Dr. Maurice Moloney, Biological Sciences
U of C Wealth Creation: $94million
Research and innovation from the Faculty of Science is changing the face of canola and the herbicide resistant crop market, and saving farmers millions of dollars in weed control costs.
SemBioSys Inc. is a U of C incubated and launched biotechnology company named ‘Company of the Year’ by BIOTECanada, 2005.
Dr. Maurice Moloney, through the Department of Biological Sciences, has been a driving force in the commercialization of novel technologies and intellectual property derived from plants.
Moloney invented technology that became the basis of the canola varieties Roundup Ready® and Liberty Link®. His work has contributed to the approximately $2billion herbicide resistant crop market and led to savings for farmers of more than $58million in yearly weed control costs.
Biotechnology company grows from seeds
The company was established to commercialize Moloney’s work on seeds and their oil body proteins called oleosins. His invention produces industrial and pharmaceutical proteins attached to oleosins; an easy way to grow and extract these engineered proteins for commercial use.
SemBioSys is now pursuing the production of two therapeutic proteins, Insulin and ApoA1, significantly reducing their production costs through this use of plants.
With six major contracts established in the six months leading up to May 2004, the company has a market capitalization in Nov 2005 of $80 million and employs 48 people, including many U of C graduates. SemBioSys’ shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (SBS: TSX).
Up-front licensing and option fees have been received from Lonza Inc., Syngenta AG, Arcadia Biosciences Inc., and Cytostore Inc., – another U of C spin-out company. Additional significant business ventures have been struck with Martek Biosciences Corporation, Dow AgroSciences LLC, and Syngenta Participations AG.
The impact of partnering industry-savvy researchers with University support
SemBioSys is one of the longest surviving and most stable biotechnology companies incubated and launched from the U of C. The University’s commitment to supporting industry-responsive researchers and the establishment of companies like SemBioSys is a prime example of how successful these partnerships can be.
Moloney, who is now an Adjunct Professor in Biological Sciences after nine years as the NSERC/Dow AgroSciences Chair in Plant Biotechnology, was appointed to NSERC Council in 2002 and re-appointed in 2005.
The company has contributed to the Canadian brain gain by attracting Mr. Andrew Baum as its president and CEO from Calgene Inc. which was acquired by Monsanto in 1997.
Commercialization of winning research
U of C researchers in the life sciences area, and particularly from the Faculty of Medicine, are recognizing the value of protecting their ideas. In response, the number of companies established in response to U of C innovation is growing. So, too, is revenue received from licensing agreements, which have traditionally been a major contributor to the U of C’s output, measured in dollars generated.