December Newsletter

API Stories

Life Sciences Week 2025: Impact at a Glance

The Impact Report for Life Sciences Week 2025 is here—and the outcomes speak for themselves! With record-high registrations, expanded media partnerships and stronger cross-sector engagement, Life Sciences Week 2025 proved to be another powerful display of collaboration across Alberta’s life sciences sector.

Here’s a snapshot of its impact:

• Record-Breaking Participation: Life Sciences Week saw over 6,200 registrations across 61 events held throughout Alberta.
• Exceptional Attendee Experience: Attendee experience received an average score of 4.58 out of 5 from 173 respondents, with participants highlighting the quality of speakers, seamless logistics and a strong sense of community.
• Strong Sponsor & Partner Support: A total of 26 sponsors and partners contributed more than $130,000 in support, helping deliver diverse and high-impact programming throughout the week.
• Amplified Reach & Engagement: In partnership with Digital Journal and Taproot Edmonton, a multi-channel campaign significantly amplified reach and engagement for Life Sciences Week in Alberta and beyond, including generating nearly 8.4 million impressions across all campaigns, driving a 91% increase in website traffic and achieving a 17.1% engagement rate on LinkedIn.

Explore the full Impact Report

Looking for insights beyond the data? Discover key moments and takeaways in the event recap—from spotlighting Alberta stories and sector-building initiatives to the cross-sector innovations shaping what’s next for life sciences.

Read the impact blog

Holiday Closure Notice

As we celebrate the season, please note that our office will be closed from December 25, 2025 to January 1, 2026. We will have limited availability during this period and will respond to inquiries once our office reopens on January 2.

Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year ahead!

Events

Friendly Fridays: New Year, New Opportunities

Kick off the new year with great conversations and fresh connections at Friendly Fridays: New Year, New Opportunities on Friday, January 9, from 2:30–4:30 PM at Edmonton Research Park.

Whether you’re looking to reconnect with the local business community or spark new opportunities across Alberta’s tech scene, this free event offers the perfect start to the year!

Register

More events

• Jan. 30: HCA 2025-2026 Regional Gathering (Calgary) 

• Feb. 5: Innovations in Motion: Advancing Prosthetics and Mobility (Edmonton)

Life Sciences & Innovation News

• Baüne, which obtained a Medical Device Establishment Licence in June, is fast-tracking the adoption of internationally recognized standards to strengthen quality, privacy, and regulatory readiness for global markets. Its roadmap includes ISO 13485 for medical device quality management, MDSAP for unified multi-jurisdiction audits, and ISO 27701 for privacy governance of health data. 
   

• Future Fields has released a case study comparing the timelines for protein manufacturing using its EntoEngine platform, versus stable mammalian cell line generation. The study maps out the time savings achieved with the EntoEngine. 
   

• My Viva Plan partnered with Sharp Healthcare on a 12-week project to study the impact of lifestyle medicine on senior healthcare system leaders. Participants engaged in virtual group sessions every two weeks, and spent a few minutes daily on self-reflection. 
   

• NanoTess announced that its wound-healing product is now covered by the Alberta Drug Benefit List, representing a significant step forward in reducing barriers to healing for people with diabetes. 
   

• Nimble Science was selected as one of the 20 C100 Fellows for the 2026 cohort. The companies represent various sectors, including finance, hard tech, construction, robotics, healthcare, SaaS, and climate. 
   

• OncoHelix launched Serenity, a non-invasive prenatal test that uses the NIPTrix platform to screen for fetal chromosomal conditions from a maternal blood draw as early as 10 weeks into pregnancy. The Serenity+ expanded panel includes additional chromosomal conditions and microdeletions. 
   

• OncoHelix has partnered with Desjardins to offer biomarker testing through its insurance policies. This testing pairs patients with earlier, more personalized treatment options. 

• OraQ AI has partnered with global digital dentistry platform Medit. The platform provides insights from typical dental image scans. 
   

• PanTHERA CryoSolutions published a tutorial in collaboration with Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News about improving cryopreservation consistency. The tutorial focuses on addressing ice recrystallization and ice crystal growth using ice recrystallization inhibitors to improve post-thaw cell quality and function in cell and gene therapies, and regenerative medicine. 
   

• RJH Biosciences, in collaboration with Mohammad Nasrullah and colleagues at the University of Alberta, released a video showcasing research on lipopolymer nanoparticles for siRNA delivery. The study showed that the nanoparticles facilitate high siRNA uptake, effectively silence KMT2A::AFF1, and improve targeting of leukemia-associated organs, leading to a reduction in disease burden in T411 ALL models. 
   

• Visionstate‘s partnership with Amii, supported by Prairies Economic Development Canada, resulted in the development of two new market-ready products that stem from an initial research project focused on route optimization for Visionstate’s WANDA platform. 

• Amii partnered with ClinicSense to integrate machine learning into its platform. Together, they developed a model that converts voice recordings into treatment notes, potentially reducing documentation time by 90%. 
   

• Genome Alberta is accepting applications for the Regional Genomic Applications Partnership Program Initiative. The program aims to advance biotech innovations across strategic sectors in Alberta, including health, agriculture and agri-food, environment and energy, forestry, and technology platforms. 
   

• GlycoNet announced that the call for abstracts for the ninth Canadian Glycomics Symposium is now open. Researchers, trainees, and industry professionals are invited to submit abstracts by Feb. 28, 2026 to share their work with Canada’s glycomics community. 
   

• GlycoNet researchers at the University of Alberta developed a machine learning model, MCNet, which predicts protein-sugar interactions, including those involving “mirror-form” sugars. The model’s predictions were validated in the lab, suggesting a larger scope of glycan structures is now accessible. 
   

• Sovereign Health, a branch of Enoch Cree Nation, has partnered with Health Cities and My Normative to launch a study grounded in Indigenous research settings. The project will work with Sovereign Health’s traditional birthing program to address maternal health outcomes around gestational diabetes. 
   

• The Institute of Health Economics has released a new report on using policy levers to reduce low-value care. 
   

• Prairies Economic Development Canada is collaborating with and providing funding for the Prairie Partnership Initiative in Alberta and other prairie provinces. Life sciences companies, including Entos Pharmaceuticals and Northern RNA, are on the list of qualifying companies. 

• The University of Calgary‘s One Health Research has been designated as a Collaborating Centre by the Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization to research antimicrobial resistance and promote appropriate antimicrobial use. 
   

• The University of Calgary has partnered with Calgary-based Providence Therapeutics for the Translational Research Excellence Program. The program aims to accelerate research into new treatments for oncology, infectious diseases, and veterinary medicine. 
   

• Calgary ranked third among major Canadian cities for venture capital investment, with $341 million invested across 43 deals in 2025. Calgary Economic Development President and CEO Brad Parry noted that Calgary outpaced Vancouver in both deal volume and number. Alberta reached its highest national share in recent years with 15% of all Canadian deal flow. More than 80% of Alberta’s total VC dollars flowed through Calgary.