- National competition, in collaboration with SpinUp, the
University of Toronto's lab-based life
sciences accelerator, demonstrates AbbVie's commitment to a
thriving biotech ecosystem in Canada
- One Canadian biotech will receive a year of laboratory space
and equipment at no cost, as well as access to support and
mentorship
- Applications will be accepted until January 17, 2025
TORONTO, Sept. 26,
2024 /CNW/ - AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), jointly with
the University of Toronto's SpinUp,
today announced the launch of the AbbVie Biotech Innovators Award,
a national prize to help foster innovation and support growth in
Canada's life sciences sector.
AbbVie is pleased to collaborate with SpinUp, a purpose-built
laboratory for chemistry and biological work—or wet lab—incubator
at the University of Toronto, to
support early-stage Canadian biotechnology startup companies with
the potential to generate transformational therapies in areas that
align with AbbVie's therapeutic areas of focus: immunology,
oncology, neuroscience and eye care.
The award, funded by AbbVie, will provide one early-stage
biotech recipient with a year of laboratory space at no cost, in
addition to access to SpinUp's core equipment, services,
entrepreneurship programming and research talent community at the
University of Toronto. The startup
selected will also benefit from mentorship by AbbVie's scientific
and business executives.
"We are delighted to launch this exciting initiative, which
demonstrates AbbVie's commitment to investing in Canada's world-class life sciences sector,
growing our thriving biopharma ecosystem, and helping to accelerate
the delivery of life-changing biopharmaceutical innovation to
enhance the quality of life for patients in Canada and around the world," said Rami Fayed,
Vice President and General Manager of AbbVie Canada. "Collaboration
is a critical element needed to solve major health challenges, and
we look forward to collaborating with SpinUp and the selected
recipient to help advance meaningful health innovation."
"The University of Toronto
Mississauga is delighted to partner with AbbVie on the Biotech
Innovators Award to accelerate a promising life science venture at
SpinUp – our newest incubator," says Raquel De Souza, Director of Partnerships &
Innovation at the University of Toronto
Mississauga. "In response to the unique challenges faced by
early-stage
startups, we created SpinUp to provide subsidized access to a
brand new, state-of-the-art research facility, robust
entrepreneurship programming and world-leading research talent at
the university. We hope Canadian innovators will be inspired to
make their mark at U of T."
Applications are being accepted from today through January 17, 2025. For more information on the
application requirements and judging criteria, or to submit an
application, please visit:
https://spinup.utm.utoronto.ca/biotech-innovators-award/.
About AbbVie
AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines
that solve serious health issues today and address the medical
challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on
people's lives across several key therapeutic areas – immunology,
oncology, neuroscience, and vision care – and products and services
in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about
AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.ca. Follow AbbVie Canada on
Twitter, on Instagram, or find us on LinkedIn.
About SpinUp
SpinUp is the first wet lab startup incubator at
the University of Toronto,
Canada's leading centre for
learning and discovery and one of the world's top-two universities
for health science productivity. SpinUp is purpose
built to drive life science innovation. It offers early-stage
start-ups access to outstanding and highly subsidized wet lab
space, equipment, entrepreneurship programming and expertise at a
brand new, state-of-the-art research facility at U of T's
Mississauga campus. Visit our
website at spinup.utm.utoronto.ca and connect with us on X,
Instagram, and LinkedIn.
SpinUp is proudly part of U of T Entrepreneurship, a
network of 12 accelerators across three campuses. Over the past ten
years, this network has supported more than 650 capital-backed
companies, which have created 10,000+ jobs and raised $2.5 billion in external investment. U of T
now launches more research-based start-ups than any university in
North America outside of
MIT. The AbbVie Biotech Innovators
Award is part of U of T Mississauga's Blue Ticket program at
SpinUp, which provides a one-year membership.
SOURCE AbbVie Canada