Summary of this Week’s Newsletter:
LSAM Presents A Workshop on SR&ED Tax Credits- June 8, 2010
- The CRA offers more than $4 billion annually in SR&ED funding, yet fewer than 50% of eligible Canadian companies apply. And those who do apply may receive minimal refunds because they fail to take full advantage of the program. Join us for a program designed to get you your maximum return.
Upcoming Events
- Invitation to Participate in a Health Canada Workshop on Natural Health Products- June 8, 2010
- Call to Nominations for the EAC-VHP Expert Advisory Committee on the Vigilance of Health Products (EAC-VHP)- July 5, 2010
LSAM Training Events
- LSAM’s June Training Calendar- An Overview
Member & Local News
- International Clinical Trials Day
- City a Composite ‘Epicentre’
- Pfizer Animal Health buys Microtek
- Vita Health & Cangene Sponsor the Inaugural “The Great Red River Lab Challenge”
Life Science in the News
- Study Links Viral Infection to Juvenile Diabetes
- Alberta Offers Alternative to Open Heart Surgery
- Stimulating Immune System To Fight Range Of Bacteria Could Be New Alternative To Antibiotics
- Obama’s Advisors Identify Vaccine Fixes
- Government Unveils $1Billion Biomedical Tax Credit
- BP Oil Spill Shows Need for Biofuels, Developers Say
- Canadian Bio-Fuels Light up Economy
DON’T MISS OUT ON THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECOUP VALUABLE DOLLARS FOR YOUR COMPANY- JUNE 8, 2010
If your organization invests time and money in research, experimental development or technical work, you could be eligible for significant tax credits through the Canada Revenue Agency’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Tax Incentive Program.
The SR&ED program uses federal tax credits and refunds to support business of all sizes in all sectors who engage in research and development. This means that no matter what industry you’re in, you can turn R&D investments into either cash refunds or tax credits.
Unfortunately, though the CRA offers more than $4 billion annually in SR&ED funding, fewer than 50% of eligible Canadian companies apply. And those who do apply may receive minimal refunds because they fail to take full advantage of the program.
That’s where LSAM can help…
SR&ED Tax Credit presentation- June 8, 2010
What is the SR&ED Program?
The scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program is a federal tax incentive program to encourage Canadian businesses of all sizes and in all sectors to conduct research and development (R&D) in Canada that will lead to new, improved, or technologically advanced products or processes. The SR&ED program is the largest single source of federal government support for industrial research and development.
Claimants can apply for SR&ED investment tax credits for expenditures such as wages, materials, machinery, equipment some overhead, and SR&ED contracts.
Join Hartley Miller and Donald Sobkow of The Recoup Group, Inc for a 90 minute presentation designed to provide you with the valuable knowledge on the SR&ED Tax Credit Program. This presentation will provided you with practical information about understand the program and much more.
When: Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Where: 1000 Waverley Street
Time: 8:30-10:30am
Cost: FREE for LSAM Members ($10 for non-members)
What You’ll Get:
SR&ED Program Overview
Tax Credit Rates (Federal and Provincial)
Reporting Deadlines
Program Criteria
How to Identify Eligible projects
Specific Life Science Examples
What Expenditures Qualify/Don’t Qualify
Program Myths
Role of the Tax Payer (maintain contemporaneous documentation)
How to file (T661 input)
The Review Process
The ‘Recoup Process”
Question & Answer Session
The Recoup Group, Inc, is a Manitoba based Canadian firm dedicated to the identification and recovery of Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) Refunds. The Recoup Group, Inc. team has a wealth of knowledge and a significant track record ( 20 years) in identifying projects, claiming all related expenditures and negotiating SR&ED refunds. Our corporate philosophy is to work with our client’s as part of their internal team to recognize SR&ED projects and activities, accumulate and prepare technical and costing documentation and to make sure they have set up their internal infrastructure to take full advantage of the SR&ED program in an efficient manner.
This is an opportunity that should not be missed. To register visit http://www.lsam.ca/calendar.cfm. Alternatively you can contact LSAM’s Training Coordinator, Norma Niefer at (204) 272-5095 or [email protected].
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Invitation to Participate in a Health Canada Workshop on Natural Health Products- June 8, 2010
In November 2009, Health Canada’s Natural Health Products (NHP) Program held a series of workshops across Canada to gather input from stakeholders on planned NHP licence application and review processes, as well as a new compliance and enforcement approach for NHPs. Since then, Health Canada has continued to work on the development of these initiatives. This process has been guided by the input received from workshop participants, as well as the NHP Program Advisory Committee, which is comprised of members from industry, consumers, practitioners and academia (specific details at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/prodnatur/activit/com/program-memb-eng.php).
As a next step in this process, the NHP Program invites you to participate in a workshop on the new NHP Compliance and Enforcement Policy and the upcoming NHP Application Management Policy. The ideal candidate from your organization would be a representative responsible for compliance with the Food and Drugs Act and Natural Health Products Regulations (i.e. regulatory affairs, quality assurance, etc).
The workshop will consist of presentations by representatives from the Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) Inspectorate and the Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD) with updates on the new policies, along with an opportunity for discussion on several of the presented topics. Attached is a draft agenda for the session (attachment 1).
In Manitoba there will be a half-day workshop offered on June 8, 2010.
Call to Nominations for the EAC-VHP Expert Advisory Committee on the Vigilance of Health Products (EAC-VHP)- July 5, 2010
Health Canada’s Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) is seeking industry sector nominations for members to participate on an Expert Advisory Committee on the Vigilance of Health Products (EAC-VHP). The Committee will provide advice to the HPFB on its post-market policies and programs.
Representing a mix of expertise and experience, the Committee consists of twelve to fifteen members from the health professional, patient and consumer, researcher and academia, and industry association sectors.
If you have any questions, require more information, or a paper copy of this nomination package, do not hesitate to contact Ms. Dobrila Todoric from the Committee Secretariat by email [email protected] or by phone at 613-960-6073.
FUTURE LSAM EVENTS
Ernst & Young Report on Biotechnology- Mid July
11th Annual LSAM Golf Tournament- August 9th, 2010
National Biotechnology Week- September 17-24, 2010
LSAM Annual Dinner- October 5, 2010
LSAM TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES:
June event calendar
Below is a listing of LSAM Training Programs being offered for the month of June.
June 1 and June 8, 2010- Annual GMP Training – CANADIAN REGULATIONS- 2009 GMP Edition, Changes and Interpretations
June 2, 2010 – QNET-Conflict Resolution: Learn to Manage Conflict More Effectively
June 3, 2010 – Developing Quality Agreements in a Pharma/Biotech Environment
June 3, 2010 – QNET-Igniting Corporate Spirit
June 4, 2010 – Good Documentation Practices Preface for the Pharmaceutical Laboratory
June 8, 2010 – A Quality Systems Approach to Risk-Based Technology Transfer-Reducing Regulatory Problems and Improving Performance
June 8, 2010 – SR&ED Tax Credit Program
June 8 and 9, 2010 – QNET-Project Management: A Practical Approach
June 9, 2010- Using Microbiological Rapid Methods for Faster Release of Oral and other Non-Sterile Products from Pharmaceuticals to Food Products
June 10, 2010- Decreasing Environmental, Raw Material and In-Process Testing Requirements in a cGMP Environment- Without Diminishing Quality
June 15, 2010 – QNET-Peel the Skin: Tools for Innovative Discovery
June 16, 2010- QNET- The Essence of Good Governance
June 16, 2010 – Air Flow Visualization Studies in Support of Aseptic Manufacturing
June 21, 2010 – 2010 Changes to the EU Variation Rules
June 21, 2010- Drug Master Files, Understanding & Meeting Your Global Regulatory & Processing Responsibilities
June 24, 2010 – Selling your Product or Service to the Province of Manitoba
June 24, 2010 – Selling your Product or Service to the Government of Canada
June 24, 2010 – Selling your Product or Service to the City of Winnipeg
June 25, 2010 – The Challenges of Monitoring Impurities in Pharmaceutical Products
June 29, 2010 – Write it Right!
If further information on any of the courses is required or to register, please visit: http://www.lsam.ca/calendar.cfm?boxdate=06/27/10
LSAM MEMBER & LOCAL NEWS:
Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP (TDS) Announces Merger With Perlov Stewart LLP
Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP (TDS) and Perlov Stewart LLP are pleased to announce that effective June 1, 2010 their practices will merge under the name Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP.
David Perlov, Managing Partner of Perlov Stewart LLP says “I am both pleased and excited about our merger with TDS. It will provide an excellent working environment among other high quality lawyers, and expand our administrative and legal resource base to provide and improve on the high standards our clients expect and deserve.”
All Perlov Stewart LLP lawyers, I. David Perlov, Allan L. V. Stewart, Peter A. Sim and Gerald S. Ashcroft, are joining TDS. The addition of these new lawyers will add to the strength of TDS and further diversify its ability to provide legal services in matters related to business, financial services, the environment, family and criminal law, creditors’ rights (including bankruptcy and restructuring), labour and employment, civil litigation, wills and estates, and the purchase, sale and development of land.
City a Composite ‘Epicentre’
Aerospace giant Boeing is hosting an event in Ottawa next Tuesday to announce a national advanced composites manufacturing consortium that will be run by Winnipeg’s Composites Innovation Centre.
CIC staff have been working on the project — called the Canadian Composite Manufacturing Research and Development consortium — for more than a year. It is part of the CIC’s efforts to expand its operations by bringing in more third-party players to work on research projects.
Last fall, the CIC announced $11.6 million in funding for the next four years from the provincial and federal governments, doubling the budget it had for the previous four years.
CIC’s executive director, Sean McKay, said the long-term plan was for the research centre to wean itself off public-sector funding.
This new consortium will be a step in that direction.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/city-a-composite-epicentre-94904349.html
Pfizer Animal Health buys Microtek
Pfizer Animal Health has acquired British Columbia, Canada-based Microtek International, an innovator in aquaculture vaccines, R&D and healthcare diagnostic services. Terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed.
“The time is right for Pfizer Animal Health to enter the global market for aquaculture healthcare therapeutics,” says Juan Ramon Alaix, president, Pfizer Animal Health. “The integration of Microtek R&D into Pfizer Animal Health also will allow us to build a more diverse and innovative portfolio in biopharmaceuticals.”
Pfizer Animal Health has been busy over the past few years, acquiring R&D and a product line-up from Vetnex Animal Health Limited in India; establishing Pfizer Animal Genetics in 2008; and enhancing its poultry health business by acquiring R&D and innovative in-ovo vaccination technology from Embrex in 2007. the company says in a statement.
Vita Health & Cangene Sponsor the Inaugural “The Great Red River Lab Challenge”
Five students from Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive High School won the inaugural “The Great Red River Lab Challenge,” held in the laboratory complex of the School of Health Sciences and Community Services on the Main Campus of Red River College on May 17th. The winning team included Stephanie Peters, Katie Sulks, Else Grant, Abyss Webster and Adam Van Art. Their supervising teachers were Steve Saris and Angela Bajt.
Vita Health and Cangene sponsored the competition, partnering with the department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Health Sciences Centre, Red River College and MindSet, the Manitoba Network for Science and Technology.
Forty-five students from five schools applied their laboratory and problem-solving skills to 10 hands-on activities, using the type of knowledge, abilities and skills that companies like Cangene and Vita Health look for in their skilled workforce. The activities were created by the staff of Red River College’s Department of Life Science and Biotechnology, based on the content of some of their courses. The other participating schools were Fort Richmond Collegiate, Gordon Bell High School, Carman Collegiate and Acadia Junior High.
“The feedback from the schools involved was that it was a great opportunity for students to understand how their learning is useful in the workplace,” reported Andy Burzynski, Chair of Life Sciences at Red River College. “This was our first attempt at this activity and, with the support of the partners provided an outstanding learning experience.”
“Vita Health was the first of the local health-related companies to step up to support this competition.” pointed out Stephanie Haverstick. “This gave us the opportunity to be front and centre with the type of intelligent and hardworking young people whom we would like to hire to stay competitive in the natural health market.”
Cangene’s presentation to the students about careers centred around the skills that a company like Cangene needs. There was a general presentation by Les Deezar that was followed by many specific examples shared by Nubia Viafara from her work as Quality Control Manager.
For further information about next year’s competition, please contact Norman Lee, [email protected], Coordinator, MindSet, the Manitoba Network for Science and Technology, a program of Manitoba Innovation, Mines and Energy.
LIFE SCIENCE IN THE NEWS:
Study Links Viral Infection to Juvenile Diabetes
Italian scientists have found a significant link between juvenile diabetes and a common virus that usually only causes a mild infection — a discovery that may give clues as to what triggers the disease.
In a small study of 112 children with juvenile diabetes, Antonio Toniolo of the University of Insubria in Varese, Italy, found that more than 80 percent had evidence of enterovirus infection in their blood.
Enteroviruses are viruses that can thrive in the gastrointestinal tract.
They are very common — second only to common cold viruses — and most people who are infected with an enterovirus have no obvious illness. Others have flu-like symptoms, aching muscles or a rash and some severe viruses attack the nervous system
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE64N04J20100524
Alberta Offers Alternative to Open Heart Surgery
Doctors at the University of Alberta have for the first time performed a heart procedure aimed at helping patients for whom open heart surgery is too risky.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation, or TAVI, helps elderly patients suffering from aortic stenosis, a blockage of the heart’s aortic valve. While the condition is usually remedied by open heart surgery, that poses too great a risk to older patients.
TAVI involves inserting a manufactured valve the size of a quarter into the heart. The new valve is delivered through a catheter from an incision in the groin or chest wall. Open heart surgery, on the other hand, involves opening up the chest.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/05/27/edmonton-heart-surgery-alberta-valve.html
Stimulating Immune System To Fight Range Of Bacteria Could Be New Alternative To Antibiotics
Researchers in the US have developed a new type of treatment that could herald a new approach to fighting infectious diseases that stimulates the immune system to protect the body against a range of bacteria instead of relying on antibiotics to attack them directly, which can lead to the emergence of resistant strains of pathogens.
The team, comprising scientists from government, academia and private industry, wrote a paper about their study that was published in the May issue of the open access journal PLoS Pathogens, available online.
Dr Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health, said in a statement that:
“A therapeutic that protects against a wide array of bacterial pathogens would have enormous medical and public health implications for naturally occurring infections and potential agents of bioterrorism.”
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/190205.php
Obama’s Advisors Identify Vaccine Fixes
No surprises here, but President Obama is being advised that quicker identification of pandemic viruses and a shift from egg-based to cell-culture production top the list of short-term measures to speed influenza vaccine production. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology also named better seed strains, speedier methods of sterility testing, more reliable potency test reagents, and larger, updated fill/finish facilities.
The recommendations follow last year’s delays in production of a pandemic vaccine. They were submitted by the council, for the most part, as short- and long-term measures. One item in a non-time-frame category: guidance from the FDA on what it takes to have a new flu vaccine approved.
Government Unveils $1Billion Biomedical Tax Credit
The Obama administration said Friday it’s offering $1 billion in seed money to small research firms in the hunt for promising medical breakthroughs.
Companies working on projects that have “significant potential” to produce new drugs, find a cure for cancer, or address unmet medical needs can apply for up to a $5-million share of the funds. It’s limited to firms with 250 workers or fewer, and applications will have to pass review by experts at the National Institutes for Health.
The idea was championed by three Democratic senators – Max Baucus of Montana, John Kerry of Massachusetts, and Robert Menendez of New Jersey – and incorporated in President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/21/AR2010052102034.html
BP Oil Spill Shows Need for Biofuels, Developers Say
The disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico illustrates a pressing need for the United States to pass legislative incentives to drive investment dollars into cellulosic and algae-based biofuel facilities, biofuel industry leaders said on Thursday.
“This is just a wakeup call for our dependence on petroleum,” said Harrison Dillon, President of Solazyme Inc, which is building an integrated biorefinery in rural Pennsylvania aiming for commercial-scale production of algae-based fuel.
Harrison said the BP (BP.L) spill, the largest in U.S. history, highlights the “ugly side of our dependence on fossil fuels.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2710278720100527?type=marketsNews
Canadian Bio-Fuels Light up Economy
Producing renewable fuels – gas from alcohol and diesel from animal fat and plant oils – is a $2.2 billion industry in Canada, according to a new study.
Gordon Quaiattini, the president of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association which commissioned the study, said Wednesday it was time to “tell the story” of the ethanol and biodiesel industry because the federal government’s renewable fuels standard comes into effect Sept. 1, when minimum average amounts of renewable fuels will be required in gasoline.
“We thought this was the right time to sort of tell the story of what we’ve accomplished, given that September is just around the corner,” he said.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/05/26/14108836.html
Contact: Jonathan Frate Manager, Membership Services Life Science Association of Manitoba 1000 Waverley Street Winnipeg, MB R3T 0P3 Tel: (204) 272-5094 Fax: (204) 272-2961 Email: [email protected]
