Indrajit Sinha is on a mission.  The founder and CEO of Biomedcore believes that a transition from chemotherapy to a more individualized treatment is essential to significantly improve a cancer patient’s outcome.  And, the global scientific community is in agreement with this opinion.
The highly regarded scientist and PhD, with decades of experience in cross-disciplinary research, assembled a core team of highly qualified scientists and advisors to develop a breakthrough technology platform for validating and advancing individualized cancer treatment.

Prior to founding Biomedcore, Dr. Sinha worked with the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detriot. He did not have experience starting and running his own business, so turned to VentureStart for assistance.  VentureStart is a program funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario). VentureStart received $7.5 million in funding through FedDev Ontario’s Scientists and Engineers in Business (SEB) initiative. The program provides emerging entrepreneurs in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields with training, mentoring and seed financing to develop their ideas, commercialize their products and grow their companies.
“Scientists and Engineers in Business is designed to help improve the success rate of start-up businesses in southern Ontario,” said Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario). “Through this Government of Canada initiative, we are doing our part to help develop the next generation of entrepreneurs in southern Ontario by building a workforce of highly-skilled, well-trained leaders who will drive business innovation in the future.”
VentureStart, co-ordinated by the RIC (Research, Innovation, Commercialization) Centre in Mississauga, is delivered through 13 provincially funded Regional Innovation Centres in Southern Ontario. This includes Windsor-based WEtech Alliance, where the Biomedcore founder received mentoring.  Through FedDev Ontario’s support, VentureStart is helping program participants increase their business and management skills and their capacity to create successful companies and career opportunities.
Dr. Sinha started the program with an online course which provided him with a checklist of priorities and necessities for starting a company. Karen Behune Plunket and Deborah Livneh were then assigned as his Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR). EIRs have extensive business experience and expertise, enabling them to assist entrepreneurs in bringing new, innovative products to market.
“Two years ago, Indra came to WEtech as a scientist with a dream to start his own business. Today, with VentureStart mentoring, he emerges as an innovative entrepreneur,” said Livneh. “I am so proud of Indra for achieving revenues in such a short time.”
Biomedcore also received VentureStart funding which was used for marketing, communications and IP. “Entry into the market was our biggest challenge,” explained Dr. Sinha. “The funding helped us hire the right person to help us prioritize and understand the business side. We were also able to patent our technology which is critical in establishing business relationships.”
The technology developed by Biomedcore mimics an individual patient’s immune system, so it visualizes and predicts patient-specific disease patterns. A patient’s cancer is modeled outside the patient’s body where biological response to various chemotherapy drugs are tested. The patented Zgraft platform enables oncologists to validate the effectiveness of specific drugs on specific patients within two weeks of diagnosis. This way, therapies can be recommended with unprecedented confidence and certainty.
“For decades, there has been little progress in the extension of lives with standard treatment approaches in some cancer patients,” said Dr. Sinha. “The missing piece of the puzzle was matching the patient with the right drug.”
Zgraft has been commercialized as a preclinical research model through a collaborative project with the agency for Science and Technology (A*STAR) in Singapore.  And, Biomedcore’s technology has evolved further, focusing on Stage IV cancer patients and enabling the company to file an additional preliminary patent.
Biomedcore has also taken the unusual step of collaborating with a natural health products company. “The focuses are quite different, but I had the opportunity to partner with a like-minded and progressive entrepreneur, Grant Bourdeau, who has built Suntrition Inc., one of the fastest growing companies in Canada,” said Dr. Sinha. “This company is a manufacturer of natural health supplements and collectively our companies have created a very unique and synergistic capability.”
The partnership has stabilized and diversified Biomedcore. “Sometimes doing things that are a little different, but still with a clear strategy in place, can help niche and market position a company,” said Dr. Sinha.
Biotech is a difficult business requiring the input and perseverance of many people.  “Our company has been a catalyst in attracting people from many walks of life who are working together to make the dream happen,” said Dr. Sinha.
Once the company is fully commercialized, it hopes to create biotech jobs in a region which has been primarily automotive, bringing economic diversity and stability to the area. Looking ahead, Biomedcore is preparing to commercialize its technology, and the products it is co-developing, into the USA, Europe and Singapore this year.
“Biomedcore will enable an individualized approach to treatment that is affordable and accessible,” said Dr. Sinha.” In a way, it is triggering a social movement.”
By Sandra Desrochers