News Archives

Women-led health and biotech companies dominate FACIT’s latest investments

Posted on November 20, 2023 (November 20, 2023) by Ricky

November 20, 2023 – On the globally-recognized Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, FACIT is pleased to announce investments in four breakthrough oncology innovations – all driven by women leaders. November 19th each year is a day to celebrate and showcase women’s contributions to advance communities and to strengthen their empowerment in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to drive economic impact. FACIT’s support of the four ventures, Virano Therapeutics, Hyivy Health, Tenomix Inc., and DTPx Therapeutics are representative of an asset portfolio where over one third are women-led or founded innovations, attracting one third of every dollar invested by FACIT – as much as ten times the average for the venture capital industry.

cTRL Therapeutics announces new Chief Executive Officer to continue advancing its novel immune cell therapy

Posted on November 2, 2023 (November 2, 2023) by Ricky

November 2, 2023 – cTRL Therapeutics (“cTRL”), a FACIT co-founded and financed company developing novel tumour cell therapies for patients living with cancer, welcomes industry veteran Derrell D. Porter, M.D., as Chief Executive Officer.

FACIT appoints seasoned life science leaders to its Board of Directors

Posted on November 1, 2023 (November 1, 2023) by Ricky

November 1, 2023 – FACIT is pleased to welcome two new directors to its Board, Dr. Maura Campbell and Dr. Laszlo Radvanyi. Dedicated to commercializing Ontario intellectual property and impacting patients with cancer, both executives bring with them decades of private and public sector leadership experiences.

FACIT and T-CAIREM at the University of Toronto partner to commercialize medical AI

Posted on August 2, 2023 (August 2, 2023) by Ricky

August 2, 2023 – FACIT and T-CAIREM announce partnership to commercialize medical artificial intelligence (AI) innovations. The partners intend to harness both T-CAIREM’s innovative translational research in AI and FACIT’s unique commercialization-venture model to build the next generation of Ontario biotechnology companies. The joint mission will accelerate the benefits of AI research to support patients battling cancer.

FACIT applauds quizartinib approval: a success for leukemia patients and Canadian cancer research translation

Posted on July 24, 2023 (November 2, 2023) by Ricky

July 24, 2023 – The U.S. FDA announced the approval of quizartinib, an important new therapy for patients with leukemia. This global effort to impact patients in need is to be celebrated while recognizing the contributions from across the Canadian health R&D ecosystem to reach this significant milestone that will now make a difference for patients.

FACIT founded Turnstone Biologics debuts on Nasdaq market

Posted on July 21, 2023 (November 1, 2023) by Ricky

July 21, 2023 – FACIT congratulates Turnstone Biologics on the announcement of their upsized initial public offering (IPO) and debut on the Nasdaq market.

From Idea to Start up: FACIT President’s interview with Amanda Lang

Posted on May 1, 2023 (September 25, 2023) by Ricky

May 1, 2023 – Watch FACIT President Dr. David O’Neill’s interview with Amanda Lang, host of Taking Stock on BNN Bloomberg. The episode, titled From Idea to Start up, originally aired on April 28, 2023. This was part of a special series about innovation in Canada and some of the challenges and opportunities. FACIT was featured as a “success

FACIT backed Radiant Biotherapeutics announces closing of $8M seed round for cancer therapies

Posted on April 25, 2023 (July 24, 2023) by Ricky

April 25, 2023 – Emerging from stealth mode, Radiant’s financing enables the Company to continue rapidly advancing its Multabodies that have application across multiple diseases including cancer.

New Innovative Cancer Technology Wins 2023 Falcons’ Fortunes Pitch Competition

Posted on March 31, 2023 (September 25, 2023) by nicole

March 31, 2023 – The winning pitch for the 10th anniversary Falcons’ Fortunes pitch competition and the $100,000 Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award was delivered by Dr. Sumaiyah Rehman, co-founder and CEO of DTPx Therapeutics.

FACIT generates $1.5 billion in follow-on investment

Posted on March 29, 2023 (August 2, 2023) by nicole

March 29, 2023 – FACIT announced $1.5 billion in follow-on investment attracted to its portfolio of cancer biotechnology start-ups in Ontario, a significant milestone for life science commercialization in Canada.