National Post (National Edition)

Cyclica Is Building the Biotech Pipeline of the Future

- Naheed Kurji

Six years ago, Cyclica had a big decision to make: move to Silicon Valley or stay local. Frankly, it would have been easier to raise money to move, but we elected to stay local. In our opinion, the epicentre of research, invention, and innovation at the intersecti­on of artificial intelligen­ce (AI) and life sciences is here in Canada. Just look at the number of renowned institutio­ns on the beltway between the University of Waterloo and McGill University. That’s why we proudly stayed in the heart of it at all — in Toronto — and will continue to invest in our local talent pool.

We believe that the future of drug discovery is in the hands of innovative research institutio­ns and emerging biotech companies. Our vision is to decentrali­ze the discovery of better medicines by partnering with these hyper-innovative biotech companies.

With a rapidly-growing portfolio of more than 30 active and advancing drug discovery programs, we’ll continue to spark innovation through a combinatio­n of venture creation and partnershi­ps with early-stage and emerging biotech companies and top tier research institutio­ns, both locally and globally. In Canada, this includes joint ventures with Toronto-based Mannin Research and NeuroThery­X, partnershi­ps with Phoenox Pharma and Tieös Pharmaceut­icals, and the creation of two companies that will be announced within the next few months. By executing at scale on this innovative business model on the back of our discovery platform, we’re creating the biotech pipeline of the future.

This article was sponsored by Cyclica.

 ??  ?? Naheed Kurji Co-Founder, President & CEO, Cyclica
Naheed Kurji Co-Founder, President & CEO, Cyclica
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