Interview: How BC is blossoming as a global hub of health innovation

Andrew Mernin meets Wendy Hurlburt, president and CEO of Life Sciences British Columbia (LSBC), to find out more about research, investment and trade opportunities in the vast Canadian province.

When we meet Wendy Hulburt on the bustling exhibition floor of one of Asia’s biggest health innovation summits, it is immediately clear that she is a leader in demand.

It is little wonder, given that for many of the globally ambitious life science and health tech founders in attendance, she may well hold the key to a land of vast opportunity between the Rockies and the Pacific coast.

 

As president and CEO of Life Sciences British Columbia (LSBC), Hurlburt represents an ecosystem which is becoming increasingly influential on the international stage. And, crucially, is ever more eager to build global partnerships and attract inward investment from beyond its shores, including from Asian markets.

“These collaborations don’t happen overnight,” she says of its drive to forge global collaborations to progress life sciences. “This is years and years of deep scientific excellence that is resulting in the pace of innovation we see now. BC is home to the fastest growing life sciences sector in Canada. And that’s not only biotech – it is also medtech, devices and digital health.”

LSBC is a not-for-profit organisation representing 270 members – spanning academic and research organisations, industry groups and global companies involved in areas including medtech, health-tech and biotech and diagnostics. Larger firms in its membership include AbbVie, AbCellera and Amgen.

It works to drive growth in the life sciences sector through leadership, investment and nurturing academic / business partnerships and government-backed projects.

To date, says Hurlburt, the province’s life sciences sector has garnered around CAD$15bn of investment over 10 years, particularly in biotech and medtech.

She says: “There are lots of different ways to get involved with BC, or Canada generally, and there are various programmes for investing aimed at attracting foreign direct investment. If you partner with Canadian organisations, there is certain funding available through the federal government and the National Research Council.

“There is also early stage research funding and tax incentives. Like many countries around the world, you typically must be a local organisation to access some of this type of funding, but partnering with Canadian organisations can help, and, if you are a large multinational looking at setting up in Canada, there are certain programmes available to support and help attract that kind of investment.”

Through this work, BC has become well established as a strategically placed region in which to operate and do business.

“BC, geographically, is considered a good entry point. Not only is it close to the Asian markets, but it is also an entry into the US market.

“We’ve often benefited from that proximity to the US. There’s a lot of research and commercial collaboration that happens between Vancouver and Seattle, for example.

“Historically, there is a strong presence of US investors in the scaling of our companies, and like many other companies and geographies around the world, the US often becomes the first dollar of revenue because of the market size.”

And on its burgeoning relationship with Hong Kong, evidenced by the organisation’s participation in the Asia Summit on Global Health, she says: “A lot of Canadians are looking to Hong Kong for research collaborations. Some already have existing research partnerships that they want to expand on, some are looking for investment, and some are looking for trade opportunities. Hong Kong seems like a great gateway into exploring broader Asia opportunities.”

Hurlburt says that the innovation taking place in BC is driving improvement in healthcare systems across the globe through product development and disruptive technologies.

“A lot of the innovation that is really targeted, whether it be a product, a solution or a service, to help efficiency within the healthcare system.

“We have a company, for example, called Clarius Ultrasound, which has made handheld ultrasounds so that it can really change how rural care can be managed. The handheld ultrasounds can be used in triage to help take that pressure off people having to go to a particular clinic for an ultrasound. Clarius has had some early-stage contracts with rural centres and the military as an example.”

Other bright spots in BC-based health innovation come thanks to advancements in a prominent non-health sector.

“Because BC has had such strong roots in digital gaming, we saw a digital health sector emerge in areas, such as AR and VR. This kind of technology can transition quite seamlessly into health tech innovation.”

And, looking back over recent decades, Hurlburt sees rapid progress achieved overall in the sector.

“BC’s life science sector has really evolved over the last 20 years or so,” she says.

“If you thought about the province 30 years ago, you would have thought about antibodies. Now we have a robust antibody sector, but we also have about 15 companies operating in lipid nanoparticles, and BC is home to the largest biotech in Canada, which is stem cell technology.

“We also have the largest medical device design company in Canada, and many drugs have come to market that have their roots in BC innovation. So, there is a lot of activity in these sub sectors.”

A major catalyst for these successes, she believes, is a cultural factor that encourages a fail-fast mentality and a collaborative spirit.

“BC is often heralded as having a very entrepreneurial and innovative culture,” says Hurlburt.

“The province is big enough and driven enough to produce global health solutions, but we’re still small enough to all know each other, and everyone’s trying to help each other out, which creates a uniqueness of the culture.”

Milestones for LSBC this year include a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BIOQuébec – a non-profit supporting Quebec’s life sciences and biotechnology industry – to strengthen ties between Quebec and BC’s life sciences sectors.

It has also received over CAD$1.1m in funding from PacifiCan that will be granted over three years to deliver its Life Sciences Growth Catalyst Project that supports life science companies in BC to scale in Canada and beyond.

Health Tech World met Wendy Hurlburt at the Asia Summit on Global Health, facilitated by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).