GrainsWest Winter 2017

39 / 44

By STAN BLADE, . FROM LAB TO FIELD
Twoheadsarebetter thanone
In October, our faculty
participated in an announcement that
represented the culmination of the
ultimate collaboration between a univer-
sity research group and a private sector
company.
Ceapro is a company that sells high-
value extracts from a number of grains
that are used for cosmetic and other
purposes. Ceapro has just opened a
$14-million processing facility in Edmon-
ton, which produces a range of products
for global customers. A key technology
used at the new processing facility was
exclusively licensed from the research
program of Feral Temelli, a food scientist
who works in the Faculty of Agricultural,
Life and Environmental Sciences at the
University of Alberta. Ceapro has made
it clear that it had many potential sites
worldwide for its facility, but having direct
access to the research program at the U
of A motivated its decision to invest here.
The story gets better, as the company has
employed the PhD student responsible for
the creation of the new technology as its
chief scientist. Ceapro is also supporting
several other graduate student projects
within our faculty.
Much has been written about the
complex nature of partnerships between
public research groups and private com-
panies. There has also been a great deal
of discussion about how little the private
sector invests in innovation in Canada—
the Conference Board of Canada’s “How
Canada Performs: Innovation” report
ranked Canada ninth of 16 surveyed coun-
tries. There are obvious challenges when
private-public partnerships are developed.
The university collaborator needs to
consider the opportunity to generate new
science (that may be publishable), the re-
sources needed to fund graduate students
and research activities, and whether there
is a fit between the project and the long-
term direction of the researcher. Mean-
while, the private sector partner is looking
for a specific answer to a question that
presents an opportunity or a challenge to
the company. The company expects to use
scientific insights to improve its products
and receive a competitive edge in the
marketplace. Our faculty’s experience has
shown that it is possible to align our inter-
ests in such a way that everyone benefits
from the partnership.
In the agriculture and agri-food sector,
we have punched above our weight with
respect to how we, as a public organiza-
tion, collaborate with the private sector.
To provide some perspective, our faculty
has received an average of $45 million in
annual investment from our external part-
ners over each of the past five years. This
success is mirrored by many of our peers
at other Canadian research institutions.
These partnerships are motivated by the
fact that collaboration makes us better.
We are able to gain valuable insights
into the issues facing the industry. Our
graduate and undergraduate students gain
hands-on experience by participating in
the scientific inquiry required by our part-
ners. We are able to use our state-of-the-
art infrastructure (labs, growth facilities
and 25,000 acres of farms and ranches)
more effectively through intensive links to
our agri-food sector.
Of course, this requires the commitment
of our private sector partners. We collab-
orate with companies in many different
ways. Companies can make long-term
investments in a variety of research areas,
such as plant breeding programs. We also
put out requests to seed companies for bids
on exclusive rights for specific cultivars.
We have similar arrangements for new
technologies that companies may wish to
license (either exclusively or non-exclusive-
ly). There is another category for spinoff
companies, which are initiated due to a re-
search opportunity that is commercialized
through partnerships with investors and/or
technology partners.
The recent spate of mergers in the agri-
food sector has created both opportunities
and challenges. It has been my experience
that multinational companies based in
Canada face significant challenges to find
internal company resources to invest in re-
search here. It is possible that companies
that are increasing their capacity might
be able to allocate more resources to in-
vestment in public sector work. However,
reducing the number of potential partners
might create issues for public research in
Canada and beyond. The Canadian agri-
food sector could face new challenges in
the future due to this consolidation. What
is absolutely clear is that investment in
innovation has enhanced the competitive-
ness and profitability of our industry. With
that in mind, we will need to work even
harder to ensure the continued success of
our public-private partnerships.
Stan Blade, PhD, is dean of the Faculty of
Agricultural, Life and Environmental Scienc-
es at the University of Alberta.
Private-public research partnerships create innovationsuccess stories
Winter 2017 39