News
A new biosciences company in New Brunswick
John Betts, MLA Moncton-Cresent
Honourable Marie-Claude Blais, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development and Minister responsible of Women's equality
Rodney Ouellette, M.D., Ph.D, President and Scientific Director, ACRI
Sam Massoni, President, New England Peptide
NB Premier, Honourable David Alward
Doug Robertson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tech South East
(Moncton, NB) – November 8, 2013 – The Atlantic Cancer Research Institute (ACRI), a leading cancer research centre in Atlantic Canada, and New England Peptide (NEP), a Boston based biotech manufacturer, have launched a new company to be based in Moncton, NB. Excipio Technologies Inc. has a mandate to commercialize the Vn96 peptide developed by both ACRI and NEP.
Vn96 is a synthetic peptide that was designed to specifically stick to surface molecules on microvesicles (MVs). Microvesicles are a facsimile of a diseased cell that contain the same altered genes and proteins that you would find in a sample obtained from a more invasive surgical biopsy. Microvesicles circulate in blood and urine, so important diagnostic or prognostic information from patients can be obtained by a simple collection process and used for either research or clinical analysis.
ACRI is a New Brunswick research success story based in Moncton. Through its very innovative research, ACRI is working to understand cancer and translate discoveries to improve patient care. "For the last 15 years all of us at ACRI have had one goal in mind," says ACRI President and Scientific Director, Dr. Rodney Ouellette. "That goal is to improve patient care while working to find better treatments for cancer. With the development of Vn96 and the launch of Excipio Technologies Inc. we continue to progress on an upward path toward that goal."
NEP is one of the largest research grade peptide and antibody manufacturers with over 1000 company clients in 80 countries and customers in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries as well as academia. "In our 15 year history, we have collaborated with scientists on a variety of projects, and Vn96 is by far the most promising," said Sam Massoni, CEO of NEP. "We are all excited to develop the technology further, and ACRI, along with local provincial and federal Canadian support, makes Moncton an attractive place to concentrate the science."
Excipio Technologies Inc. is the commercial entity that has the responsibility to identify, develop and build strategic partnerships with national and international companies that are developing research, diagnostic and therapeutic applications in human and animal health.
"Excipio is an example of the type of company that is the target of the New Brunswick biosciences sector strategy," Dr. Ouellette said. "This venture will create high technology jobs ranging from the technician to the doctoral level and will continue to increase our research capabilities in this province."
ACRI recognizes that the continued investment by both the federal and provincial governments is based on our ability to convert the results of research into commercial products. "These kinds of results don't happen without the support of governments and today we see the beginning of a return on that investment for our governments and taxpayers," Dr. Ouellette said.
According to ACRI, Excipio Technologies is just the beginning. "Research takes time and it takes money but over the next few years we anticipate a number of exciting announcements like the one today that will benefit cancer patients and our province," Dr. Ouellette concluded.
Media coverage :
Click here to read the article from Acadie Nouvelle
Click here to read the article from Times & Transcript
Click here to read the article from Progrès