MSBi Valorisation positioned for its next stage of development

MSBi Valorisation announces its new Management Team

MONTRÉAL, QC – July 2nd 2009 – MSBi Valorisation, one of the four Québec-based university-affiliated valorisation entities (in French, “sociétés de valorisation universitaires”), announced today its new management team led by Didier Leconte as President & General Manager. MSBi Valorisation helps its academic partners commercialize high potential technologies. MSBiV’s academic partners are McGill University, Université de Sherbrooke and Bishop’s University, as well as their affiliated hospitals and research institutes, namely: the McGill University Health Centre, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke, the Jewish General Hospital, and the Douglas Hospital. 

“The unique positioning of MSBi Valorisation as an investor in pre-seed and seed stage projects, now also includes an extended range of support and services to academic partners” mentioned Mark de Groot, Chairman of MSBi Valorisation’s Board of Directors. “In addition to MSBi Valorisation’s established role in launching sustainable spin-off companies, it will also make investments in technology projects for the purpose of licensing to existing companies. MSBI Valorisation benefits from a dedicated team which is directly networked with the market and industrial players, as well as from established links with the venture capital community, such as the funds managed by iNovia Capital.”

The MSBi Valorisation team includes Mounia Azzi, Philippe Lapierre and Frédéric Lemaître-Auger. “In addition to our access to expertise from iNovia Capital on a per case basis, we bring our operational experience and knowledge to the projects of our academic partners and their researchers, as well our network of partners and an ability to invest directly in those projects” added Mr. Leconte who recently joined the company after five years spent in the university technology transfer arena.

Collectively, the team has extensive expertise in drug development, medical devices, information technology, software, energy and chemistry as well as experience in technology transfer, venture capital, intellectual property, research, research and development, product development and sales.

MSBi Valorisation is well connected to its academic partners: Mr. Lapierre is based in Sherbrooke and is co-located with SOCPRA, the valorisation and commercialization arm of Université de Sherbrooke; Ms. Azzi and Mr. Lemaître-Auger are based in Montreal, and also have offices at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (“RI-MUHC”). “We aim to be present on the ground where the action is – more specifically, where the investment opportunities are, and our expertise and experience can be helpful” added Mr. Leconte.

MSBi Valorisation has also revised its corporate governance with the appointment of a Board of Directors and an independent investment committee. MSBi Valorisation’s directors are Mr. Roger Goulet, Mr. Jan Peeters, Mr. Ian Soutar and Dr. Mark de Groot, the latter acting as Chairman. Mr. Pierre Villeneuve from the Ministère du développement économique, de l'innovation et de l'exportation (“MDEIE”) also serves as an observer on the Board of Directors on behalf of the Government of Québec.

Over his career Mr. Goulet filled various positions at Université de Sherbrooke, such as Professor and Dean of Engineering, in addition to supporting the creation of successful university ventures such as VoiceAge and Quantiscript. Mr Goulet was also a co-founder of C-MAC Industries.

Mr. Jan Peeters is President and Chief Executive Officer of Olameter Inc. He was co-founder and former CEO of fONOROLA, a long-distance telephone company acquired by Call-Net Enterprises in 1998. Mr. Peeters also serves on the board of directors of Cogeco Inc., Intersil Corporation in the US, and McGill University.

Mr. Ian Soutar is Vice-Chair and Partner of Pembroke Management Limited, an investment management firm. He was also President and Chief Executive Officer of the GBC North American Growth Fund.

Dr. Mark de Groot is a board member and founder of iNovia Capital, the President & CEO of Virage Capital, and founder of the University Medical Discoveries Inc. (UMDI) fund. He has previously worked extensively in both the life sciences sector (at GlaxoSmithKline and other companies) and the technology sectors (having co-founded two ongoing software companies).

MSBi Valorisation’s investment committee is comprised of representatives from iNovia Capital, McGill University, Université de Sherbrooke and the RI-MUHC.

In addition to iNovia Capital, MSBi Valorisation benefits from significant financial support from the MDEIE for its operations. In general, the commercialization of the results of fundamental and applied research stemming from universities receives substantial support from the MDEIE through various programs. Such programs involve not only direct contributions to the sociétés de valorisation universitaires but also dedicated pre-seed development phases and entrepreneurial assistance programs, which are significant when compared to other North American regions.

MSBi Valorisation is actively advancing new opportunities that will soon be added to its current portfolio. Such opportunities involve partnerships with companies and investment partners, as well as with the McGill University Office of Transfer Technology, the Université de Sherbrooke University Industry Liaison Office, SOCPRA, and the joint McGill University and RI-MUHC initiative called Excellerator.

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, please visit www.msbiv.ca or follow MSBiV on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MSBiV

McGill University's Office of Technology Transfer
McGill University's Office of Technology Transfer (McGill OTT) provides a crucial link between the McGill research community and the research needs of industry. McGill University is recognized internationally for its scholarly achievement and scientific discovery. With 22 faculties and professional schools, and more than 300 programs from the undergraduate to the doctoral level, McGill is a leader among Canadian universities in terms of research funding per full-time faculty member. McGill OTT directly supports the relationships between industry, government, and the University to enhance industry-sponsored research and further the commercialization of the University's intellectual property. For more information, please visit www.techtransfer.mcgill.ca

Université de Sherbrooke University Industry Liaison Office
A genuine liaison between university research and private, public and parapublic organizations, the University Industry Liaison Office (UILO) of the Université de Sherbrooke has developed a very avant-garde strategy for technological and social innovation. This strategy has allowed it to position itself among the best performing institutions with respect to technology transfer. In fact, the Université de Sherbrooke ranks first in Canada for royalties received and demonstrates remarkable performance in the creation of spin-off businesses. Due to its approach, the UILO has become a reference for research protection and valorization knowledge. For more information, please visit www.usherbrooke.ca/uilo

SOCPRA
SOCPRA is the Université de Sherbrooke’s independent entity devoted to the valorisation and commercialisation of the University’s research results. Established in January 2007, its mission is to manage the intellectual property created at the university and its affiliated research centers in order to maintain and protect their assets. SOCPRA’s role is also to move inventions from laboratory to commercialization phases and monetize the technologies developed through licenses to existing companies, spinoff or otherwise, impacting the Sherbrooke community.  For more information, please visit www.socpra.com

Excellerator
The Montreal Excellerator is a nonprofit partnership between the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC) and McGill University, dedicated to expediting the translation of high impact medical solutions into clinical diagnostics and experimental therapies. The mission of the Montreal Excellerator is to advance the market-readiness of groundbreaking discoveries emerging from McGill University and the RI-MUHC and to enhance the commercial value of the underlying intellectual property. It is a vehicle for creating high return on research dollars through carefully designed product development and business decision gates while generating social and economic benefit. For more information, please visit www.muhc.ca/research/ and www.mcgill.ca/research


Contact:

Angela Hibbs, MSBi Valorisation Inc.
1155, Blvd René-Lévesque West, Suite 2701
Montréal, QC, H3B 2K8
ahibbs@msbiv.com