Authors: OBIO® and Life Sciences Ontario
Life Sciences Ontario (LSO)
Life Sciences Ontario is a member-funded, not-for-profit organization with a legacy of more than 30 years advancing the success of Ontario’s life sciences sector. From its beginnings, LSO has always been more than an industry association—it is a community-based organization representing the full breadth of Ontario’s life sciences ecosystem, including academia, research hospitals, start-ups, multinationals, and service providers. Through advocacy, message amplification, and connectivity, LSO works to build a stronger, more cohesive community in Ontario and beyond.
Our roots lie in biotechnology. Established in 1989 as the Toronto Biotechnology Initiative (TBI), the organization gave the sector its first united voice. TBI quickly became a vocal advocate, opposing sweeping regulations in favor of a risk-based approach that balanced public safety with R&D and economic growth. Beyond advocacy, TBI expanded into networking breakfasts, mentorship programs, and annual awards, steadily broadening its membership beyond the Greater Toronto Area; a tradition that continues today, serving as a conduit of connectivity across the sector. In March 2007, TBI was renamed the Biotechnology Initiative, and by June 2010 it evolved into Life Sciences Ontario, embracing a provincial mandate that included pharmaceuticals, medical technologies, agritech, biochemicals, and service providers.
LSO has built partnerships with organizations across Ontario and beyond:
Provincially, LSO and OBIO® champion the sector through joint initiatives such as talent development, policy advocacy, ecosystem-building events, and coordinated government submissions, including joint feedback to Finance Canada on SR&ED reform and the potential adoption of a patent box regime. The collaboration has also focused on shared priorities for sector advancement: ensuring access to capital, strengthening support for SMEs, encouraging the adoption of innovation across health systems, expanding access to wet lab space, and attracting and retaining top talent.
At the national level, LSO works closely with BIOTECanada and is part of the National Biotech Accord, which calls on leaders from all orders of government, industry, academia, and stakeholders across Canada to collaborate to strengthen and grow the life sciences enterprise.
Beyond this, we also collaborate cross-provincially with other members of the accord to create new opportunities by facilitating connections, sharing resources, and expanding access to funding and markets. In today’s economic climate, working across provincial borders is more important than ever, and these partnerships ensure that Ontario’s strengths contribute to a stronger, more integrated national life sciences ecosystem.
For more information, please visit https://lifesciencesontario.ca/ and follow us on LinkedIn.
OBIO®
OBIO ® is a membership-based organization advancing the next generation of innovative human
health companies through strategy, programming, policy, and advocacy. OBIO ® supports early-
stage and venture-backed companies enabling them to raise capital, hire and train industry-
ready talent, facilitate the commercialization and market adoption of their technologies in health
systems, and access infrastructure. Since its inception in 2009, OBIO ® has supported
companies that have raised over $3.1 billion in capital, vetted over 275 innovative technologies
to facilitate adoption into the healthcare system and supported over 1,000 Canadians to gain
high-skilled jobs and grow the workforce.
OBIO ® advocates on our members’ behalf to bring the voice of early-stage life sciences and
health tech companies to both the federal and provincial governments. OBIO ® regularly
highlights its calls to action and thought leadership through speaking engagements and articles
in publications including the Globe & Mail and Hill Times.
The annual OBIO ® Investment Summit continues to grow every year with almost 200 VC &
corporate investors engaging with over 100 presenting companies attending in 2026. The
Summit attracts global investors with one third of funds represented visiting from outside of
Canada and preparations are underway for the 10 th edition in February 2027.
OBIO ® is celebrating a fundraising milestone this year. Companies supported through OBIO’s
Capital Access Advisory Program (CAAP ® ) have now collectively raised over $1 billion in capital.
Building on existing entrepreneurship programs and focusing on accelerating technology
commercialization, and working towards Series A financing and strategic partnerships, CAAP ®
creates high value deal flow for both companies and investors. Since the inception of OBIO’s
CAAP ® , 127 high-growth life sciences and health tech companies graduated from the program
and 65% of alumni successfully secured capital or strategic partnership within 18 months of
program completion.
An alumnus of the CAAP ® program that OBIO ® continues to support is Ripple Therapeutics, a
privately held, clinical stage company focused on improving ophthalmic therapeutics with
controllable, sustained drug delivery. OBIO ® is proud that Ripple Therapeutics recently won the
Promising Biotech Company of the Year Gold Leaf Award that recognizes those organizations
that are paving the way towards innovative solutions for current challenges, highlighting their
potential to significantly impact the biotech industry. Ripple’s proprietary product focus is a 6-
month sustained release Complement Factor B Inhibitor for Dry Age-Related Macular
Degeneration (AMD), the most common form of AMD affecting around 170 million people
worldwide.
OBIO ® is responsive to government priorities. One of the clearest examples of this
responsiveness is the growing intersection between healthcare innovation, economic security,
and defence. OBIO ® was already providing support to life sciences companies commercializing
dual-use applications. Now OBIO ® is formalizing its defence programming and has launched
Canada’s first comprehensive Masterclass in Defence Readiness & Go-to-Market Strategy for
Healthcare Start-ups.
The aggressive tariffs imposed by the United States and the ensuing disruption to trade are of
grave concern to OBIO ® and our members. OBIO ® is working closely with the Canadian Trade
Commissioner Service and Ontario’s International Trade and Investment Offices to keep our
members’ needs at the forefront of negotiations.
During Global Biotech Week, OBIO ® team members will attend BIONATION in Ottawa, BioPort
Atlantic in Halifax and Alberta’s Life Sciences Week.
For more information, please visit OBIO.ca and follow us on LinkedIn and X.
