Nanomedicines or “smart” medicines that employ various forms of nanotechnology, are poised to have a revolutionary impact on drug development. Nanomedicines will deliver drugs, such as anticancer drugs, more specifically to disease sites to dramatically improve efficacy, to reduce toxicity and also to enable gene therapies employing RNA and DNA with the potential to treat most human diseases. Further, diagnostics and imaging agents based on nanotechnology will allow us to detect disease earlier and monitor the effectiveness of therapy more accurately.

How NMIN is seizing the opportunity

The NanoMedicines Innovation Network (NMIN) establishes and mobilizes a network drawn from academia, industry and other not-for-profit research enterprises to maintain and improve Canada’s position as a global leader in developing next generation nanomedicines. NMIN develops novel therapeutics to cure high-burden human diseases and new diagnostics to detect disease more precisely; commercializes these products to bring health and economic benefits to Canadians; and trains the skilled workforce required by the growing nanomedicines industry.

Among the results

As of 2021-22, NMIN has made 36 research investments (25 research projects; three commercialization-facilitating research platforms; four strategic research initiatives, including two COVID-19-related projects; one strategic commercialization and three strategic KTEE projects), resulting in six patents issued and 628 publications to date (53 of these being peer-reviewed).
NMIN has spun off five new companies and created 25 highly skilled jobs, toward its goal of creating 10 new companies and 100 new jobs by 2024.
NMIN is uniting Canada's world-leading nanomedicine sector and partnering strategically across sectors to foster a robust nanomedicine ecosystem. NMIN has 99 partners (2021-22) across industry, universities, non-profit, hospitals, federal agencies and other sectors, leveraging $1.51 in partner contributions for every $1 of NCE investment in research.
NMIN leaders are actively contributing to the development of a Canadian biomanufacturing strategy and NMIN is partnering nationally across sectors to support the development of Canada’s nanomedicines ecosystem.
NMIN has engaged 209 HQP toward preparing the next generation of nanomedicine scientists and entrepreneurs. Since 2019, NMIN has issued 19 HQP Advanced Training Certificates, offered 67 capacity-building sessions, enabled 1,899 individual advanced capacity-building experiences, and partnered with Mitacs to award 6 studentships.
NMIN has established three novel world-class Core Facilities to catalyze innovation in nanomedicines: NanoCore, which provides state-of-the-art nanoparticle formulations and a standardized nanomedicines characterization service to enable the ready manufacture of potent therapies for R&D purposes; PharmaCore, which supports in vitro and in vivo studies, as well as scale-up, stability testing and manufacturing to help confirm commercial potential of new therapeutic compounds; and the early Health Technology Assessment (eHTA) Core, which supports the translation of NMIN-funded innovations from bench to bedside.
NMIN has developed an online repository of capacity-building and scientific resources, and three interactive online IP management tools developed in collaboration with a patent agent with expertise in biotech and pharmaceutical IP to accelerate the development, dissemination and commercialization of NMIN research results – all of which are available on NMIN’s website or by request.