University of Toronto and Innovations at University of Toronto

The University of Toronto (U of T) is Canada's leading teaching and research university with more than 70,000 students and 28 divisions, colleges and faculties on three campuses in downtown Toronto, Mississauga and Scarborough. This includes 14 professional faculties, nine fully-affiliated teaching hospitals, numerous research centres and Canada's largest university library system - the third largest in North America.
U of T is one of the world's great research enterprises, with 2,500 full-time faculty members conducting more than $3 million worth of research every day. In the life sciences, U of T innovation has led to the discovery of insulin, the genes responsible for cystic fibrosis and early onset Alzheimer's Disease and the development of the first electronic heart pacemaker. The U of T is also a founding investor in MaRS Discovery District and BioDiscovery Toronto.

Industry and the financial community gain access to the University of Toronto’s break-through technologies via Innovations at University of Toronto (IUT). Currently led by Dr. Tim McTiernan, Assistant Vice-President, Research and Executive Director of Innovations at U of T, over the last quarter century, IUT has taken the best of the best break-through technologies to many of the biggest names in the business world. IUT is a group of professionals with extensive academic, business and financial expertise brought together to commercialize innovations developed by U of T researchers and IUT’s healthcare partners.

The next generation of drug delivery technology must address unmet medical needs by reducing toxicity, preventing burst release and providing co-formulation of drug combinations. To address these needs researchers at the University of Toronto have taken the novel approach of developing drug delivery technology from the perspective of polymer-drug compatibility and interactions at both the molecular and supramolecular levels. Emphasis is placed on the chemical and physical properties of the material and their influence on the biological performance of the delivery system. The resulting technology, PoLi Systems, is protected as a unique composition of matter, which is currently being developed as a drug implant system for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

The PoLi implant system has several advantages over other synthetic polymer drug delivery systems:
• It is made of natural and fully biocompatible material.
• The components are physically crosslinked, thus preventing the need for toxic chemical crosslinking usually required for preparation of polymeric matrices.
• All components and degradation products are GRAS
• The implant is resistant to a host’s immunological response, therefore preventing encapsulation that would otherwise alter the drug release profile of the implant system.
• It is relatively easy to make and costs less to make than other polymeric systems.
• Allows for drug release over a period of months, not hours or days.
• It is capable of delivering hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs, as well as drug combinations.
• Efficacy and lack of toxicity have been demonstrated in animal models of ovarian cancer.

Patent Status: A US patent application has been filed.

Business Opportunity: We are interested in licensing this technology to an experienced industrial partner, who will take the lead in developing this technology for cancer therapy.

Jennifer brings to IUT six years of experience in the biotechnology industry, both in Canada and the US. During this time, she developed complete business plans for two start-up companies, which involved evaluating strategic opportunities through market analysis and competitive intelligence. She also created cash flow projections around the formulated business strategy, which enabled the companies to approach venture capital firms for funding.

While working as a researcher for Procyon Biopharma, she was the author of several research publications and one patent. Since then she has performed due diligence on patent portfolios, searching prior art and identifying cross-licensing obligations. This experience allows Jennifer to guide researchers through the patent process and provide valuable advice.

During her MBA program at the Richard Ivey School of Business, Jennifer wrote a business case on how to value early stage biotechnology companies and licensing opportunities. Along with her brief experience as a venture capitalist, the knowledge she has gained allows her to put a value on new technologies.

In order to sell these technologies to industry, Jennifer leverages her experience as vice president industry liaison for the Ivey Healthcare and Biotechnology Club, which allowed Jennifer to create relationships with over 400 biotechnology and healthcare professionals.

Jennifer also has B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees specializing in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Western Ontario.

Innovations at University of Toronto
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