PEI-based BioTraceIT was featured in Chemical Week highlighting the commercialization of PainTrace, a monitor used to visualize animal pain signals.

Canada’s BioTraceIT has introduced a tool that enables veterinarians and researchers to objectively visualize animal pain in real time. The company has launched its PainTrace wearable device in the US and Canada, with a field-based sales team. The firm claims PainTrace is “a first-of-its kind objective monitoring system that detects, quantifies and tracks pain in mammals”.

Prince Edward Island-based BioTraceIT stated: “PainTrace leverages the BioTraceIT analytics application software, and offers qualitative and quantitative monitoring across companion animal care, equine and bovine care. This multi-species measurement tool will also be important for clinical researchers in pursuit of novel pain therapies and will improve efficiency in translational research.

Read full article on Chemical Week.

For Pacific GeneTech (PGT), they aim to improve life with biotechnology. Recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment in achieving optimal health outcomes, this innovative company takes a One Health approach in tackling the important issues facing society.

PGT is a biologics company that develops and commercializes next generation vaccines and adjuvant delivery systems to prevent zoonotic and other diseases including Salmonella, E. coli and other GI tract bacteria, apicomplexan parasites, and viruses such as influenza and African Swine Fever. They are the latest company to join Emergence: Canada’s Bioscience Business Incubator alongside a cohort of innovative companies currently in the program.

PGT was founded in 2009 in the United States to take discovery vaccine research into commercial development. Today, they have a substantial and growing international footprint, and have expanded the platform and technology through support from partners around the globe. PGT vaccines provide cross protection, eliminating need for multiple vaccines and addressing the problem of mutation.

“Canada is an important centre for vaccine research in both the animal and human fields, and we are very pleased to be a part of the Emergence program which will enable us to tap into important new industry and scientific resources,” said Tim Collard, CEO, PGT.

Emergence is a business incubator dedicated to assisting start-ups and growth-stage bioscience companies in efficiently bringing their products and services to market. As part of the Emergence program, Pacific GeneTech will have access to business incubation services including: 

Mentorship and advisory services: Emergence companies receive long-term expert advice from mentors, selected for their relevant experience, as well as services to fill in specific gaps in the company’s critical path.

Team Mentorship Program: The Critical Path Team Mentorship Program matches companies with skilled volunteer mentors to provide practical, day-to-day professional advice and business coaching. 

Access to networks and resources: Emergence companies have access to networks including funding agencies, regulatory bodies, future talent, public organizations, service providers, investors, potential partners, and bioscience cluster companies.

Emergence client Bait Masters are preparing to scale up production for a new alternative bait and got some good news from a study just published by a UPEI researcher.

It found that the new bait sausage created by Bait Masters catches as many lobster as traditional baits, such as herring and mackerel. The new bait is a mix of fish, oil and other organic matters in a biodegradable casing, which is why the company describes the product as a bait sausage.

The results are based on field trials in PEI bays in the summer of 2019.

Bait Masters Inc., has developed a new bait using 75 per cent less herring and mackerel than would usually go in a trap. It’s made up of fish, oil, and other organic matter squeezed in a biodegradable casing.

Read full story on CBC PEI.
Read secondary story on CBC NS.

Emergence client, the Center for Aquaculture Technologies (CAT) is once again proving its versatility as a major player in the global Aquaculture Industry with plans for a new Aqua FeedTech extrusion facility. 

See below a republished article from CAT, announcing the opening of the Aqua Feedtech Center in 2021.

The CAT AQUA FeedTech Center will be the first of its kind in Canada, that is available to third parties, and will exist as part of the company’s operations in Souris, PE. It will house a complete pilot-scale feed processing line including two feed extruders and a new nutrition analytical lab.

The addition of the FeedTech Center will be a “game changer” according to CAT Director of Nutrition, Dr. Andre Dumas, who will oversee the new operation. “The Aqua FeedTech Center will allow us to develop healthy, high-performance feeds on an accelerated timeline at an optimized cost with minimal waste while complying with the high standards of feed safety and quality assurance”. 

The pilot-scale facility will become operational in 2021 and will address specific needs not currently being met, such as producing small batches of research diets needed for testing novel ingredients, customizing and developing new feed formulas, and providing a better understanding of the impact of feed processing on pellet quality. 

Complementing the first-class Nutrition Trial services currently offered at CAT, the Aqua FeedTech Center will provide an unprecedented one-stop shop for clients looking to develop, produce, and test new feed for their business. With the addition of in-house feed production, Dr. Dumas expects CAT will now produce feed for research trials at least four times faster than the current timeline.

CAT houses a ready inventory of feed ingredients and possesses expertise in regulatory approval and global shipping standards of aqua feed. 

Growing up on PEI, where fishing was a part of his family’s DNA, Dan Paynter developed a passion for marine life. Dan is the production manager at Halibut PEI in Victoria (an Emergence client) and one of Hatchery International’s Top 10 Under 40!

Read more on Hatchery International.

Featuring Emergence client Crystal Trevor, Owner, Stepscan Technologies

The Atlantic Women’s Business Series features interviews with entrepreneur women leaders from Atlantic Canada who will share their personal stories – how they started, what barriers they faced, what they’re learned along the way, who supported them, and their best advice for new start-ups and businesses ready to grow.

Women in Science & Technology Leading the Way in Entrepreneurship

Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Time: 1 – 2 p.m. AST

Featuring Special Guests:

• Crystal Trevors, Owner, Stepscan Technologies, PEI
• Deirdre Ayre, Head of Operations, Other Ocean Group Canada, NL
• Gabrielle Masone, CEO, Coloursmith Labs Inc., NS
• Cathy Simpsons, CEO, TechImpact Founder, UP+GO, NB

Learn more and register.

Emergence client Natures Crops International was recently featured in VitaFoods Insights white paper titled “Sustainable supply chain — protecting planet, people & profits”.

In 2020 nearly half (48%) of all consumers are now factoring in environmental sustainability in their purchasing choices. Why? Because now more than ever, they get the direct connection between planetary and personal well-being. Further, VFI reported that over 1 in 5 consumers in the UK (22%) have increased their plant-based nutritional choices, rising to 37% among 18-34 year olds. Large demographic trends are at work that will impact every natural products company’s growth.

Nature’s Crops’ CEO Andrew Hebard is quoted extensively in this strategically valuable white paper. It explores how leading natural products companies are proactively investing in transparent/eco-efficient sourcing practices, supply-chain traceability, and direct consumer accountability to build lasting trust and long-range value. Natures Crops is among path-breaking companies in the omega-3 nutritional marketplace advancing regenerative and sustainable practices in a category that has been challenged with long-range sustainability.

To learn more about Nature’s Crops International, visit their website.

Nova Scotia-based SynerTek is the latest bioscience company to join Emergence, Canada’s Bioscience Business Incubator. A growth-stage company currently developing forestry-derived products, SynerTek joins a cohort of 58 clients currently in the incubator program. 

SynerTek delivers products using wood biomass, both from residual waste left behind from forestry operations and from the responsible harvesting of mature trees. SynerTek’s value-capturing processes will also offer significant efficiency improvements in the agriculture, livestock, and materials industries. Their transformative manufacturing platform produces a diversity of high-value products: RenuDiesel, Wood Vinegar, BioChar and Graphene. 

By harvesting trees and forest waste before decay, SynerTek’s process eliminates the release of CO₂ and methane gas, avoiding yields that would lead to a dramatic negative carbon footprint. Grounded in sustainability, SynerTek’s mission is to offer a dramatic and positive economic and environmental impact, while promoting community health and creating diverse employment opportunities.

“SynerTek’s vision employs an innovative approach to woodlot management to reinvigorate a battered forestry industry, create sustainable jobs, improve the environment and produce a number of high value-added products while dramatically reducing the total output of greenhouse gasses,” said John Dicks, Founder, SynerTek.

Emergence is a business incubator dedicated to assisting start-ups and growth-stage bioscience companies in efficiently bringing their products and services to market. As part of the Emergence program, SynerTek will have access to business incubation services including: 

Mentorship and advisory services: Emergence companies receive long-term expert advice from mentors, selected for their relevant experience, as well as services to fill in specific gaps in the company’s critical path.

Team Mentorship Program: The Critical Path Team Mentorship Program matches companies with skilled volunteer mentors to provide practical, day-to-day professional advice and business coaching. 

Access to networks and resources: Emergence companies have access to networks including funding agencies, regulatory bodies, future talent, public organizations, service providers, investors, potential partners, and bioscience cluster companies.

For more information on Emergence, visit emergencebioincubator.com. 

Contract research organization Pegasus Biotech Inc. is the latest bioscience company to join Emergence, Canada’s Bioscience Business Incubator. Founded in 2019, Pegasus Biotech is currently developing vaccines and biotherapeutics for the human and animal health sector and joins a cohort of 58 clients currently in the incubator program. 

Pegasus Biotech is an agile biotech company that focuses on providing high quality vaccine and biotherapeutic development services to the human and animal health sector. They are also developing accurate and reliable analytical testing methods for the human and animal health industry.

Based in Charlottetown, PEI, their team is comprised of three senior scientists with a combined 50+ years of experience in the biotechnology industry and more than 30 years of management experience. Pegasus Biotech’s areas of expertise include cell culture/fermentation and purification process development, analytical assay development, human and veterinary biologic product development and regulatory submission, point-of-care and clinical diagnostic instrument and assay development, GLP/GMP lab quality standards and HSE. 

“Our hope is that by leveraging the assistance offered by Emergence, that Pegasus can accelerate its journey to becoming a top-tier biotechnology CRO,” said Dan Wilson, Director of Operations, Pegasus Biotech.

Emergence is a business incubator dedicated to assisting start-ups and growth-stage bioscience companies in efficiently bringing their products and services to market. As part of the Emergence program, Pegasus Biotech will have access to business incubation services including: 

Mentorship and advisory services: Emergence companies receive long-term expert advice from mentors, selected for their relevant experience, as well as services to fill in specific gaps in the company’s critical path.

Team Mentorship Program: The Critical Path Team Mentorship Program matches companies with skilled volunteer mentors to provide practical, day-to-day professional advice and business coaching. 

Access to networks and resources: Emergence companies have access to networks including funding agencies, regulatory bodies, future talent, public organizations, service providers, investors, potential partners, and bioscience cluster companies.

For more information on Emergence, visit emergencebioincubator.com.