Call for applications: sanofi pasteur Healthcare & Biotechnology Venture Challenge

Money! Insight! Fame! They’re all up for grabs at the sanofi pasteur Healthcare & Biotechnology Venture Challenge!

(Ok, maybe not the fame. Unless you’re looking for exposure to industry experts and a panel of expert judges.)

The sanofi pasteur Healthcare & Biotechnology Venture Challenge is a competition designed to test the real-world applicability of tomorrow’s scientific achievements—teams of scientists, researchers, innovators and inventors are paired with MBA students from the Schulich School of Business to develop commercialization plans and business proposals to get products and services out of labs and into markets.

And with $7,500 up for grabs for the winning team (that’s the money part)—as well as exposure to academics and investors across the province, an advisory services package from MaRS and an engraved plaque—the competition could be just what an idea needs to move on to bigger competitions or funding opportunities.

Who’s eligible to participate? Competition organizers are looking for a special breed of entrepreneur:

• Scientists, researchers and inventors from any Ontario college, university or hospital (including graduate students, technicians, healthcare providers or post-doctoral fellows) or independent entrepreneurs who:
  • own an invention or innovation that is potentially commercially relevant to the healthcare industry
  • possess an original venture idea with commercial relevance to the healthcare or life science industry
  • Good candidate scientists are past recipients of POP (proof of principle) grants awarded by other institutions or levels of government

• MBA students enrolled at the Schulich School of Business in good academic standing.
  • Students with a background or interest in biotechnology and its related fields are encouraged to compete but this is not a requirement.

For more information about the sanofi pasteur HBVC, visit the competition’s website.

Registration closes on Friday, September 17, 2010.