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18 BCBUSINESS APRIL 2017 Marziali's team modied their technoloy, developing a second instrument called the OnTarget that can weed out any strand of DNA that comes from a tumour cell—e•ectively a blood test for cancer. By 2013, most of the company was focused on developing cancer tests. Boreal made other changes, accumulating a CFO, chief commercial o…cer and chief medical o…cer at its Silicon Valley outpost. The 40 employ- ees were evenly split between the two o…ces, but California was burning signicantly more capital than Vancouver, due to higher salaries and rent. "We had a lot of good people down there," Marziali notes. "It was just the wrong time to bring an evolving technoloy into what was still a very early liquid biopsy market." The board decided to close the California o…ce and directed cuts in Vancouver. Boreal recovered, signing supply and distribution deals with companies that use the OnTarget for clinical tests and studies, and several who lost their job in Vancouver were invited back. Marziali, who did a PhD and post-grad work in phys- ics at Stanford University before coming back to his alma mater UBC in 1998, calls it a return to the company's lean roots. "I get that culture down there—you spend a lot of money, grow the company, make it super visible and hope that someone comes and invests large amounts of money," he says, referring to San Francisco biotech giant Grail Inc., which is raising $1 billion in its second nancing round as it also tries to develop an early cancer test. "The problem is that you're betting on an incredible level of success. I've seen so many com- panies do that and just tank." Marziali considers Boreal a testament to the benets of a less ›ashy but still nurtur- ing environment for academic startups in Vancouver. The company started in 2007 in Marziali's lab, where he led research in applying physics and engineering to solving problems in molecular bioloy, particu- larly DNA sequencing. Marziali acknowledges an "exemplary" level of support from UBC and his home department of physics and astronomy—an arrangement that lets him spend about a quarter of his time at Boreal while keeping his university post. In contrast, many U.S. universities have strict limitations on professors' startup ventures. In the early days, Marziali also received crucial govern- ment support—Genome BC and the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program were two backers—that he says helped Boreal grow big enough to make a convincing pitch to investors. In 2010, Boreal raised US$6.9 million in its rst institutional nancing round, including a signicant investment from Arch Venture Partners, Forbes magazine's top-ranked health-care venture fund. A second round in 2013 raised US$18 million. The OnTarget has unique potential because it can detect 96 common mutations seen in at least eight cancer types before symptoms develop. Marziali estimates that once the technoloy is scaled up to large test volumes, one test could cost as little as $150, compared to those currently in use for late-stage cancers, with price tags of $1,000 or more. He and radiation oncologist Dr. Alan Nichol, in collaboration with the BC Cancer Agency's BC Generations Project and oth- ers, recently launched a pilot study using 1,000 samples. If that e•ort succeeds, a larger national survey will follow. Boreal recorded its rst protable quarter ending in December 2016. "We fully expect within the next year a bigger company will come along and absorb us," Marziali says. "Which would be great because then you can spend somebody else's money, do bigger clinical studies, more commercializa- tion, in terms of the overall goal to get this technoloy out there to be useful to people." GENETIC ENGINEERING That's how many passengers used BC Ferries in scal 2016—a 4.9 per cent gain from the previous year but still fewer than in 2006. Coastal commu- nities blame steep fare increases over the past decade for the reduced tra…c. As for- mer British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. president and CEO Mike Corrigan sails o• to a new job as head of global shipping association Interferry this month, new boss Mark Collins must face their frustration, plus government reticence to foot more of the bill. The biggest challenge will be charting a long-term course, says Brock Smith, professor at UVic's Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. "Are they an extension of the highway system, as some want them to be, or a travel experience company, as they are now?" Smith asks. "I'm not sure who's going to win." by Melissa Edwards Fare Fight NUMEROLOGY SOURCE: GENOME BC Genome BC's Technology Development Platform launched in 2002 to allow sharing of equipment, expertise and engineering resources. Andre Marziali, co- founder of Boreal Genomics, says it provided train- ing for several of his scientists and let the company quickly show proof-of-concept of proprietary technology via its rapid proto- typing facilities. 20,689,087 $780 MILLION Genome BC's cumulative portfolio in 275 research projects and science and tech- nology platforms $1.4 BILLION Estimated eco- nomic impact of Genome BC 21,149 Number of jobs created

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