Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (API) was launched to solve a big challenge. Commercialization within the life sciences. There’s a general lack of understanding of the technical and scientific capacity needed for a life sciences company to commercialize in Canada. API sought to fix that.

Part incubator, part R&D, API helps companies scale up here in Canada where they would normally have to invest tens of millions of dollars just to build out their infrastructure. And the model is working, with growth forecast to see 60 staff currently blossom to 150 in the next 18 months.

In addition, the Government of Canada recently made an $80.5 million investment in a key project API is involved in.

But that success itself brings many challenges. How is API handling those?

Guest: Andrew MacIsaac, CEO Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (API)

Website: appliedpharma.ca

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/applied-pharmaceutical-innovation

Twitter: @api_applied

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Bishop Water Technologies is rapidly growing in Canada. Dedicated to the development of easy-to-use, low energy solutions for solids management, it’s a team that has worked for two decades to develop and optimize affordable technologies.

So it may be surprising to hear CEO Kevin Bossy say technical skills have to take a back seat compared to attitude. But he firmly believes it. This attitude has helped Bishop Water grow ten-fold over the last 15 years.  

It’s heart and desire that help find the new innovations, and proof positive that low-energy solutions are often found by high energy attitude.

Guest: Kevin Bossy,

CEO Bishop Water Technologies

Web site https://bishopwater.ca/

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The entrepreneurial mindset was introduced early to Ronen Benin by his parents. They had moved to Canada with degrees that weren’t recognized. So they taught him, if you’re going to build something, make sure you are always build something for yourself too. He never forgot that.

Today Ronen is the founder and CEO of a number of companies now such as Glissner which created the World’s first

clinical-grade phone sanitizer. It uses UV light to kill all viruses and bacteria on any phone in a couple seconds. 

He’s also founder of Right Blue Labs which developed the Avail App that helps companies understand the psychometrics of employee wellness. 

In this episode Ronen shares his strategies for building businesses but more importantly, attracting and keeping the right talent. 

Guest: Ronen Benin, founder and CEO of Glissner

Connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronenbenin/

https://glissner.com/

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Life Sciences BC CEO Wendy Hurlburt remembers the surge started with a spirit of collaboration just as COVID was beginning to impact the world. Then came the talent crunch that forced many members in BC to find creative ways to keep their operations open.

The Metro-Vancouver bio economy has some 1,300 organizations which collectively employ about 16,000 people. Three quarters of those companies have fewer than 20 full-time staff with the largest sub sector being bio-health (50%).

The bigger companies are growing exponentially and scrambling to find talent. The smaller companies, still growing, are looking for very specific, niche skills.

Wendy is seeing companies react by deepening their value propositions for employees, beyond scientific pursuits to include talking about their culture and what it means to join their organization. And she’s recognized a trend that might shock… the idea that for some positions one doesn’t need a PhD to work in biotech.

Guest: Wendy Hurlburt, President and CEO Life Sciences BC

Wendy holds a critical leadership role in BC's dynamic life sciences ecosystem. She takes a collaborative approach to cultivate relationships between local subject matter experts, global partners, educational institutions and government to support the thriving sector. Before joining Life Sciences BC, Wendy held multiple leadership roles with Johnson & Johnson in strategic and business planning, finance, partnerships and business development, operational

transformation, and quality and regulatory compliance. Prior to J & J, she held Chief Financial Officer roles for both the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and Lexmark International in its Canadian and South Asian divisions.

LSBC Website - https://lifesciencesbc.ca/

Publications - https://lifesciencesbc.ca/news/publications/

LinkedIn account - @Life Sciences BC https://www.linkedin.com/company/lifesciences-bc

Twitter account - @lifesciences_bc https://twitter.com/lifesciences_bc

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PEI has become somewhat of a Mecca for the Bio Tech industry in Canada. And the biggest one is BIOVECTRA. 

It’s a company adding new team members seemingly every day having blossomed to over 600 in both PEI and Nova Scotia (and most of that growth during a global pandemic). 

For two consecutive years the company has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers demonstrating high performance in areas like training and skills development,

financial benefits, employee engagement, and health and family benefits. 

In this episode, Lester Wood, VP People and Corporate Culture for BIOVECTRA shares some its programs including financial support for people undergoing gender transition. 

Guest: Lester Wood, BioVectra

https://www.biovectra.com/

Contact BIOVECTRA https://www.biovectra.com/contact-v4/

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If your job involves recruitment of talent, you know the name Brunel.

In this episode Angelina Brathwaite, a Senior Client Partner with global network Brunel, shares what their offices are seeing when it comes to recruitment of talent in the life sciences.

Is it better to have niche skills right now or a higher education? Are employees being realistic with salary expectations? What are the soft skills employers are looking for that can make an employee stand out?

At the same time, companies need to continue efforts to implement diversity and inclusion into their organizational strategies. The reality is it may feel hard for smaller companies to focus on diversity, particularly when jobs out number people almost four to one. But Brunel understands companies can’t afford not to act. Diversity leads to workplace satisfaction, engagement, and new ideas. Companies

that don’t do this will be left behind.

Guest: Angelina Brathwaite, Brunel

Angelina has been a Senior Client Partner with Brunel for the last 17 years. She is the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Leader for Brunel in North America. She’s also a serving board member for Women Leaders in Pharma and a member of Black Talent in Pharma.

Brunel website https://www.brunel.net/

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Anessa is a software company specializing in biogas projects including anaerobic digestions. It’s headquartered in New Brunswick. They’re actively trying to recruit from the biogas side but in Atlantic Canada that’s a challenge.

One thing Anessa did right away was adopt the principles of diversity and inclusion into their recruitment practices. Co-found Amir Akbari says there was a noticeable impact when it came to working with international markets – Anessa was able to understand client culture, even languages at times that competitors just couldn’t. 

At the same time the internal culture of the company grew to become vibrant, creative – and led to a better product.

For Anessa, diversity is a secret weapon to success.

Guest: Amir Akbari

Anessa Corporation Website https://anessa.com/

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One of the founders of Clean Slate UV is a self-professed “Germaphobe.” It’s that kind of awareness that led to a company that created patented UV technology and intelligent software to solve, among other problems:

Smartphones are the third hand we never wash!

Clean Slate leverages the power of UV-C light to inactivate some of the most resilient bacteria and viruses without damaging devices. It’s good science that has attracted clients ranging from world-class facilities, to hospitals, to five-star hotels. They’re now in 13 countries. But like many in the biotech sector, attracting employees has always been one of the challenges.

In this episode CTO Manju Anand shares the company’s approach to attracting the right people and diversifying at the same time.

Guest: Manju Anand, CTO Clean Slate UV

Website for Clean Slate UV

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There’s a song by Drake that goes “Started from the bottom – now we’re here.”

That could be Ryan Saranchuk’s career theme song at Applied Biological Materials.

In this episode Ryan shares ABM’s approach to recruiting and retaining talent for the successful company. And he’s a poster board for the potential within the company having started as a co-op student and now serving as company COO. As the company grows, it’s look for HR talent to help not only with recruitment and retention but performance management and mentorship programs for leadership.

Guest: Ryan Saranchuk,

COO Applied Biological Materials Inc

Founded in 2004, ABM has been catalyzing scientific discoveries in Life Sciences and Drug Development for over a decade. Based in Vancouver, it’s agility in developing and commercializing novel research tools and its portfolio of services has made it an invaluable partner to laboratories and research institutions around the world.

Website Applied Biological Materials

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