Genome Atlantic gets funding boost

Genome Atlantic (GA) has received a $9-million cash infusion from the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF), as part of a $23-million funding package for four R&D projects in the region. GA has now received $29 million in funds, with the largest portion coming from Genome Canada ($14 million).

The AIF award is the second largest made under the Fund’s inaugural competition (see page 1).Of the total funding allocation, $11.8 million will fund the R&D of four specific projects. Another $9.9 million will cover sequencing costs related to those projects, while $4.2 million goes to build a sequencing platform, purchase equipment and building renovations. GA will apply for further AIF projects announced subsequent to the initial competition.

“We’re building on the strengths we have in the R&D community. We’ve identified a small base of researchers in the universities and the federal laboratory environment to put together world class projects to be funded,” says Joe Gillis, GA’s president /CEO and a 28-year veteran of the Royal Bank of Canada. “We’re already recruiting throughout Canada and the world to help build the base and achieve critical mass.”

Gillis has laid out long-terms plans for GA, including eventual commercialization of intellectual property generated from its projects. It centre has also created Genome Atlantic Applied Research Inc, a for-profit company that will seek opportunities for commercializing basic research.

A close GA collaborator is the National Research Council, which is participating in all four projects. The NRC will providing indirect costs and conduct the necessary sequencing through its Canadian Bioinformatics Resource.

Even without any short term commercialization, Gillis says the investment in GA is money well spent.

“It’s nice to say reduce corporate taxes to stimulate innovation, but that’s not focused enough,” he says. “Well managed R&D does not have a lot of risk to it because you’re building capacity and attracting human talent to the region. If we achieve this, it’s money well spent.”

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