Manitoba Chamber of Commerce
Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/985841
38 SPRING 2018 In the 1967 movie The Graduate, a family friend gives Dustin Hoffman's character a hot business tip. One word: Plastics. Today, the future is bright for biosciences — a sector that encompasses medical devices, biopharmaceuticals and neutraceuticals, biofuels and bioenergy, along with bioremediation technology that could one day mitigate the harmful environmental impact of plastics. Manitoba has long been a hotbed for inventors and innovators in the wide-ranging field, and the recently rebranded Bioscience Association of Manitoba (BAM), formerly the Life Science Association of Manitoba, is spreading the word. "There are so many examples of items that have been developed in Manitoba that people aren't aware of," says BAM president Tracey Maconachie. "If people knew that a technology that can be used to treat brain cancer, with what I refer to as a three- dimensional laser that's inserted into the brain and allows patients to be up and walking around within hours instead of actually having to have a major brain surgery — it's life-changing." That particular technology, developed by serial inventor Dr. Mark Torchia and engineer Richard Tyc at the St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre and marketed through spinoff company Monteris Medical, is called the NeuroBlate System. Since it was first approved for use in the U.S. in 2009, it has helped more than 1,000 patients with inoperable brain cancer. Torchia also co-developed the RIVA (robotic intravenous automation) technology for preparing contaminant- free medications for IV bags and syringes used in chemotherapy and other medical applications. "So not only can pharmacists spend more time actually with patients, but it also reduces the risk of infections, which can in some cases in hospitals cause significant illness," Maconachie says. "Those are pieces of technology that have been developed here that most Manitobans have never heard of." In April, Maconachie spoke at a Manitoba Chambers of Commerce breakfast to dispel some of the mystery that surrounds bioscience and share a few of the many ways in which it touches our daily lives. THE MODERN FRONTIER Manitoba's bioscience sector has a storied past — and a bright future BY PAT ST. GERMAIN BIOSCIENCE ASSOCIATION OF MANITOBA CONTINUED >>