At least nine startups or organizations working in the area of animal health will attend a MentorCamp affiliated with the VetHealth Global conference in Charlottetown on June 10.
The participants in the one-day mentoring session include two groups operating in Atlantic Canada — the Moncton-based Atlantic Cancer Research Institute and Delivra Inc., a Burlington, Ont., biotech that has a research and development facility in Charlottetown.
This is the first year of collaboration between VetHealth Global, one of the leading conferences in North America for animal medicine, and MentorCamp, a Halifax-based organization that exposes startups to international mentoring for an intense one-day training session. The idea is to bring the young companies into the training process on June 10 and then have them participate with multinational players at the full conference June 11 and 12.
“We’ve managed to attract the kings and queens of the industry in attracting the bigger players, and we’ve also brought in the newer companies in the innovation sector,” said Rory Francis, the executive director of the PEI BioAlliance, which is organizing VetHealth Global.
For several years, Prince Edward Island has been carving out a niche in animal health, buttressed by the veterinary college at UPEI. It’s an attractive market because animal health has far easier regulatory requirements, so products can be brought to market much easier.
The province has held VetHealth Global every second year since 2007, and it has grown into one of the pre-eminent veterinary health conference on the continent, attended by such multinational companies as Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc., and Nestle-Purina. Charlottetown recently partnered with Kansas City, the home of the other leading vet health event, so they can collaborate.
Francis said that VetHealth Global features three tracks: presentations by startups, partnering sessions with large companies and speakers. To enhance the role of startups this year, VetHealth Global is working with MentorCamp to help train the participating companies. MentorCamp was founded by Permjot Valia, a London-based investor with several investments in Atlantic Canada, and has organized events in all four Atlantic provinces.
The Atlantic Cancer Research Institute is a 15-year-old non-profit organization housed at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, which is researching the genetic origins of cancer and pursuing detection, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease.
Delivra manufactures LivRelief and LivSport pain relief medication. The company has a research facility in P.E.I. and last week received a $2.86-million loan from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Atlantic Innovation Fund. It will use the money to strengthen and expand the delivery system in the medications.
The other startups going through the MentorCamp will include: AbCelex Technologies Inc., Toronto; Kane Biotech Inc., Winnipeg; Microsentisis Canada; Vital Herd Inc., Fetch Pharma, and Karyopharm Therapeutics, all of the U.S.; and Yissum Research Development Company Ltd., Israel. Other companies may be added.