Utah life science industry gets Canada's attention

Utah's booming life sciences industry is getting noticed, particularly by Canada.

On Monday, five Canadian biotech firms along with the Canadian consul general met with Utah firms at the Huntsman Cancer Institute as part of a symposium designed to build new partnerships between Canadian and Utah companies.

Utah's primary exports to Canada consist mainly of precious metals and motor vehicle parts. However, medical exports to Canada from Utah reached $28 million in 2004, the third largest export category in Canada-Utah trade, according to information provided by the Canadian consul.

Monica Heron, consul and senior trade commissioner for Canada, called Salt Lake's life sciences industry a "large, diversified sector."

"We're finding that there is real interest," Heron said. "We think that we're going to be successful in matchmaking so that companies can transfer technology — not only make sales, but develop partnerships."

Likewise, Utah companies are finding Canada an attractive place to do business.

A 2004 study by KPMG ranked Canada as the overall leader in business costs of 11 countries. The United States represented the study's baseline.

Edmonton, Alberta, ranked as the top city for North America's Midwest region in lowest business costs. Salt Lake City ranked sixth.

One Salt Lake company already capitalizing on Canada's competitive edge is Echelon Biosciences, which got its start as a spin-off from the University of Utah.

Earlier this year Echelon was acquired by Aeterna Zentaris, a Quebec City-based biopharmaceutical company.

W. Tim Miller, president of Echelon Biosciences, said prior to the acquisition, the company had reached a point where it was evaluating molecules targeting cancer.

The province of Quebec was seen as a good place for Echelon to do its biological research, primarily because of its tax credits.

"We can have the company here, and we can do our biological research in Quebec and save about 50 percent of what it would cost us if we did those studies in the (United) States," Miller said. "That just allows that much more money to use for other areas of research."

After the acquisition, Aeterna Zentaris not only kept its Utah operations in place, but also decided to build a U.S. presence around Salt Lake City.

"The cost of doing business here is very low compared with San Francisco," Miller said. "A PhD is far less expensive here. The quality of the science coming out of the University of Utah, (Brigham Young University) and Utah State is equally good as any university in the world."