CDRD to be Presented with the BIOTECanada Gold Leaf Ecosystem Builder Award Tonight in Canada’s Capital

OTTAWA, Ontario and VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CDRD, The Centre for Drug Research and Development will be honoured with the 2018 BIOTECanada Gold Leaf Ecosystem Builder Award at a special Global Biotech Week event tonight in Ottawa.

The award recognizes CDRD’s contributions and impact as Canada’s national life sciences venture, bringing together national and international partners to be a catalyst for Canadian life sciences leading the world; and powering the country’s industry by creating and growing companies of scale while training the scientific business talent needed to drive them to become leading global anchors for Canada.

The Ecosystem Builder Award will be presented to CDRD at “Catching the Future,” the centrepiece of Canada’s Global Biotech Week celebrations, to be held tonight at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Featuring Juan Enriquez, eminent author, Harvard professor, and renowned biotechnology entrepreneur and investor, the event will highlight the rapid changes occurring globally in life sciences, and the opportunities and challenges these changes are bringing to business, technology, politics and society. Mr. Enriquez will be joined for a panel discussion led by Alison Smith of CPAC, by leading Canadian clinician and researcher Dr. Kym Boycott from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). Dr. Boycott’s world-leading work in utilizing genomics and other related cutting-edge technologies to solve some of the most difficult rare diseases is seeing dramatic results in the children she treats, while greatly enhancing our broader understanding of such diseases.

“This event is a perfect example of how CDRD brings partners and stakeholders together at a national level with global thought leaders to help build and advance the Canadian life sciences ecosystem,” said Gordon C. McCauley, CDRD’s President and CEO. “The BIOTECanada Gold Leaf Ecosystem Builder Award is a testament to the dedication of everyone on the CDRD team, and the success they have achieved in advancing and commercializing innovation, attracting investment, and helping to grow globally competitive Canadian companies that will provide long term, highly-skilled employment opportunities for Canadians. We sincerely thank BIOTECanada for this honour.”

“CDRD is an integral part of Canada’s biotech innovation ecosystem. The organization has forged strong collaborations with academia, industry, patient foundations, and the investment community to establish vital funding partnerships which have supported the advancement of research discoveries and promising early stage drug candidates of Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises,” said Andrew Casey, President and CEO BIOTECanada. “CDRD’s recently launched Executive Institute, with support from Pfizer Canada, will develop and mentor senior industry leaders through the 10-month, focused executive development program. This timely and important initiative will greatly enhance Canada’s existing senior leadership ranks by helping to arm it with the unique skill set required for commercialization.”

About The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD):

CDRD is Canada’s national life sciences venture, powering the country’s life sciences industry by creating and growing companies of scale – while training the scientific and business talent needed to drive them to become leading global anchors for Canada. We do this by building collaborations with the very best partners from academia, industry, patient foundations, the investment community, and other Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), and providing the specialized expertise and infrastructure to identify, validate and advance promising discoveries, and transform them into commercially viable investment opportunities for the private sector — and ultimately into new therapies for patients. www.cdrd.ca

About BIOTECanada:

BIOTECanada is the national industry association with more than 200 members located nationwide, reflecting the diverse nature of Canada’s health, industrial and agricultural biotechnology sectors. In addition to providing significant health benefits for Canadians, the biotechnology industry has quickly become an essential part of the transformation of many traditional cornerstones of the Canadian economy including manufacturing, automotive, energy, aerospace and forestry. www.biotech.ca

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