November 26, 2020

Gordon Keller Receives the 2020 Bloom Burton Award

Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – November 26, 2020) – Bloom Burton & Co. is pleased to announce Dr. Gordon Keller as the recipient of the 2020 Bloom Burton Award. Dr. Keller’s pioneering academic work in the stem cell therapy field led to the founding of BlueRock Therapeutics in 2016, which was ultimately acquired by Bayer for $1 billion in 2019. BlueRock Therapeutics built out a major laboratory in Toronto, where more than 170 world-class scientists have been recruited to bring new therapies to market for cardiovascular and other diseases. Dr. Keller is the Director of the McEwen Stem Cell Institute at the University Health Network, a Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, a Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, and holds the Tier I Canada Research Chair in Embryonic Stem Cell Biology.

2020 Bloom Burton Award Winner Gordon Keller in the Lab

Bestowed annually, the Bloom Burton Award honours an individual scientist, inventor, executive, entrepreneur, industry leader, or policy maker who made the greatest contribution to Canada’s innovative healthcare industry in the previous year. Nominees were accepted from any of the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic/imaging, research instrumentation, consumer health, services or healthcare IT sectors, and equal consideration was given to contributions across any stage of development – from discovery to commercial end markets. Nominations for the award were accepted from the public-at-large between January 29 and April 15, 2020. All finalists – Arun Menawat of Profound Medical, Simon Pimstone of Xenon Pharmaceuticals and Gordon Keller – were celebrated last night during the virtual presentation of the Bloom Burton Award Gala, and each received a $25,000 cash prize.

The Bloom Burton Award finalists and winner were chosen by an esteemed panel of judges, all of whom are respected international leaders in healthcare investment, entrepreneurship and journalism:

  • Michael Altman, Managing Director, Perceptive Advisors
  • Christopher Arendt, Head of Oncology Therapeutic Area Unit, Takeda 
  • Karen Bernstein, Co-Founder and Chairman, BioCentury Inc.
  • Carl Gordon, Managing Partner, OrbiMed Advisors
  • Dennis Purcell, Founder and Senior Advisor, Aisling Capital
  • Melinda Richter, Global Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS
  • Camille Samuels, Partner, Venrock

Jolyon Burton, Co-founder and President of Bloom Burton commented, “Congratulations to Gordon Keller for winning the 2020 Bloom Burton Award to commemorate his breakthrough year, in which people, capital and industry forged a powerful relationship to turn his ground-breaking scientific ideas into potential cures.” Mr. Burton continued, “We also thank everyone in our healthcare industry, working tirelessly to provide humanity with solutions against all diseases – ever more so evident during the global pandemic of 2020. Thank you for your efforts and your courage.”

About Bloom Burton:

Bloom Burton & Co. is a firm dedicated to accelerating returns in the healthcare sector for both investors and companies. Bloom Burton has an experienced team of medical, scientific, pharmaceutical, legal and capital markets professionals who perform a deep level of diligence, which combined with our creative and entrepreneurial approach, assists our clients in achieving the right monetization events. Bloom Burton and its affiliates provide capital raising, M&A advisory, equity research, business strategy and scientific consulting, direct investing, and company creation and incubation services. Bloom Burton Securities Inc. is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and is also a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF). Please visit www.bloomburton.com to learn more.

For additional information, please contact:

Brian Bloom
(416) 640-7580
bbloom@bloomburton.com

Eleanor Ndaiga
(416) 640-7573
endaiga@bloomburton.com