SolidXperts, Vantage Data Centers and West. The Technoparc de Montréal site is therefore conducive to the deployment of the IT industry in the Montréal economy. To find out more about the Technoparc de Montréal and its resident companies, we invite you to consult our latest annual report.
China at the Technoparc de Montréal
Last month at the Technoparc de Montréal, we had the honor of receiving delegates from the Canadian Science & Technology Commerce Association. The participants visited us to study investment opportunities of Chinese companies specializing in life sciences and health technologies at the Technoparc. We were able to start our relations by presenting our site as well as the availabilities in terms of purchases of lands or rental of buildings. Participants were able to reinforce their positive perception of our site and also obtain the necessary information to convey to interested investors in China. An excellent start to the relationship and we were honored to welcome them to our site.
Your delegation wants to meet us to discuss collaboration and investment projects? Please contact us by email at info@technoparc.com right away!
Excellent news for our Technoparc resident company Inolife
nolife, an emerging life science company, innovation leader in comprehensive needle-free injectable solutions, is pleased to announce Israel’s Ministry of Health (MOH) granted regulatory approval to distribute the Inojex needle-free injection device in Israel. Inolife’s injectors deliver a fine stream of medication under the skin without a needle. The technology makes injections virtually pain free while eliminating a whole suite of needle-related problems such as needlestick injuries, cross-contamination, toxic waste management, tissue damage, scarring, etc. More information through the following press release.
Hope for Dementia Gala event
The Hope for Dementia Gala is in a few days. Did you buy your tickets? Once again, Technoparc Montreal is proud to participate in this Gala which will take place on Friday, September 27 at 6:30 pm at the Whitlock Golf & Country Club in Hudson. Ms. Luana Borelli and Mr. Carl Baillargeon, both from Technoparc Montreal, will be masters of the ceremonies, with many VIP guests as well as a music show. Interested to participate? Please get your tickets through this link.
Financing for Repare Therapeutics
The Technoparc resident company Repare Therapeutics, a precision oncology company targeting specific vulnerabilities of tumors in genetically defined patient populations, announced today the completion of a US$82.5 million Series B financing. Cowen Healthcare Investments led the financing and was joined by new investors OrbiMed, Redmile, BVF Partners L.P. and Logos Capital. Founding investor Versant Ventures and existing investors MPM Capital, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and BDC Capital all participated. You can find complementary information through this press release.
2019 Innovation Awards Gala
Technoparc Montréal is also proud to participate at the 29th Gala des Prix Innovation of the ADRIQ-RCTi, as the presenter of the evening. This event underlines the companies and builders who give a leading role to research and innovation. The ADRIQ-RCTi Innovation Awards Gala, recognized as the most prestigious event of the Quebec innovation community, will take place on Thursday, November 21, 2019 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. Note that the NEOMED Innovation Center is a finalist for the 2019 Life Sciences Innovation Award, which will be presented again by BIOQuébec and Innovative Medicines Canada.
More than 450 decision-makers from the research and innovation ecosystem and renowned guests are expected. Click this link for more information or to participate.
US Trade Consulate visits Technoparc
The US Trade Consulate and Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, in collaboration with Technoparc Montréal, hosted an informative Lunch and Learn Session last month at the Executive Conference room located at the Albert-Einstein Innovation Center of Technoparc Montréal. The attendees from diverse Technoparc companies dined on delicious lunch from 21st Century Foods while learning about the status of additive technology in aerospace. Stratasys Direct is one of the largest providers of 3D printing and advanced manufacturing services. They have 7 North American facilities, employ 500 people and have ISO 9001 and AS9100 quality certifications. The focus at Stratasys Direct is to provide custom parts on demand allowing customers to consolidate multiple parts into one and replace metal with lighter weight materials in order to reduce fuel costs. More information can be found on their Website.
Technoparc Montréal at the Entretiens Jacques Cartier
Technoparc Montréal is proud to once again participate in this major annual event. This year, the 32nd edition of the Entretiens Jacques Cartier (EJC), the first meeting of France x Québec, will take place from November 4th to 6th, 2019, in Québec and Ottawa. Come and meet more than 4,500 actors, decision-makers from both sides of the Atlantic and from the worlds of economics, culture, science, academia … And exchange with more than 500 speakers and experts, from France, Québec, and Ottawa, around more than 30 French-speaking events, conferences and networking moments, in 30 different locations. Get all the information by visiting the EJC Website.
Expansion work at the NEOMED Innovation Center
The work for the expansion of the NEOMED Innovation Center (NIC) at the Technoparc de Montréal is progressing fast! The NIC will offer its future tenants state-of-the-art chemistry and biology labs, as well as common workspaces designed to foster collaboration. A great option for life sciences companies in Canada (and beyond!) who are looking for spaces adapted to their size and a site promoting sustained growth through a set of flexible real estate offers. For more information, contact the CBRE brokers at 514-849-6000 or visit the NIC Website.
RESIDENT SERVICES
Transportation Committee
The Transportation Committee of the Technoparc de Montréal will meet on September 19, 2019. The committee is made up of several Technoparc companies and its mission is to improve transportation to and from the site. During this fall meeting, the committee will focus on a number of important issues, including: improvement of STM services (especially bus route 72), proposals for active transportation additions and improvements to ongoing services, traffic flow inside the Technoparc, evolution of the work of the REM as well as the evaluation of the needs of electric charging stations open to all residents. We thank the companies participating in this committee and we will be able to report to you, following this committee, the resolutions and solutions that have been adopted. To familiarize yourself with our transportation committee, we invite you to consult the section dedicated to it on our Website.
MOTIV and the Igloo Technoparc
MOTIV training offers businesses an innovative service unparalleled in North America. They install their 4-season igloo at your door to provide effective and interactive cardiovascular workouts. Their mobile service is perfectly inclusive. Under personalized supervision and accompanied by up-tempo music, you will workout on bikes responding to the virtual ride displayed on a giant screen. On September 5, 2019, they had free sessions for employees of the Technoparc de Montréal. The participants all appreciated and were very open to repeat the experience in their workplace. Interested in using MOTIV Training on a regular basis? Do not hesitate to contact them now, it will be their pleasure to find a solution for you. Do not forget that they go to your workplace! Contact them directly through their Website.
Virtual mini holidays at Technoparc
New offer for companies and residents of the Technoparc de Montréal … Make your job a dream destination! D-Stress VR is relaxing like you’ve never seen it before. Their virtual reality relaxation sessions are an effective way to help reduce stress, boost productivity and boost morale. Give yourself and your teams virtual mini vacations in the comfort of your workplace. “Technoparc Advantage”: 10% off reservations by September 30, 2019. Book now at 1-888-789-4492 or info@dstressvr.com. More information is available on their Website.
Last “Food Truck Thursday” of the season
The “Food Truck Thursdays” are ending for the season, with a final event on October 3rd, 2019. We had a great success in September with the presence of two food trucks (Gaspésie and Chez Tomio) and the Igloo Technoparc, in which many of the Technoparc residents participated. A great concept that we were happy to introduce (and in which e also participated, phew!). For the last event, let us know if you have an activity you would like to have (info@technoparc.com) and do not forget to participate. We will be waiting for you in front of our Alfred-Nobel Innovation Center, at 2300 Alfred-Nobel Boulevard, in front of the future REM station, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm on October 3rd, 2019. Also, do not forget that the schedules of our events are also published on our Facebook page, which we invite you to join …
“Technoparc advantage” at the Home2 Suites
The brand new Home2 Suites par Hilton Montréal Dorval is an all-suites extended stay hotel conveniently located at 1855 Trans Canada – a quick 5 minutes drive from the Technoparc de Montréal. Their spacious suites include a living room area, full kitchen and Working Wall. Their rates include daily continental buffet breakfast, WiFi, local/long distance calls, indoor/outdoor parking, access to the gym and indoor swimming pool and outdoor fire pit and BBQ grills. Exclusive offer to Technoparc Montréal Residents: 10% rebate off their rates. Simply call and ask for the Technoparc Montreal rate or book directly online using corporate code: 0003200995. An ID will be required upon arrival. Don’t forget to also share with your visitors. Enjoy your “Techno” stay!
K.I.D.S Daycare at Technoparc
Did you know that K.I.D.S. Daycare offers high quality day care at the Technoparc? They include monthly themes, such as arts and music, and offer music, dance, physical education and yoga classes to the children. Their meals are fresh and homemade daily. They have two spacious outdoor courtyards plus an indoor gymnasium and special events are offered throughout the year. For more information, visit their Website or contact Susan at 514-332-8295.
Innovation centers at the Technoparc
Did you know that there are two innovation centers in the heart of the Technoparc? They are open to all sizes of businesses, from start-ups to SMEs, who wish to establish themselves in the largest science and high technology park in Canada. These two centers of innovation already have more than forty companies, which encourages easy exchanges, which ultimately can become commercial collaborations. There are still some spaces available in our two centers, contact us at info@technoparc.com. More info on our 2 innovation centers are available through our Website.
Six Restos at Technoparc
Did you know that there are six restos at the Technoparc and that they are open to the public? They are in the building of the NEOMED Institute (2 services meals at $8.70 plus taxes), Place Innovation (Bombardier building), 2600 Alfred-Nobel and Novotel. Did you know that in Place Innovation, there is a large food court offering different dishes, including Crudessence dishes and Tim Hortons and Bento Sushi counters? Take a tour to discover the complete offer of the food fair and, a little further, the Van Houtte counter with cafes, pastries and sandwiches! It’s open to all, so don’t feel shy to walk into the building and follow the pictograms. To help you get there, click this Google Maps link.
Zoom resident: BioAuxilium
Assay development is a complex process than can rapidly become a bottleneck in both basic research and drug discovery laboratories. BioAuxilium provides customized services in biochemical, cell-based and biomarker assay development across a number of therapeutic areas using various high-throughput technology platforms. BioAuxilium also offers preclinical sample testing services using no-wash immunoassay technologies. Regardless of the scope of your project, they can design and develop a robust, sensitive and reproducible assay that will meet your requirements and expectations. More information can be found on their Website.
Monthly Sustainability Tips & Insights from ERA:
Environmental Management – is it needed for every business?
Environmental management is the practices, policies, and procedures that your organization undertakes to comply with local, provincial and/or federal environmental legislation. In most cases this means monitoring chemical emissions and by-products emitted to the local air, water, or waste streams.
Most manufacturers oversee their environmental management by looking at what goes into their process and what comes out. Anything entering the facility will leave the facility as either a final product or a waste/by-product. Environmental management is all about understanding this balance – what goes in must come out.
Environmental management is necessary as a federally mandated obligation for nearly every type of business. Various federal regulations such as the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) regulate and limit the impact that businesses have on local environmental quality and public health. Many types of businesses, such as labs and manufacturing facilities are governed by this legislation.
Environmental management addresses the burden of proof on businesses through their permits, recordkeeping, and reporting. Businesses need to keep data on their chemical inventories, chemical usages, waste generation, air emissions, water discharges in order to provide compliance reports to federal or state regulators. You will also need these records in case an auditor ever comes to inspect your facility; they will undoubtedly ask to see your records.
Today most organizations also consider environmental management as a business necessity because it helps businesses be good stewards of their resources, which ultimately results in lower operating costs. This is sometimes referred to as corporate sustainability.
ERA is producing an in-depth guide about environmental management and we’re happy to share parts of it here for your personal reading. Questions about this tip? For more information, please send an email to ERA at info@era-ehs.com or see their Website.
The Monthly Web Marketing Advice by Expandify: Three Important Goals
You Want to Keep in Mind When Deciding on Which Hashtag Strategy to Use.
Goal 1: Content Reach. The most obvious reason to use hashtags is to reach beyond your usual followers and gain influence into broader communities. There have been many studies done by Twitter and others on this important topic. Early this year hashtagify.com found that you get a 50% to 100% increase in engagement when using hashtags in a tweet. A good hashtag strategy will give you even better results. These strategies are not limited to Twitter; Instagram and Google Plus fit under this umbrella as well.
Goal 2: High-quality followers. Gaining high-quality followers should be a very important goal for anyone using social media as part of their marketing strategy. High-quality followers are those who interact with you and are therefore actually interested in what you share, and will also help you spread it around. These followers are hard to attract. Consistently publish compelling content, engage with other audiences, and add value to the community you cater to will help you achieve this goal. These hashtags will help you do this by acting as an extension of your work.
Goal 3: Finding relevant influencers and prospects. Hashtags can also be used to help find influencers and your target audiences. They also help with learning about your targeted audience. The fastest ways to increase your own influence is by connecting with already known influencers in your field. Using hashtags is easy enough to find who the influencers are, but also what they’re interested in. This will help you figure out what you have in common. This will also help increase the quality of your engagements, allowing you to save time and create more genuine and effective relationships.
So if you are ready to up your hashtag game in 2019, it comes down to the importance of your hashtag strategy on social networks like Twitter and Instagram, the studies done by twitter confirms the power of hashtags: it is no longer a question, it is a necessity in increasing your content’s reach, gaining high-quality followers and connecting with relevant influencers that fit with your brand. A cost-effective way to keep up with this trend is to outsource to a digital marketing agency that knows how to accomplish these three important goals efficiently and effectively.
To learn more about the best practices discussed here, get in contact with Expandify Marketing which offers you a free strategic planning session! You can contact their team: by phone (514) 973-2083 or email contact@expandify.ca. You can also visit their Website.
Molecular Forecaster: Should you believe the media’s AI hype in drug discovery?
This month, we will discuss some recent media hype surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) accelerating drug discovery. You may have seen several articles, press releases or tweets suggesting that greedy pharma is doomed because an AI now understands drug design. The coverage is but one example of AI endorsement without sufficient explanation of its actual accomplishments. What is the context? What are the caveats? Let’s dive in.
The context: a published article in Nature Biotechnology describes multi-parameter optimization (MPO) to find synthetically feasible, somewhat selective, DDR1 kinase inhibitors using AI. They reported two potent hits, two mediocre ones, and two inactive ones in the six molecules they tested experimentally. These molecules show some selectivity against other kinases and had favorable results in a few advanced assays.
The caveats: there are several, and that’s common of most scientific reports.
The kinase target is very well-understood in drug discovery.
Without a baseline, the timeline hype is unfortunately meaningless. It is probable that other approaches could reach the same “milestone” in the same timeframe.
The advanced assay results are positive, yet serendipitous and not designed by the AI-based approach. That is common and not a fault (nor benefit) of the approach.
The result is only a fraction of the road to the development/discovery of a drug. From our previous newsletter, this is “hitting your mark” and not much further.
The takeaway: there was some nice, recently published research that got carried away by the hype-train. The outcomes are not revolutionary, or a landmark, or ground-breaking, although it is a cool virtual screening story with some neat MPO done with AI. It is incremental success toward AI appearing more frequently in drug design. This critique is not aimed at the research, rather it is meant to put the impact in context. As researchers, we try to ensure the context of our work is understood, even if the nuance is unexciting. The challenge for media (and scientists) is to make that nuance exciting. We don’t believe that click-bait headlines are the way to achieve that; they mislead the public and, in this case, create a false belief that pharmaceutical companies are just twiddling their thumbs.
If you’d like to learn more or inquire about their software and services, please don’t hesitate to reach out. E-mail them at info@molecularforecaster.com, or visit their Website.
