Pieter Cullis Receives the 2022 Bloom Burton Award

Original press release available here.

Toronto, Ontario — September 30, 2022 – Bloom Burton & Co. (“Bloom Burton”) is pleased to announce Pieter Cullis, Co-Founder of Acuitas Therapeutics, as the recipient of the 2022 Bloom Burton Award.

Pieter Cullis led the development of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery systems for molecular therapeutics at Acuitas Therapeutics. The result of a lifetime of dedicated research driven by scientific curiosity, LNP delivery systems are a critical technology that help to accelerate, among other life-saving therapies, mRNA vaccine development. From the day the global Covid-19 pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization to the creation of a 95% effective Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine less than a year later, LNP delivery systems changed the course of the pandemic for billions of people. Pieter Cullis’ discovery played a major role in combatting Covid-19 and continues to protect vaccine recipients around the world.  

“We are honoured to recognize Pieter Cullis with the 2022 Bloom Burton Award,” said Jolyon Burton, President of Bloom Burton & Co. “Pieter’s determination to understand, formulate and commercialize lipid nanoparticles helped everyone beat back a global pandemic in record time, saving millions of lives, and also having a multitude of other, dramatic therapeutic impacts and advancements.”

Mr. Burton continued, “It is a privilege to celebrate world-changing Canadian innovation and the Bloom Burton Award does exactly that – recognizing excellence among industry colleagues to continue inspiring future achievements and greatness.”

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.

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
• 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

All finalists – Frank Baylis & Kris Shah of Baylis Medical Technologies, Jan Skvarka, formerly of Trillium Therapeutics, and Pieter Cullis – were celebrated at the 2022 Bloom Burton Award Gala at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto on September 29, 2022. Each finalist also received a $25,000 cash prize.

About Bloom Burton & Co.

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, industry 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, as well as advisory on direct investing, 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).

For additional information, please contact:

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