With 3-years financing in place, MSBi Valorisation will support 30 new projects generating 30 million dollars in short-term economic benefits

With 3-years financing in place, MSBi Valorisation will support 30 new projects generating 30 million dollars in short-term economic benefits

MSBi Valorisation renews its financing agreement with MDEIE and Inovia Capital

MONTREAL, QC — March 28, 2011 — MSBi Valorisation (MSBiV) announces that it has entered into a funding agreement for its 2010–2013 activities with the Ministère du Développment économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation (MDEIE) in addition to further support from Inovia Capital. MSBi Valorisation, one of the four valorization entities in Québec, supports the efforts of its academic partners in the commercialization and valorization of promising technologies. The academic partners of MSBi Valorisation are McGill University, Université de Sherbrooke and Bishop’s University, as well as their affiliated hospitals and research institutes: McGill University Health Center (MUHC) and MUHC Research Institute, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS), Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (Jewish General Hospital), and Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital.

The financial support granted is part of the 2010–2013 Québec Research and Innovation Strategy announced in June 2010. “The collaboration put in place between MSBiV and its academic partners has generated concrete results that validate our flexible business model focused on direct investment. We thank the MDEIE for allowing us to pursue and increase our efforts towards accelerating the development and marketing of technologies with high commercial value”, says Didier Leconte, President and General Manager of MSBiV.

Inovia Capital, one of Canada’s leading early stage venture capital funds manager, has also agreed to support MSBi Valorisation by providing capital and sharing its expertise, experience and network with the company. “MSBi Valorisation plays a unique and important role in Québec, by providing expertise and industry reach to its academic partners. It fulfils the gap in the “IP to Market” ecosystem and is generating tangible results: investment and licensing opportunities,” says Chris Arsenault, Managing Partner of Inovia Capital.

For the academic partners of MSBiV, this 3-year financing program supports additional collaboration between their researchers and the various teams responsible for commercialization activities. “MSBiV’s ability to invest directly into projects is a key differentiator for our promising technologies” says Dr. Rose Goldstein, Vice-Principal, Research and International Relations, McGill University. For Renald Mercier, Director Corporate Relations at the Université de Sherbrooke “MSBi Valorisation also brings complementary expertise to the team put in place at Socpra, the organization responsible for the commercialization of Université de Sherbrooke’s intellectual property “. “MSBiV’s financial support in our maturation projects in addition to collaboration between our teams certainly improve the likelihood of commercial successes” says Josée Fortin, President and General Manager at SOCPRA. “ We look forward to expand on the interaction of MSBiV team with our Director of Business Development, Dr. Costas Karatzas and to build with MSBiV’s support a pipeline of projects with strong commercialization focus “ adds François Schubert, General Manager & Chief Administrative Officer, McGill University Health Centre Research Institute.

Based on the momentum of recent years, MSBiV’s investment model offers very attractive opportunities to the academic partners as well as business partners:

• Building opportunities. MSBiV offers network connection, guidance and expertise in technology assessment, but also support and management of projects and new ventures;
• Investing money and expertise. During this 3-year period MSBiV will invest directly in thirty new projects as well provide support leading to potential future investments. These investments aim to support the creation and development of spin-off companies, and develop technologies in the context of licensing the technology to an existing company;
• Managing risks and building value. Investments are made with optimum leverage of financing to achieve significant commercial milestones. In 2009, such leverage of financing reached twelve dollars for every dollar invested by MSBiV;
• Inclusive. The investments are carried out in close collaboration with stakeholders in the Québec and Canadian innovation system but also with business partners required to achieve defined goals;
• Assistance in the process. The team also provides assistance and support to existing investments in order to increase the value of MSBiV’s assets, to increase the impact on economic development and to generate the returns required for contributing to its financial sustainability.

“We are confident that the flexibility of our business model represents major opportunities for companies and investors within the market and for our academic partners. With a growing portfolio we will continue to contribute in streamlining the transfer of promising technologies to market, to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of our economy through innovation, to enable entrepreneurial mindset, and to grow financial returns for our stakeholders” concludes Didier Leconte.

For more information: MDEIE’s Press Release (in French)

About MSBi Valorisation

MSBi Valorisation (MSBiV) provides its academic partners and affiliated entities the financial resources and complementary expertise needed to accelerate and facilitate the commercialization of high potential technologies. Partner institutions include McGill University, Université de Sherbrooke and Bishop’s University, as well as their affiliated hospitals, research institutes and technology transfer entities. MSBiV brings industry knowledge and relationships to the existing effort of bridging the gap between discoveries resulting from university research and the marketplace.

For more information, visit www.msbiv.com or follow us live on Twitter, at http://twitter.com/MSBiV

Contact :
Didier Leconte

MSBi Valorisation
514–397–1586
dleconte@msbiv.com

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