The emergence and ongoing vitality of B.C.’s biotechnology industry is tied to a rich line of companies based on UBC research discoveries (UBC spin-off companies) and other companies led by UBC researchers and graduates.
With more than 120 life sciences companies spun out of UBC research, UBC is driving the rapid growth of the province’s biomedical innovation ecosystem — creating jobs, growing the economy and improving health outcomes.
Companies such as Acuitas Therapeutics, AbCellera and Precision Nanosystems came to national and global attention in the response to COVID-19. They follow a long line of companies such as QLT, Lipex Biomembranes, the Canadian Lipsome Company, ID Biomedical, Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals and Neuromed Technologies that formed in the 1980s and 1990s. This paved the way for UBC bio-innovation spin-off companies from the 2000s onwards, including OncoGenex Technologies, Inimex Pharmaceuticals, Aquinox Pharmaceuticals, Augurex Life Sciences, vIDA Therapeutics, Boreal Genomics, Essa Pharma, Curvafix, Aspect Biosytems, ProMIS NeuroScience, Sepset Biosciences, Alpha-9 Theranostics, ABOzymes and many more.
In addition to establishing companies based on UBC research, our faculty are also leading or playing key roles in Vancouver-based companies such as Notch Therapeutics and Gandeeva Therapeutics and have been involved in founding major provincial biotech companies such as STEMCELL Technologies.
See the full list of UBC spin-off companies on the University-Industry Liaison Office website