BioCanRx Industry-Sponsored Projects Policy

Sponsored research projects provide opportunities for collaborative partnerships that are critical to the mission of BioCanRx. These projects enable the sponsor, BioCanRx, and the public to benefit not only from the generation of new knowledge, but also from the societal and economic rewards of the commercialization and translation of research and innovation. The Strategic Science Fund (SSF) program recognizes that impact is frequently achieved via multisectoral partnerships.

The goal of this policy is to define the eligibility requirements for industry participation in research projects co-funded by BioCanRx. Eligibility of projects is defined by the scope of work and alignment to the BioCanRx mission and mandate. Additional organizational eligibility criteria to reflect SSF program and benefit to Canada requirements are also provided.

Eligible Projects:

• Include those at any point in the BioCanRx funding continuum: Catalyst, Enabling, Clinical Trial or Clinical, Social and Economic Impact (CSEI) programs;
• Are undertaken as a collaboration between academic researchers in Canada and their private sector partners;
• Involve current state of the art research that should advance knowledge in the area;
• Align with the mission and mandate of the BioCanRx network:
  • Mission: To accelerate to the clinic the most promising cancer biotherapeutics and immunotherapies designed to save lives and enable a better quality of life.
  • Mandate: To be a global leader in the translation, manufacture, and adoption of innovative cancer biotherapeutics for the benefit of all cancer patients by working in partnership with academia, industry, government, patients, charities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to identify, develop and de-risk promising cancer biotherapies.
• Demonstrate industrial relevance and benefits: The industrial partner(s) must contribute an appropriate amount from its own resources to the project, consistent with the risks and rewards involved, and must be in a position to exploit successful research results. The proposal must identify how the work will benefit the industrial partner(s) and demonstrate that the exploitation of the project results will benefit the Canadian economy within a reasonable timeframe.
• Provide a benefit to Canada: As well as the economic benefit to Canada described under the industrial relevance and benefits above, the proposal should outline social, environmental and/or health outcomes that could be realized in Canada within a reasonable timeframe.

Ineligible Projects:

• Solely support research occurring outside of Canada;
• Focus on routine application of existing technology or provide routine analysis;
• Collect data without interpreting underlying mechanisms or acquisition and maintenance of scientific equipment; and
• Provide professional practice or consulting services (contract research)

Partner Eligibility Guidelines

As a minimum, any proposed industry partner—whether an established company, a start-up, or an industry association—must have a credible plan for exploiting the research results for the benefit of Canada. The partner must show that it has the necessary expertise and resources to put the plan into effect, or the means and intention to develop this capacity, within an appropriate time frame.

Industrial Partners

• An industrial partner is defined as a Canadian-based company that carries out research and development (R&D) and/or produces goods or services within Canada. Such partners must be able and willing to apply and exploit the research results for the economic benefit of Canada.
  • Canadian start-up companies (companies in the R&D phase) that have sound business plans and secure financial backing may be accepted as industrial partners. However, they must demonstrate that they have, or have the potential to develop, the capability to exploit the research results. University/college start-up companies must also refer to the Conflict of Interest Guidelines for Partner Organizations listed below.
  • Multinationals may be eligible if they have Canadian-based activities that meet the criteria above and if the funded activity leads to benefit to Canada.
  • Foreign companies may be eligible as sole partners if the funded activity leads to demonstrable benefit to Canada. Consideration should be provided to including an eligible Canadian-based industrial partner (as described above) that has receptor capacity to exploit the research results.
• An industrial partnership can consist of a single industrial partner, an industrial association or producer group, a formal or informal consortium, or a grouping of these. In the case of consortia, financial support to the project derived from industrial sources can be leveraged, and there must be active involvement in the research project from one or more member companies, or the consortium itself, if it can demonstrate the capacity to guide the project and disseminate the results for its member companies.
• An industrial partner that poses undue risk to research security as per the Government of Canada’s research security policies and guidance, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships, will not be eligible.

Conflict of Interest Guidelines for Partner Organizations

A conflict of interest means a situation where, to the detriment or potential detriment of BioCanRx, an individual is, or may be, in a position to use knowledge, authority, or influence for personal or family gain (financial or other) or to benefit others.

A researcher’s own consulting company or sole proprietorship is not eligible as an industrial partner to collaborate on a project in which the researcher is the applicant or co-applicant.

All partnering organizations must be able to provide an objective assessment of the project progress. Therefore, the relationship between the partnering organization and the applicant and/or co-applicant(s) must be sufficiently independent so that it is unlikely to have undue influence on: 1) how the research project is conducted; and 2) the determination of whether the stated objectives are being achieved or not.

A potential industrial partner (academic start-ups in particular, but not exclusively) may be considered independent of the academic researchers and the academic institution, and therefore eligible as a partnering organization, if the conditions listed below are fully met.

• There is significant investment in the industrial partner by sophisticated independent investors, indicating that there has been an objective assessment of the commercial potential of the research and the company’s viability.
• The industrial partner is physically separated from the university/college location (e.g., located off campus or in a university incubator facility).
• The industrial partner employs its own professional staff, apart from the university/college personnel; this staff must be able to receive and incorporate the results of the university or college research into the industrial partner’s operations.
• The industrial partner is under the effective day-to-day management control of someone other than the applicant or co-applicant.
• The industrial partner has established a Board of Directors with external members that are judged to be independent from the researchers (i.e., the majority of those members, including the Chair of the Board, must be at arm’s length).
• The applicant and/or co-applicants and their relatives (if applicable) do not have a combined controlling interest in the industrial partner (i.e., combined or sole ownership must be less than 50%).