Lab2Market explores commercialization during Life Sciences Week

Lab2Market's annual summit takes place Sept. 23 to 25 — conveniently when researchers, businesses, funders, and dignitaries are gathered for Life Sciences Week. Things kick off with an evening of networking at Edmonton Unlimited. The main conference program runs over the following two days in the University Commons building at the University of Alberta, with the themes of Pathways From Research to Impact on Sept. 24 and Building Momentum & Scaling Impact on Sept. 25.

As the name implies, Lab2Market's mission is to help researchers commercialize. Speakers on the program who embody this include John Lewis, the founder of both Entos Pharmaceuticals and Nanostics. Entos makes genetic medicines with signs of progress on rare diseases; Nanostics makes non-invasive tests, beginning with ClarityDX for prostate cancer screening. There's also Kate Ellis, the co-founder of Antigoni Studios, a femtech venture studio. She'll speak on a Sept. 24 panel about women-led ventures moderated by Taproot co-founder Karen Unland. Ellis will also appear at an Antigoni event called Femtech Connect on Sept. 21 at Brighton Block, where the studio recently partnered with Sparrow Cowork to offer coworking space for Antigoni members.

Zooming out, there's much more to explore during Life Sciences Week between Sept. 21 and 25. The annual Life Sciences Campus tours at the Edmonton Research Park include a look at Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation's Critical Medicines Production Centre. The next day, the University of Alberta launches its Regenerative Medicine Hub over breakfast at Edmonton Unlimited; later that afternoon, Inside the Medtech Innovation Highway: Founder Stories from Alberta's Innovation Frontlines features speaker Claire Dixon of Neuraura, Karen Murdock of Voiced Memories, and Amber Mack of Kids Included in a conversation moderated by Taproot co-founder Mack Male.