Bringing us closer to the Future of medicine
Since its founding in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim has worked towards one mission: providing patient-centric care for both humans and animals.As a research- driven pharmaceutical company, they are working to develop innovative therapies for some of the most dreaded diseases on the planet, helping to improve the quality of patients’ lives.
Among the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world, Boehringer Ingelheim is unique because it is still a family-owned business with the same values of trust, respect, empathy and passion that drove its founder,Albert Boehringer, from the very beginning.
The company’s guiding vision is delivering value through innovation. Working to realize this vision, Boehringer Ingelheim opens its doors to partnerships with some of the most innovative companies and organizations in the world.Together, they work to find solutions to the most difficult health challenges of our time.
The Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Incubator — A New Frontier in Innovation
Founded in April 2018, the Incubator—an innovation lab based out of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Burlington, Ontario office—brings the top minds in technology and medicine together to advance its mission of delivering innovative healthcare solutions aimed at serving current and future healthcare needs.
Committed to an open innovation approach, Boehringer Ingelheim uses expertise from within and beyond the company walls to drive new projects forward and bring breakthrough technology into its day-to-day operations.
“The formation of the Incubator is a significant step towards a new approach to innovation. Our diverse and cross-functional team
of passionate individuals allows Boehringer Ingelheim to make valuable contributions to the future of healthcare,” said Dr. Uli Brödl, Incubator Co-chair andVice President of Medical and Regulatory Affairs with Boehringer Ingelheim Canada.
The Incubator team has recently embarked on three unique collaborations, each with the possibility to transform how healthcare is delivered in Canada:
Blockchain Technology in Clinical Trials – a collaboration with IBM Canada:
The clinical trial ecosystem is highly complex as it involves different stakeholders, resulting in limited trust, transparency and process inefficiencies without true patient empowerment.With IBM’s expertise, the team is investigating the use of blockchain technology for the first time ever in a clinical trial setting to improve trial quality and patient safety, all while reducing costs.This is just the first step in finding new and exciting ways to use the incredible potential of blockchain technology to revolutionize the clinical trial process, with potential to expand globally.
Artificial Intelligence-based prediction of frailty in the aging population – a collaboration
with Health City:
The Incubator team is working to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in an effort to improve the predicted risk of frailty and chronic disease among aging Canadians. In collaboration with Health City, an Edmonton-based non-profit economic development initiative, along with physicians and local companies, AI and machine learning tools will be used to examine patient data and better predict risks as they age.This is all part of an ongoing commitment to improve the lives of Canadians by delivering healthcare solutions that serve the current and future needs of patients.
Blockchain Technology in Healthcare – a collaboration with The University of British Columbia (UBC) and Mitacs:
UBC and Mitacs, in collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim Canada as flagship partner, recently launched the country’s first blockchain and distributed ledger technology training path for graduate students. This new educational offering will equip students with next- generation computer science tools and applications, which will help drive Canada’s emerging blockchain industry. As a result, the aim is to encourage and accelerate health innovation, system change initiatives and health implementation projects across the country.
The Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Incubator team represents a bold new step forward in the company’s path towards identifying significant breakthroughs via new technologies that can be used to help improve the lives of patients.Through research and collaboration with innovative companies, Boehringer Ingelheim Canada is poised to transform the future of the healthcare industry.
