OBIO Announces Expansion of Early Adopter Health Network Partnerships

October marks third EAHN™ cohort selection to commercialize innovative technologies

TORONTO, ON – September 29, 2021 – The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO^®), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing health technology innovation and commercialization, is proud to announce the growth and expansion of its Early Adopter Health Network (EAHN™) partnerships, together with the upcoming selection round of its new cohort.

With more than 18 healthcare members and 11 innovation organization partners from across Canada, the EAHN™ has grown into Canada’s premier health science market acceleration program since its launch in early 2020. Now, OBIO^® will be hosting its third cohort network day in October, where innovative companies will meet with healthcare organizations prior to launching new EAHN™ projects later this year.

“We are delighted to expand the EAHN™ with the engagement of so many leading healthcare organizations and with the support of our innovation organization partners,” said Gail Garland, President & CEO of OBIO^®. “Growing and maintaining a robust and globally competitive domestic health science industry ecosystem here in Canada requires partnerships and collaborations to get the job done.”

Through the EAHN™, which is supported by the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario, OBIO^® provides project management and financial support to evaluate technologies in the real-world setting and facilitate their broad adoption into the health system. They connect leading-edge, scaling health science companies with healthcare organizations, providing an opportunity for innovators to access local markets before expanding globally, as well as a strong reason to anchor themselves in Canada.

Driven by OBIO’s unique capacity to pair commercial-ready technologies with clinical end-users who want to deliver improved care at any health institution, the goal for the EAHN™ is to become early adopters of homegrown medical technology and help streamline the procurement process. Through a collaborative and comprehensive approach, EAHN™ addresses both the “push” and “pull” factors of what industry has developed and what burdened hospitals are trying to address. This allows the EAHN™ to catalyze change by delivering improved patient care more efficiently while opening the door to a new health-care economy that benefits Canadians and Canadian companies alike.

OBIO^® would like to thank and recognize the following organizations for their involvement and support in the EAHN™:

EAHN™ Healthcare Members:

• Baycrest
• Bruyère
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
• Hamilton Health Sciences
• Health Sciences North
• Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare
• Joseph Brant Hospital
• Kingston Health Sciences Centre
• Michael Garron Hospital
• North York General Hospital
• Southlake Regional Health Centre
• St. Mary’s General Hospital
• The Ottawa Hospital
• Unity Health Toronto
• University Health Network (UHN)
• West Park Healthcare Centre
• Winchester District Memorial Hospital
• Women’s College Hospital