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stay informed medical devices, acknowledges that Canada's life sciences and biotechnology industry has traditionally had to seek invest- ments from outside of the country. "For Canadian companies, it's always been the case that they have had to raise money in other markets," says Kingwell, who has obtained patents for heterocyclic antibiotics, modified forms of hybrid-screening genes based on protein-protein interactions, processes for the preparation of bioprosthetic tissues, along with heavy metal waste remediation processes. But he says all of Canada's regu- latory systems will have to undergo an update in light of the fact the aging baby boomer demographic is poised to demand all means to preserve their health and longevity. "So for most companies, it's a good time to be in the drug and diagnostic business," he says. Yet over recent years, he says many major drug companies have been abandoning patents for future drug research simply to cut costs. "They were simply economizing and focusing on projects that were most likely to succeed. So for the years to come, it looks like small companies will have a pretty perma- nent place" in the industry as innovators if they can fulfil the complement of patents for drugs that the larger pharmaceuti- cal companies might be interested in marketing, he says. Kingwell recently attended an Association of University Technology Managers conference in New Orleans, La., which brought venture capitalists together with university researchers to encourage them to privatize their drug innovations and seek means to establish a market. "This is tied in with venture capitalists that can help spin off companies that often become very large and successful," says Kingwell of the conference. "It's sort of the epicen- tre for a lot of company generation." He notes the University of British Columbia has a university-industry liai- son office that assists researcher clients with establishing companies in the sec- tor. So with better means to facilitate investment for biotechnology and life sciences companies, business for lawyers will flourish. "Small companies have a pretty permanent place in the picture and the capital markets are still willing to support innovative companies with a profitable deal," says Kingwell, par- ticularly in light of the federal income tax amendments. "The recession slowed things down a bit but companies within the industry were not blown away." He says he expects the industry will persevere and ultimately prosper, large- ly based on demand for innovative products that pharmaceutical compa- nies will agree to produce as their pat- ents expire and they seek to fill a void by taking on innovations produced by small companies. www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com M AY 2010 53 ntitled-5 1 4/13/10 10:13:28 AM Download Gowlings' complimentary publication Life Sciences and Law Current Issues 2010/2011 at gowlings.com/lsig/report. For more information, please contact Jane Clark, national leader of our Life Sciences Group at jane.clark@gowlings.com. montréal ottawa toronto hamilton waterloo region calgary vancouver moscow london gowlings.com owlings_CL_May_10.indd 1 4/12/10 4:41:06 PM