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For More Information Contact: Rimon Therapeutics Limited 59 Adelaide St. East Suite 500 Toronto, Ontario Canada, M5C 1K6, 416-977-2003 (office), 416-977-6383 (fax), info@rimontherapeutics.com (email) or visit our website at: www.rimontherapeutics.com

Media Contact: Howard Oliver, What If What Next, 416-638-8582, holiver@whatifwhatnext.com.

Sunday, May 6

Part two of a two part interview with Dr. Michael H. May PhD, President, Director, Rimon Therapeutics at BioFinance 2007

by Howard on Sun 06 May 2007 11:45 AM EDT

Howard: In the presentation you talked about the application pipeline for Theramers™ in stents, knee joints and eyes. Why this emphasis?

Mike: We have been investigating these opportunities for a few years. On the strength of the data we have on the wound and technology side, we have decided to pursue them. We have been working on the coronary stent application for a couple of years and it has some of the validation done in collaboration with a partner in the sector. There has been much exciting activity in the background and we want to move to the clinic with new financing. We now have proof of concept data that we are taking out to potential partners. There is validation from clinical trials. We now have clinical validation of a very novel technology concept. As a management team, we feel highly confident about the technology.

Howard: You mentioned that the networking you do at these events is as important as the formal presentation. Can you explain?

Mike: Networking is critical and these events are always valuable. The presentation is one small part of what is happening here. The breadth and depth of our networking has been advanced recently over the years as we have had more to talk about and more successes to declare. It is easier to network. So the networking has been built not only on previous relationships established over the last five years, we now have much more exciting things too say.

Howard: At the VC presentation there was talk of ‘alignment’ of a company, meaning a balanced score card approach where you look at finance, scientific development, marketing, personnel and strategy. Can you speak to ‘alignment’ at Rimon.

Mike: Alignment is most certainly important. It is a challenge with limited financial resources and people to always be aligned. We have been focusing on a lead product that can validate a technology and to then advance the pipeline products. Rimon has been much aligned around this clinical trial and enhancing that product so that it can be scaled up and taken to market as quickly as possible with a partner. Alignment is equally required for relationship management with partners. Every potential partner we meet, we need everyone at Rimon to contribute to what that story will be when we meet them – including data, brainstorming on product integration, and to effectively communicate our story. We all have to be on the same page.

Howard: You mentioned that you have been in negotiations with a major wound care company. What have you learned from those negotiations?

Mike: You learn a lot when you broaden your interactions. Certainly engaging a partner brings a whole host of issues to the table. We understand better now some of the issues we have not had to deal with: issues such as manufacturing and scale-up, reimbursement, and regulatory approval. Partners have a lot of experience that we are benefiting from in all of these areas and more.From a practical sense, what we have also learned is that the pace of these discussions can be very slow. You must be very patient and very positive. Find your champions, and create a sense of urgency and opportunity.

Howard: You mentioned the ‘The Theramer Patent House’ – how did that idea come about and what are you going to do with it?

Mike: It came about in a strategic planning session last year. We were trying to define the long-term objectives of the company. Of course IP is important to any new, early stage company. Rimon deals at the base level with biomaterials - new medical materials. As we are successful, other activities that are going on out there in the academic environment, and other companies around materials, perhaps will start to look and feel like Theramers™. So it is important for us to be aggressive about going out and finding those technologies. Perhaps acquiring them or through other vehicles to make certain that we remain the Theramer™ company and the Global Theramer™ Patent House.

Howard: At the VC presentation they also spoke about acquisitions and role-up strategies. Could this be your long-term strategy?

Mike: I think that would be the wise thing to do if our first product generates good revenue for us. We can enhance our burn significantly and build our team. It would be a valid way to build the company. In the past year we signed an agreement with one for a certain period of time. They basically wanted to take us off the table for the other wound care companies.

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Monday, April 30

Part one of a two part interview with Dr. Michael H. May PhD, President, Director, Rimon Therapeutics at BioFinance 2007

by Howard on Mon 30 Apr 2007 11:40 AM EDT

BioFinance 2007 is the Canadian Life Science industry's leading investor conference. Each year the meeting brings together key industry players to consider investment opportunities and issues affecting companies in biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics and research tools.

Participants include senior life science executives, institutional and venture capital investors, industry analysts, corporate finance executives and experts from the scientific and medical communities in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. BioFinance 2007 was held on April 24 - 26, 2007 at the Toronto Marriott Eaton Centre. Rimon Therapeutics was one of 100 life sciences companies from Canada, United States and Europe that presented at BioFinance 2007. Howard Oliver spoke to Dr. Michael H. May PhD, President, Director, Rimon Therapeutics after his presentation at the event.

Howard: Each participating company has the opportunity to present their story for half-an- hour. What was the emphasis of your presentation this year?

Mike: My intent was to communicate the progress we have made, particularly with the clinical trial of MI-Sorb™ Dressing for chronic wounds. We had significant scientific progress to report from the clinical trial. We also discussed how that data has impacted our partnership discussions and advancement of pipeline products as well.

Howard: Who came to your presentation?

Mike: We had a full room. I was pleased with the turnout. There were some representatives of wound care companies. There were also the regular people who come to keep track of what we are doing and get an update on our progress. It was gratifying to have our progress acknowledged.

Howard: After BioFinance, what events are you going to be participating in?

Mike: Three or four of the Rimon team are going to a combined conference of the Symposium of Advanced Wound Care and the Annual Wound Care Society Meeting in Tampa, Florida. We have two oral presentations, one on the SAWC side and the other on the wound healing side. There are few oral presentations given at the Symposium. It is a credit to our process and the novelty of our products that we were invited to present. It is an unusual opportunity to present our clinical detail in some detail, much more than I presented at my presentation today at BioFinance. We will delve into the technical aspects of the product and its design.

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Thursday, March 29

Interview with Gary Skarja, PhD., Director, R&D

by Howard on Thu 29 Mar 2007 09:51 PM EDT

1. Can you explain your current role at Rimon?

Gary is the Director of R&D at Rimon. He is responsible for all R&D functions at Rimon, supervising laboratory activities and managing the two scientists that work with him. His work encompasses new product development, prototype development, clinical trials, and Intellectual Property (IP) design, application and management. For the Intellectual Property (IP) work to gain legal protection for Rimon’s materials, he interacts with the company’s IP lawyers to generate new submissions, be they provisional or formal applications. He also responds to examiners.

2. How many people are in your department? As a group, what is unique about them?

There are two fulltime biomaterial scientists working in the Lab - Allison Brown and Caroline Hamer. Another person, Rebecca Ho, splits her time between the lab and clinical/regulatory work. This team is highly trained, flexible, and very motivated. They are quick to rise to new challenges and accept extra responsibilities.

3. Rimon is commercializing Theramers™ - therapeutic polymers. Can you

speak to the promise of the technology?

The interesting thing is that Theramers™ are medical polymers or plastics that have a therapeutic activity. Typically, medical polymers have been used for their physical or mechanical properties. Now they can be exploited to additionally possess a drug-like activity to promote a healing response. Theramers™ allow patients to avoid the use of soluble drugs that can cause side-effects when they are administered systemically and distributed throughout the body. Additionally, the materials are less costly to produce compared to pharmaceutical therapeutics. Rimon's key products benefit from the shorter timelines, and therefore reduced developmental costs, compared to those of pharmaceutical products.

5. Where do new ideas come from and how are they developed?

Ideas come from a variety of places: scanning the literature, attending conferences, interacting with colleagues within Rimon and the broader community. They come upon biological themes from the literature and ask themselves how they can affect these processes.

Mike May and Gary work closely together to brainstorm and screen ideas – generating new ideas and sifting them down to the ones they want to pursue given the time lines and resources they have available.

There are two levels to the product development process at Rimon. One, taking the materials they do have and expanding them into additional applications. With existing Theramers™, they continually scan the literature to see where there can be effective applications to additional disease states or disorders. Simply put, they have the materials and look for ways to exploit them. Subsequently, they do proof of concept testing and proceed ultimately to clinical development.

The other level is a ground-up material design, almost like a jet engine development-type program. They scan for opportunities for materials for applications, processes that they would like to impact, answering the question: “How would you make a material that would do that?”

6. Can you describe the network of collaborators you have?

They have an extensive network in Toronto. Their lab is at the University of Toronto. One of their co-founders is Dr. Michael Sefton, a professor at The University of Toronto. They set up collaborative projects with his doctoral and post-doctoral students. They do testing and evaluation of new materials at the University. They have facilities there to test what they make and how they make it. They also collaborate with several physicians in the downtown hospitals – St Michael’s, Mount Sinai and Sunnybrook. They do research with large medical device companies.

Their network starts at home in Toronto and stretches out across the continent and to Europe as well.

7. How are MMPs important in wound care and applications?

Generally speaking, with non-healing and persistent wounds, it has been recognized that there are high concentration of MMPs. The premise they work with is that MMPs are enzymes that chop up connective tissue in the skin faster than it can be regenerated by the natural healing process. The result is a stalled state that cannot progress towards healing. By inhibiting these MMPs locally in the wound environment, you reduce tissue degradation. This allows the normal healing response to take hold, leading to new tissue generation and ultimately to closure of the wound. Their preliminary clinical data is showing the pro-healing effects of MMP inhibition.

8. How did you come to work for Rimon?

Gary met Dr. Mike May as a graduate student when he was working for their other co-founder Dr. Michael Sefton. Mike had graduated two years before Gary did and was establishing the company at that time. The two spoke about the company informally over a period of a year or two. When Gary was finishing his training, Mike asked if he would like to work for the company. Gary was actually the first employee he hired.

9. How did you come to be interested in engineering?

Gary had an early aptitude and interest in math and science and liked the idea of applying that knowledge practically. His father, who was an engineer, inspired him to follow that inclination. .

10. I understand you worked under Dr. Woodhouse. Is that correct?

He did his PhD in Chemical Engineering with Dr. Woodhouse. He was also her first graduate student. Because he was her first student, there was a lot of freedom which was useful training for his role here at Rimon. She was starting up a brand new lab, and was open to innovative and creative ideas in terms of his research, how he wanted to define his project in a broad sense and in a more detailed sense. She was a valuable source of training.

While working with Dr. Woodhouse, he did polymer development - polymer chemistry, polymer synthesis, and polymer characterization. He had the opportunity to develop a new family of degradable polyurethanes which were patented.

11. What are the exciting things that are going to go on with Rimon over the next six months?

The biggest thing is getting the clinical trial finished and telling the world about the positive results obtained in the clinic. The next steps will of course involve getting the material out into the market place. Seeing the final product on the market helping patients will be the most exciting thing.

Note Gary Skarja's presentation at BioFinance 2006 below.

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Friday, March 23

Part three of a three part interview with David B. Shindler, PhD, Executive Director, BioDiscovery Toronto, Inc. (www.biodiscoverytoronto.ca) for Rimon Therapeutics

by Howard on Fri 23 Mar 2007 11:24 AM EDT

It seems that your role is to be the facilitator and champion.

Yes. We have built a powerful network – our members are involved in managing Intellectual Property arising from university and hospital research. They include Hospital for Sick Children, University Health Network, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto Rehab, St Michael’s Hospital, Centre for addiction and Mental Health and Ryerson University. This network will be expanded in 2007 with the addition of 2 or 3 new members.

We aim to contribute what is needed for success. We can tailor the recipe to selectively contribute financial resources, expertise, management techniques, and skills along the way, where and when it is needed. Being the facilitator and champion, and having the knowledge to do work in the biomedical field, we have to make sure we can bring the critical resources to overcome the main challenges of technology transfer and commercialization.

There are close ties between BioDiscovery Toronto and Rimon Therapeutics. Can you speak about the relationship?

Rimon President Michael May has been on the board of directors almost since BioDiscovery started. He is also a member of the Executive Committee. He represents a voice of experience from industry, providing guidance on how we should deploy our own resources. As you know, the challenge is really to make your time, your money, and your people’s efforts all count. Michael is a great leader in this respect, and has been immensely helpful to BioDiscovery in its formative stages. He is on the front line with Rimon Therapeutics, a company with very, very promising wound-healing technology and a unique way of getting these technologies to market. I know his scientific, managerial, and entrepreneurial methods will stand the test of time.

Rimon Therapeutics, as you alluded to, is commercializing Theramers™, which are therapeutic polymers. Can you speak to the promise of that technology, the team and company overall?

Rimon’s products are based on a very solid knowledge of the cascade of biochemical and physical events that occur in a chronic wound site. Rimon’s Theramers™ can accelerate the process of wound healing, reduce infection, and at the same time reduce one’s stay in the hospital for serious injury. Also the Theramer™ approach is being shown to be effective for chronic wounds that otherwise would fester. This is just tremendous. Wounds take a lot of effort for hospital staff to prevent infection, to change dressings for patients etc. Any improvement is good for the patient and good for the system overall. Rimon’s Theramers™ have great potential.

Michael May is supported by the scientific leadership of Dr. Michael Sefton and other highly talented people. Theramers™ are unique and differentiated in the marketplace.

It’s a new approach for the old problem of healing chronic wounds – an area where innovation is badly needed.

How do you see BioDiscovery Toronto and Rimon collaborating in the future?

We would like to see them work with other investigators, or other companies in Toronto or world wide. We can assist Rimon to make connections with other investigators that have related technology to create offshoot products - to pursue other ways of using Rimon’s base of commercial intellectual property and knowledge. So this has two dimensions: We can hopefully find ways to help Rimon- and Rimon through its leadership - can find ways to help us.

These kinds of relationships are long-lasting. They continue over long periods of time because the core value proposition is fundamental: “How can we help each other to achieve health-related objectives in our society?”

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Thursday, March 8

Part two of a three part interview with David B. Shindler, PhD, Executive Director, BioDiscovery Toronto, Inc. (www.biodiscoverytoronto.ca) for Rimon Therapeutics

by Howard on Thu 08 Mar 2007 11:22 AM EST

What are your touch points with MaRS as an organization?

Many. BioDiscovery Toronto now has its main operations office in the new MaRS facility on College Street. – The MaRS facility is Toronto’s first centre for convergent sciences - the first meeting place, if you will - for scientists and business leaders who are going to be responsible in large measure for Canada’s progress in the knowledge economy. Previously, Toronto institutions had their own meeting places but now we have this terrific centre, named the MARS Discovery District which is an ultra-modern world class facility dedicated to advanced research, business development and company collaborations.

MaRS and BioDiscovery Toronto share core values and are cooperating on several levels. MaRS, for instance is represented on BioDiscovery’s Board of Directors. BioDiscovery serves on MaRS committees and project teams. All of us are working closely together along with the Federal, Provincial, Regional and Municipal governments to try to overcome gaps in the environment for technology transfer for commercialization. Both MaRS and BioDiscovery have close links with the Ontario Ministry of Research and Commercialization – The Hon. Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario leads this Ministry.

MaRS and BioDiscovery Toronto believe that bringing together the right expertise, leaders, and teams will produce tremendous results. This is of course something that Rimon Therapeutics understands very, very well. Under the leadership of CEO, Dr. Michael May, Rimon has demonstrated that teamwork is necessary to bring new products to the marketplace. Leadership and teamwork must come together at the correct right time with the correct resources to establish a new idea or a new product.

What are you most passionate about?

I’m most excited about working with industry in new ways. What we are trying to do is to fill some of the gaps. For instance it is very difficult right now in Canada for the biotechnology sector to find early-stage financing for new discoveries coming out of universities and hospital research institutes.

Industry is interested in these new discoveries but doesn’t want to invest before discoveries are proven: what we call “proof of principle.” In therapeutics that means there should be some evidence of critical use - that the innovation has been tested in clinical trials or convincing data is available relating to both safety and efficacy. Proof is required to show the science really can work and it is practical. This means that if you are a university researcher with a development project, you really have to get further down the commercial development pathway.

How are you developing new sources of funding?

BioDiscovery and MaRS are working to fill that translational proof-of-principle gap by raising resources and delivering funding for critical development steps. The MRI is providing critical funding under its Ontario Research Commercialization and Investment Accelerator programs. In filling this obvious gap, we are doing our best to make sure the expertise and financial resources are available to our investigators, technology offices, and broadly throughout the innovation system.

BioDiscovery also achieved significant federal funding through the Intellectual Property Mobilization Program of the NSERC and CIHR for support of technology-transfer. Our intent also is to work with MaRS, OCE (Ontario Centre of Excellence), HTX (Healthcare Data Exchange) and IRAP (NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program) - to work cooperatively so we can obtain the resources necessary to bridge the commercialization gap. We are also seeking private support from industry partners and from appropriately targeted venture capital funds.

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Thursday, March 1

Part one of a three part interview with David B. Shindler, PhD, Executive Director, BioDiscovery Toronto, Inc. (www.biodiscoverytoronto.ca) for Rimon Therapeutics

by Howard on Thu 01 Mar 2007 11:03 AM EST

David, what is your role at BioDiscovery Toronto?

BioDiscovery Toronto comprises nine of Toronto's leading research universities and hospital research institutes. I was hired one year ago to manage BioDiscovery and deliver on its mandate to enhance technology transfer and commercialization based on Toronto's world-class biomedical research.

Describe your career journey that brought you to BioDiscovery Toronto?

I became involved with biotechnology as it was first emerging in Canada in the early 1980s.  My expertise is in “early-stage” deals and arrangements that take technology into commercial development and application. That’s really where my passion is. I have always stayed close to innovation and early-stage development, for technologies that have a chance of making an economic and industrial impact.

In the early 1980s, I was responsible for Canada's National Biotechnology Strategy and building research and corporate capacity while employed with Industry Canada. Subsequently, I served as Counsellor, Science and Technology at the Canadian High Commission in London, England. After that international experience, during the 1990s I took the role of Senior Executive and Commercial Director of the Canadian Genetic Diseases Network; headquartered at the University of British Columbia, part of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence system. By the turn of the century I was in the private sector, and became the founding President and CEO of Milestone Medica Corporation, a seed venture investment and management company, working with Canada's top biomedical research centres.

I’m intrigued with your experience in London, England.

Part of my job in London was to understand what policies and organizations were emerging in the UK, and more broadly in Europe, that were central to adoption of the emerging ‘strategic’ technologies including Bio, Materials and ICT. One role I particularly enjoyed was serving as a Governor on the Board of Imperial College – the committee equivalent to the Board of Directors. Imperial had a very distinguished and experienced Governing Board with representatives from major UK and world-wide industries such as Roll-Royce. Imperial also had a very fine technology transfer organization which has recently evolved into a publicly listed company. The universities in England, in general, have done a very good job of trying to move discoveries to the commercial plain. They are ahead of Canada in that regard, although Canada’s younger organizations are now rapidly catching up. I was able to get a pretty good view of policy development as well. One major difference between Canada and European countries is the emergence of the EEC as a major driver of policy and programs. Major EEC resources have been used to drive innovation policies and programs in many countries such as Ireland and England. In Canada, we do not have this kind of superstructure and the associated financial clout.

Tell us about the vision, history, and mission of BioDiscovery Toronto.

Around 2003-2004 the senior management of our major hospital research institutes decided that they had to work more closely. That was the beginning of BioDiscovery and MaRS. In fact, the founders of BioDiscovery Toronto were instrumental, along with others in the community, in founding the original MaRS incubator. BioDiscovery Toronto continues to this day with the core philosophy to bring expertise and management together and raise new resources to overcome the challenges of technology transfer, technology development, and commercialization, and to work with ‘Hi-tech’ companies.

BioDiscovery Toronto's vision is to maximize the commercialization of research by linking research, industry and capital and provide a central interface between the Toronto research community and industry, and facilitate cross-institutional activity. After serving my first full year as Executive Director, I am excited as ever about the potential of Toronto’s biomedical research enterprise that constitutes a top ranked scientific cluster - comparable to other top clusters in the US and Europe. It is not widely known, for instance, that the biomedical science productivity and quality of University of Toronto and affiliated research hospitals is ranked consistently among the top 3 North American institutions and is actually number 1 in terms of public universities.

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Wednesday, February 14

Interview with Dr. Kimberly Woodhouse

by Kerry on Wed 14 Feb 2007 03:41 PM EST

Dr. Kimberly Woodhouse is a professor at both the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. As well, she is the Associate Director of the Advanced Regenerative Tissue Engineering Centre (artec), of which Rimon Therapeutics is a founding partner of. The focus of artec is the “development of novel concepts in the emerging fields of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering,” in particular on applications for wound healing and soft tissue reconstruction. artec is one of the ways that Rimon advances its scientific program and develops its Theramer^TM-based products. For more information on artec and its participants, please see its website at www.artecresearch.ca. Dr. Woodhouse has expertise in wound healing and polyurethane development and is an expert in the “design of novel materials” developed from recombinant proteins, and synthetics.

To listen to a recent interview with Dr. Woodhouse, click on the attachment below.

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Thursday, February 1

Dr. Michael H. May PhD, President, Director, Rimon Therapeutics presents at investment forum series in January as part of Canada's Top 10 Life Science Companies national awards competition.

by Howard on Thu 01 Feb 2007 10:57 AM EST

Canada's Top 10 Life Science Companies Competition-a program of the Ottawa Life Sciences Council-is an annual national competition sponsored by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and htx.ca - The Health Technology Exchange. The awards are presented to growth-oriented companies and are chosen by an independent expert panel of Canadian and U.S. venture capitalists. As one of Canada's Top 10, Rimon-along with other competition winners and alumni-will participated in an investment forum series that took place in early 2007 in New York, Boston.

Here are Mike’s musings about the events, and the impact of the success of the clinical trial is making on Rimon’s messaging:

“The Canadian consulates in Boston and New York City hosted the top ten companies that received the award thought the Ottawa Life sciences Council. At both events we each made a formal presentation and had opportunities to meet investment bankers, intuitional VCs, service providers, angel investors, and VCs. The Boston event had 50 people and was tied to a Licensing Executive Society meeting. The New York event was well attended with 150 in attendance. In New York there was a panel and a great informal networking event over cocktails.

We got strong feedback from both presentations. Rimon’s message is simple; the value proposition is clearly laid out. We primarily dwell on the opportunity in these presentations and the science second. We focus on what makes us unique. This approach works well. The Theramer™ concept is immediately appreciated as different. It is a bit “off the wall” – a polymer, a plastic that in drug like. One way to think of a Theramer™ is as a 3-dimensioanal drug. It is one of those different ideas that require validation and demonstration for people to believe. We are getting to that with our clinical data that have produced positive results. We have shown with statistical significance that we can reduce enzyme levels in chronic wounds compared to base line and one of the world’s most successful brands with good co-relation between that inhibition and improved wound bed quality (a precursor to wound healing). We are getting much more positive information than we ever expected from this trial. The clinical trial we have collected validated our strategy of picking an application that would allow us to get into clinical studies fast. The data we have collected from human wounds just could not be replicated even with five times as many animal experiments. So, we plan to continue finding new applications for Theramers™ that validate the technology and get us to clinical trials and on the market as quickly as possible. The Theramer™ concept is a novel idea with great opportunities.”

Click for coverage in Canadian Business.

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Monday, November 27

Press Release

by Howard on Mon 27 Nov 2006 10:33 AM EST

OLSC: Rimon Therapeutics Named One of Canada's Top 10 Life Science Companies

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 27, 2006) – Rimon Therapeutics is pleased to announce it has won industry recognition from another national awards competition. The Toronto-based biotechnology firm was named one of Canada's Top 10 Life Science Companies at a ceremony in Ottawa on November 20, 2006.

"We appreciate being recognized as one of Canada's Top 10 Life Science Companies," said Michael May, President of Rimon. "It comes at a promising time for our company with the clinical validation of our novel therapeutic polymer (Theramer^TM) platform technology and the near-term product licensing opportunities generated with some of the world's largest medical device companies. This award recognizes Rimon's ability to advance a robust pipeline of products to commercialization."

Canada's Top 10 Life Science Companies Competition-a program of the Ottawa Life Sciences Council-is an annual national competition sponsored by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and htx.ca - The Health Technology Exchange. The awards are presented to growth-oriented companies and are chosen by an independent expert panel of Canadian and U.S. venture capitalists.

The award comes only a few months after Rimon was recognized at another high-profile Canadian biotechnology event: Rimon was named "Most Promising Early Stage Company" at CANMEDBIO 2006's National Presidents' Awards, on June 19, 2006.

As one of Canada's Top 10, Rimon-along with other competition winners and alumni-will participate in an investment forum series taking place in early 2007 in New York, Boston, San Francisco and San Diego.

About Rimon Therapeutics

Rimon Therapeutics Ltd. is the Theramer^TM Company. Theramers^TM (therapeutic polymers) are polymers that have drug-like activity, but can be marketed and regulated as devices. Rimon's Theramers^TM induce the development of new blood vessels, prevent the destruction of tissue, and kill bacteria without harming human cells. The company is engaging some of the world's largest medical device companies about using these unique polymers to heal chronic wounds (e.g., bedsores and diabetic ulcers), treat heart disease, delay knee replacement, and prevent medical device-related infections. Preliminary results from the Company's first, human clinical trial of its MI-Sorb^TM Dressing for chronic wounds are very promising and represent a key milestone in the validation of Rimon's unique, value proposition-drug-like margins and device timelines, together with the versatility of polymer chemistry.

Rimon Therapeutics Ltd.
Dr. Michael May, PhD
President
416-977-2003
416-977-6383 (FAX)
may@rimontherapeutics.com

or

Media Contact:
What If What Next
Howard Oliver
416-638-8582
holiver@whatifwhatnext.com

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Monday, November 20

Posting on BIONORTH 2006

by Howard on Mon 20 Nov 2006 11:23 AM EST

Rimon Therapeutics Ltd. (Toronto, ON)

www.rimontherapeutics.com

Rimon Therapeutics Ltd. is the Theramer™ Company. Theramers™ (therapeutic polymers) are polymers that have drug-like activity, but can be marketed and regulated as devices. Rimon’s Theramers™ induce the development of new blood vessels, prevent the destruction of tissue, and kill bacteria without harming human cells. The company is engaging some of the world’s largest medical device companies about using these unique polymers to heal chronic wounds (e.g., bedsores and diabetic ulcers), treat heart disease, delay knee replacement, and prevent medical device-related infections. Preliminary results from the Company’s first, human clinical trial of its MI-Sorb™ Dressing for chronic wounds are very promising and represent a key milestone in the validation of Rimon’s unique, value proposition – drug-like margins and device timelines, together with the versatility of polymer chemistry.

"We are delighted that such an esteemed jury has recognized the hard work, achievements and future potential of Rimon Therapeutics. The clinical validation this year of our novel therapeutic polymer (Theramer) platform technology, the near-term product licensing opportunities generated with some of the world's largest medical device companies, and now recognition as one of Canada's leading Life Science companies, demonstrates Rimon's ability to advance a robust pipeline of products to commercialization", says Michael H. May, President of Rimon Therapeutics Ltd.

See: http://www.bionorth.ca/Top10/2006_2007_Finalists.html

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Wednesday, November 1

Press Release

by Howard on Wed 01 Nov 2006 10:52 AM EST

OLSC: Canada's Top 10 Life Science Companies Named for 2006/2007

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 1, 2006) - The Ottawa Life Sciences Council (OLSC) is pleased to announce this year's finalists in the Canada's Top 10 Life Science Companies Competition (Canada's Top 10). The 2006/2007 finalists will present their company to an audience of venture capitalists, potential strategic alliance partners and conference delegates at BioNorth 2006-one of North America's premier life science conferences.

Once again, this year's finalists and alumni will participate in exclusive investment forums in New York and Boston in January 2007. The companies will also have the opportunity to participate in an exclusive one-day professional development workshop to perfect their pitches for a US investor audience. Since its inception, Canada's Top 10 alumni have raised over $485 Million in venture capital financing since their selection.

"Canada's Top 10 finalists represented some of the best early-stage life science opportunities anywhere" said Ken lawless, President & CEO of the Ottawa Life Sciences Council. "The competition provides an exceptional vehicle to promote Canadian companies to the North American investment community"

Canada's Top 10 finalists are selected from a pool of entrants by an independent international jury of life science venture capitalists. Entrant companies are classified as either early stage (seeking first and second round financing) or emerging/late stage (seeking mezzanine or later stage financing) opportunities. Based on their expert knowledge of investment in the life sciences sector, the jury selects the companies that offer the best investment and partnership prospects.

"This competition is a unique snapshot of emerging life science companies in Canada," states Maha Katabi, Vice-President, Life Sciences, Ventures West and Canada's Top 10 jury member. "It showcases great technologies and entrepreneurs that are ready for prime-time investing."

2006/2007 Finalists included Rimon Therapeutics of Toronto, Ontario
Award program information, company descriptions and quotes can be found at www.bionorth.ca/Top10.

About the OLSC

The Ottawa Life Sciences Council (OLSC) is a not-for-profit, member-supported, development corporation for the life sciences sector in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario region. Our mandate, to catalyze the growth of the local life sciences community, is achieved through: networking activities, consortia building, support for technology commercialization, identification of market opportunities, information resources, sector advocacy and sector specific marketing initiatives at all levels of opportunity (local, regional, provincial, national and global). For more information about the Ottawa Life Sciences Council visit www.olsc.ca or call (613) 828-6274 x229.

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Tuesday, September 5

An Interview with Dr. Gary Sibbald

by Kerry on Tue 05 Sep 2006 02:58 PM EDT

Dr. Gary Sibbald is the world-renowned dermatologist who is leading Rimon’s initial clinical trial for its MI-Sorb™ dressing, validating its unique Theramer™ technology. Dr. Sibbald is a co-founder of the Canadian Association of Wound Care (CAWC) and is on the editorial or advisory board of several wound care journals. Lecturing extensively, he is also a prolific author and an educator, sponsoring regular clinics to promote the interdisciplinary approach to wound healing.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to speak with Dr. Sibbald about wound care and the MI-Sorb™ clinical trial. The interview is available to download through the link provided below.

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Saturday, August 26

An Interview with Dr. Michael Sefton

by Kerry on Sat 26 Aug 2006 10:28 AM EDT

Dr. Michael Sefton is one of the pioneers of Tissue Engineering and is a co-founder of Rimon Therapeutics. A Professor of Chemical Engineering and former Director of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto, Dr. Sefton is a leader at the University and in the wider scientific community. A few years ago he was awarded the prestigious title of University Professor by the University of Toronto and last year he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Dr. Sefton sits on the editorial boards of several prominent journals and has been on the grant selection committees for NSERC, MRC (now CIHR) and the US NIH. Dr. Sefton is the author of over 140 peer reviewed journal articles and is the recipient of many awards. For a complete bio see: http://www.rimontherapeutics.com

We had an opportunity to speak with Micheal Sefton at the Rimon Therapeutics’s office in late May about his career, Rimon Therapeutics, and the Biomaterials Sector in Canada. Here is what we discussed:

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Friday, August 25

Changing Role of the FDA

by Kerry on Fri 25 Aug 2006 09:36 AM EDT

Earlier this year, acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach unveiled the Medical Device Initiative Innovation. This proposed plan is designed to overhaul the process of examination and, perhaps more significantly, to adjust the role of the FDA.

As a medical device company, Rimon is encouraged by the awareness of the FDA that, as technology grows and the quantity of device-based treatments increases, adjustments are required within the regulating body to facilitate the movement from research to standard of practice.

Our primary product, the MI-Sorb™ dressing, is a Class I Device and is now in its first clinical trial. The prospect of assistance from the FDA to navigate through the paperwork, to improve communication, and to streamline the process is welcomed. There is the awareness that such alterations do not manifest themselves overnight. The proposed changes will be a long time in coming, with some believing that they might not come at all.

Criticism has come, not necessarily for the measures proposed, but for the likelihood of their implementation. As MD&DI has noted, as long as von Eschenbach is an "acting" director, it is unlikely that the working body of the FDA will embrace the changes and begin restructuring itself.

Implementation of the proposed changes or not, Rimon's key product will continue to benefit from the shorter timelines, and therefore, reduced developmental costs, compared to those of pharmaceutical products.

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Monday, August 21

Article in MD&DI: Firm Earns Honor for Developing Bioactive Polymers

by Howard on Mon 21 Aug 2006 06:46 PM EDT

To be Published in MDDI September 2006

Industry News

Firm Earns Honor for Developing Bioactive Polymers

By: Erik Swain

A firm ...   more »
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Saturday, August 19

Patent Protection in Biotechnology: Issues and Strategies for Effective Protection

by Kerry on Sat 19 Aug 2006 09:25 AM EDT

This two-day, interactive, instructor-led workshop was attended by Rimon’s Senior Scientist Allison Brown from April 27-28^th, 2006 at the Toronto offices of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG). The course was hosted by the Biotechnology Human Resource Council (BHRC), Canada’s leading source for human resource information and biotechnology skills development. Facilitated by Patent Agents from BLG, the workshop provided attendees with an overview and “how-to” framework for patent protection in Canada and abroad. For Allison, the course provided a valuable foundation for future involvement in Rimon’s IP strategies.

Five valuable things that she took away from the course were:

1. The importance of developing a strong Intellectual Property Strategy within an innovative, start-up company such as Rimon;

2. An understanding of the criteria that determines what can be patented in the context of the Biotechnology/Life Sciences Industry;

3. A thorough understanding of the patent granting life cycle and the role of the patent agent or attorney during the various stages of the patenting process;

4. Effective techniques and available resources for performing prior-art searches;

5. Knowledge of the components, functions, and rules of the Patent Application. This included hands-on experience writing descriptions and claims for sample inventions.

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Thursday, August 17

Changes to the FDA

by Kerry on Thu 17 Aug 2006 04:49 PM EDT

“Over the next decade, medical technology innovations will fundamentally transform health care and delivery systems, providing new solutions with medical devices that will challenge existing paradigms and revolutionize the way treatments are administered.”

The FDA’s announcement in May of this year outlined its intentions to implement ground-breaking alterations in the way the FDA operates and to its place in the development of new treatments. In addition, as demonstrated in the quote above from its official web site, the FDA acknowledges that medical treatment is changing and development of medical devices is leading the way into a new era.

Rimon is part of what the FDA refers to as the “unfolding pattern of ‘smart’ technologies that integrate engineering and biological approaches” that enable “precise clinical interventions”. In the treatment of wound care, Rimon’s primary product, the MI-Sorb™dressing (now in clinical trials), is on the front line of this development. Rather than acting as a passive dressing, providing protection and absorption of exudates, the MI-Sorb™ dressing actively works to counter the damaging effect of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) produced by the body, and by doing so, allows for healing to occur.

As a Class I device, MI-Sorb™ operates with drug-like margins, but benefits from the shorter device timelines. The announcement by the FDA to implement changes intended to facilitates the movement of “smart” devices from research to market could further reduce the timeline for MI-Sorb™ to be introduced to patient care and the costs involved in doing so.

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Monday, July 10

A New Paradigm – Polymers that Heal

by Howard on Mon 10 Jul 2006 06:35 PM EDT

“Rimon Therapeutics has been built on the strength of its partnerships…the grants, programs and people at the Ontario Centres of ...   more »

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Thursday, June 22

WHS Conference 2006: Application of a Biomaterial Improves Wound Healing in Diabetic Mice

by Kerry on Thu 22 Jun 2006 08:15 AM EDT

As part of the Wound Healing Society's 16th Annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona in May of this year, Daniel Martin gave a presentation on the application of biomatierals and its effect on healing in diabectic wounds in mice.

Other presentations were given by Rimon