Cyclica (acquired by Recursion, Nasdaq: RXRX)’s Post

I'd like to add some comments from the standpoint of a vendor. My comments aren't to promote the company I work with, but to point out what I've seen when selling both into the US as well as Canada. I consistently hear that the funding isn't there to buy software that will help the work that labs are doing, particularly in academia, but also to a degree in industry. Talking to a lab in the US is much different than it is in Canada. In Canada, most labs seem to be getting buy with free tools instead of investing in world class software that will help move their science forward. We are on the cusp of AI becoming a very important part of research and development, but many labs still struggle with organizing and mining their data effectively. Don't get me wrong, you will always hear about the lack of funding. This happens on both sides of the border, but in the US there is more of a mindset to move away from older ways and look for something that will help them now. In order to become world class, I believe we need the funding and innovative mindset to do what other world class countries are already doing.

Thank you Naheed Kurji Chris Gibson Daniel Cohen for hosting such a passionate group of like minded leaders from the life sciences community. Completely agree with what you and others shared. In addition, we all need to work together as a sum of something bigger leveraging the strengths of all of the groups versus competing with each other. We need to remove regulatory burdens/barriers both at the government and institutional level. There’s no reason why Toronto, Ontario, Canada can’t be bigger than what it is today on the international stage and be the vibrant ecosystem we see in Kendall square. We have great research, science and as we discussed talent (albeit we need C suite level leaders). But we have to figure out how to take it over the finish line into commercialization and successful exits together. Lastly I want to call out Jason Field and Maura Campbell for building bridges and finally bringing LSO and OBIO together as one. That in itself is a great start….

Thx Naheed. A truly passionate post. I agree totally on all accounts. I believe that until we address and fix, the dismal reimbursement and horrid adoption of Canadian innovation we will not have a thriving national Life Sciences industry....full stop. Oh sure, we can found Co's, do world leading research....that moves south! Why? because there is no local market or mechanism for Canadian innovation to make Canadian money! This is a systematic problem which needs a large scale political solution. Until there is ONE national formulary....a mandate and pipeline to speed Canadian health-tech innovation adoption in the Canadian Healthcare system, and a national strategy to incentivize innovation and entrepreneurship among Canada's leading minds at a grass-roots level we as a country, will lag behind.

Thanks Naheed. Looking forward to working with you and others to build Recursion as an anchor company not only in Salt Lake City, but in Toronto as well! We are so impressed by the community here and look forward to continuing growth and working with many partners here to achieve the region’s goals.

The Creative Destruction Lab has already and will continue to play a role in this too! A rich community for scientist-founders to crowdsource feedback on their budding busiess strategies while building long-term meaningful relationships that can materially impact their trajectory. Couldn’t agree more about the need for 5-10 (times) more of these kinds of companies in Canada. Seems like it was an outstanding and inspiring dinner :).

I am building two companies with my friends at Amplitude Ventures in Canada. We are excited to draw fro the talent pool and the fantastic opportunities provided by the Canadian government.

Thank you Naheed Kurji, Chris Gibson and Daniel Cohen for a remarkable evening! Canada has tremendous strengths in biomedical research and our innovation ecosystem produces many startups. I agree - we need more startups to become scale-ups and anchor firms in Canada! The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs have run successfully for over 3 decades in the USA and are excellent programs to be considered in Canada!

Thank you Naheed Kurji Daniel Cohen Chris Gibson for this evening of wonderful food, great colleagues/friends, inspirational ideas and truths. These are the conversations that fuel unique partnership models and strategies which elevate whole ecosystems. The anchors that are built in Canada will be the ones that build pipelines to the communities around them. You found the secret sauce!

Amen. I think beyond doubling and tripling down on our strengths, we need to let go of what we're not. Canada is different, we must not only highlight that, but accept that.

Excellent start, keep in mind that there are always challenges. But bold entrepreneurs with the right financial backing who are willing to create products and solutions that leverages Generative AI for Life Science could be the catalyst.