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Virica Biotech to double workforce as biosciences trailblazer gets funding boost

June 28, 2024

Virica Biotech is one of three local life sciences organizations that received funding earlier this week from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.

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An Ottawa biotechnology startup says it expects to nearly double its head count over the next few years in response to growing demand for its products that help deliver groundbreaking therapies for cancer and other diseases. Virica Biotech is one of three local life sciences organizations that received funding earlier this week from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. The six-year-old firm secured a $1.5-million interest-free loan from the federal agency to help it manufacture its state-of-the-art cell enhancers that optimize specially modified viruses called viral vectors. Viral vectors deliver new genes that are designed to repair defective genes responsible for diseases such as cancer and muscular dystrophy as well as conditions such as hereditary blindness. Virica, which closed a multimillion-dollar funding round in the fall of 2021, is now in the midst of another major fundraising drive as it ramps up manufacturing. “These are exciting times,” said founder and CEO Jean-Simon Diallo, noting that the company is about to roll out a new set of gene therapy technologies. “This funding comes at a good time to accelerate that and actually deliver that to our customers,” Diallo said of Virica’s latest innovations, which are being developed in its new lab at Carleton University. Founded in 2018, Virica operated out of a small facility at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute from 2021 until earlier this year. Diallo spent more than a year trying to find an R&D space in Ottawa big enough to accommodate his growing staff of more than 30 before finally securing a 4,000-square-foot lab in Carleton’s state-of-the-art Health Sciences Building. The new research and manufacturing hub is “much newer, brighter,” explained Diallo, whose firm signed a three-year, multimillion-dollar agreement with the university that will see Virica help fund ongoing research at Carleton as well as provide $15,000 in annual funding for scholarships to support students from groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in the sciences. “Staff morale is up … things are just better organized. People are more efficient.” Diallo said the company expects to hire up to 27 new employees over the next several years. “Obviously, we’re all watching the economy and (hoping) the recovery that we’re experiencing right now keeps on its trend,” he said, adding the firm plans to expand in a “very measured way.”

Genvira Biosciences lands $1.75M

Two other local life sciences organizations also received funding this week from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. Genvira Biosciences received $1.75 million. Founded in 2015 and incorporated in 2019, the company specializes in viral vector engineering for cancer immunotherapy, gene therapy and vaccines. CEO Jiahu Wang said the funding will help Genvira manufacture materials for phase-one clinical trials, calling it a “huge boost for our company and the Canadian biosciences industry.” Meanwhile, Capital BioVentures, a new not-for-profit organization that provides local biotech ventures with early stage funding, mentorship and lab space, received a $5.5-million grant that will be disbursed over the next five years. “The idea really is to try to alleviate as many burdens as we can so these really innovative people can focus on their product development and growing their business,” executive director and co-founder Jeff Smirle told Techopia earlier this week. Capital BioVentures will provide up to $100,000 in non-dilutive funding to qualifying companies. Startups will also be eligible to receive up to 400 hours of advisory services from experienced biotechnology executives in areas such as fundraising, safeguarding IP and adhering to government regulations. In addition, free access to cutting-edge research and diagnostic equipment will be available for companies that need it. Capital BioVentures says Carleton University, La Cité and the Montfort Hospital have agreed to provide a total of about 6,000 square feet of lab space to startups.