Alberta-based organizations are investing millions of dollars into a partnership aimed at supporting local research toward commercializing technologies that support patient care.
Alberta Innovates and GlycoNet announced this month that they will jointly invest $2 million into researching glycomics, which reveal vital information about how our bodies function.
Based out of the University of Alberta, studies complex sugars known as glycans that control many of the body’s most critical biological processes.
Indeed, glycan-enabled therapies already represent a multibillion-dollar global market with increasing demand.
Each organization is contributing $1M.
Mike Mahon, the chief executive officer of Alberta Innovates, says the organization is “passionate about driving the next medical breakthroughs here in Alberta” and that “GlycoNet is an important partner driving this innovation.”
Over the next three years, the $2M in funding will support seven Alberta-led research projects that study glycomics to improve disease detection, treatment, and prevention.
“This investment empowers glycomics researchers in Alberta to move discoveries into benefits such as more precise diagnostic tools and treatments for devastating diseases,” the CEO stated.
Discoveries from the studies could potentially enable new classes of vaccines, precision diagnostics, and targeted therapies, suggests GlycoNet chief Elizabeth Nanak.
“What makes glycomics so exciting is its untapped potential,” she commented.
GlycoNet is “opening new frontiers in medicine, enabling the development of innovative vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to address unmet needs,” according to the CEO.
Launched in 2015, GlycoNet is a pan-Canadian research network consisting of over 210 researchers in 36 institutions across the country which has funded over 180 projects including the launch of several companies.
“With partners like Alberta Innovates, we are creating next-gen health solutions and building a more resilient, secure future for Albertans and Canadians,” Nanak stated.
With more than one million square feet of industrial testing and lab facilities and 600 acres of farmland, Alberta Innovates works across sectors such as agriculture and clean technology to fund and enable entrepreneurship throughout the province.
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