AbbVie Biotech Innovators Award

Funded by AbbVie via SpinUp’s Blue Ticket Program, the new AbbVie Biotech Innovators Award will provide one year free access to SpinUp and AbbVie’s experts to a promising early-stage Canadian biotech startup.

Researcher working in the SpinUp lab.

2024 AbbVie Biotech Innovators Award in Collaboration with SpinUp

Program Overview

AbbVie is excited to launch the 2024 AbbVie Biotech Innovators Award in collaboration with SpinUp, the University of Toronto’s purpose-built wet lab incubator supporting early-stage biotechnology startups.

This demonstrates AbbVie’s commitment to investing in Canada’s world class life sciences sector and accelerating the delivery of life-changing innovations to patients.

The Biotech Innovators Award provides one year of free-lab space at SpinUp, funded by AbbVie Canada, and access to core facilities and services, including membership to the SpinUp community of scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs.

One Biotech Innovators Award will be granted to an early-stage Canadian life science biotech company in May 2025.

The award is intended for early-stage Canadian biotech companies that fit the following criteria:

  • Focused on science / technology with potential to generate transformational therapies in areas that align strategically with AbbVie’s therapeutic areas of interest (listed below)
  • Developing therapeutic platform technologies, including gene therapy, novel cell therapy, gene editing, novel drug-discovery or platform technologies
  • Exclusions: Diagnostics, Devices, Research Tools, and Healthcare Services/IT
ImmunologyOncologyNeuroscienceEye Care
GI – Crohn’s, UCHeme and solid tumorsAlzheimer’s and Parkinson’s – disease modificationRetina – Dry AMD/GA, Wet AMD
Dermatology – PsO, AD, HSNovel, differentiated programs – enhance tumor cell targeting, oncogenic signaling pathways, I-OPsychiatric diseases with high unmet needDry eye and ocular surface disease
Rheumatology – RA, PsA, AS, GCA, PMRTargeted biologics and next-gen cell therapiesNext generation solutions for migraineGlaucoma – intraocular pressure control and neuroprotection
Novel therapies for innate immunity/interferon and TH2 driven diseasesNovel approaches to small molecules, including technologies to address hard-to-drug target classesSpasticity and movement disorders; neurorestoration in multiple sclerosisRefractive medicine – presbyopia, myopia, corneal dystrophies
Fibrosis – SSc, IPF

To apply for the SpinUp x AbbVie Biotech Innovators Award, please complete this form by January 17th, 2025 (11:59pm EST) using only non-confidential information.

The winning startup will become a SpinUp member, and will be offered scientific and business mentorship by AbbVie.

Prior to completing this form, please review the following items:

What does it mean to be a SpinUp member?

Membership at SpinUp gives entrepreneurs access to:

  • Wet lab space in U of T Mississauga’s new Science Building – at heavily subsidized rates more than 50% below market standards. Here, each entrepreneur has:
    • two 6ft full lab benches plus shelving and cabinetry;
    • a dedicated 6ft fume hood; and
    • a range of shared infrastructure, equipment, and instruments, listed here
  • Entrepreneurship programming run by SpinUp and UTE, one of the world’s top-five university-managed business incubators. Supports include mentorship programs, networking events, and a robust curriculum customized by SpinUp and delivered by our network of partners. Our programming focuses on building strong lab cultures and helping companies scale up beyond their early stages.
  • Outstanding faculty and science trainees at U of T, a world top-twenty university. U of T Mississauga opens entrepreneurs to new research partnerships and opportunities for student internship – all in the Greater Toronto Area, at the heart of Canada’s two largest life science sectors.
  • Co-working office space in an open-concept suite, including:
    • A dedicated individual cubicle with lockable cabinet; and
    • Access to bookable meeting rooms.

Members also have the opportunity to work alongside other entrepreneurs at SpinUp, growing their companies through the shared knowledge of a talented cohort. Together, talent accelerates innovation.

► To learn more about SpinUp’s supports, please explore our website.

Am I eligible for membership?

SpinUp and AbbVie invite applications from Canadian Entrepreneurs whose start-up companies:

  • are incorporated and are early-stage – up to and including seed-funded ventures;
  • own, or are on a path to owning, their intellectual property
  • have demonstrated need of subsidized wet lab space;
  • are developing impactful, promising innovations for the betterment of human health, society, and beyond;
  • have a vested interest in interacting with U of T Mississauga’s community by, e.g., (a) building research partnerships with faculty; (b) participating in our INSPIRE entrepreneurship program; (c) supporting students through experiential and work-study education; and beyond; and
  • participate in another UTE accelerator program or are supported by a U of T external partner organization. Examples of partners include – but are not limited to – CCRM, ISED, Ontario Genomics, OBIO, adMare, Altitude Accelerator, IDEA Mississauga, SPEC Labs, and MaRS.

► For questions about eligibility, please email spinup@utoronto.ca.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that the following materials/hazards are prohibited from use on the SpinUp premise:

  • Risk Group 3 pathogens
  • Risk Group 4 pathogens
  • Security sensitive biological agents (SSBAs)
  • Radioisotopes

► To determine the Risk Group of your materials, please use this searchable database: https://health.canada.ca/en/epathogen.

By submitting your application, you also acknowledge that, upon becoming a member of SpinUp:

  • your team members using the SpinUp facilities will be required to:
    • complete safety training that our team will arrange for you, in line with the University’s Environmental Health & Safety requirements; and
    • attend an orientation session as part of your onboarding process;
  • your startup will enter into a standard space use agreement with the University of Toronto for use of SpinUp facilities, for a 2-year membership term contingent on your team’s adequate use of these facilities. The agreement may be terminated with adequate notice by your startup, or by the university, prior to the 2-year mark;
  • your startup will be required to complete a hazard assessment form, and apply and meet all necessary requirements to obtain and maintain a biosafety permit through the University of Toronto for the use of Risk Group 1 (RG1) or Risk Group 2 (RG2) pathogens. RG2 pathogens will only be permitted to be used in the designated RG2 spaces. Any RG2 pathogens that cannot be supported by the existing RG2 spaces will not be permitted;
  • your startup will pay a highly subsidized, affordable monthly membership fee for the duration of your residency at SpinUp;
  • both the lab space and office space are co-working facilities, and you will be responsible for protecting your own confidential materials as needed;
  • your team will be required to complete, at a minimum, Level 1 of U of T’s free Intellectual Property Education Program within the first 6 months of your membership term;
  • your team members will agree to abide by SpinUp’s code of conduct, which will be provided upon acceptance into SpinUp; and
  • your startup will enter into an NDA with SpinUp to ensure confidentiality is maintained within the SpinUp spaces and programming

► Questions? Please reach out to the SpinUp team at spinup@utoronto.ca.

How can I learn more about AbbVie?

AbbVie’s mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people’s lives across several key therapeutic areas – immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and vision care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.ca. Follow AbbVie Canada on Twitter, on Instagram, or find us on LinkedIn.

How can I learn more about SpinUp and U of T Entrepreneurship?

  • SpinUp is the first wet lab venture incubator at the University of Toronto, Canada’s leading centre for learning and discovery and one of the world’s top-two universities for health science productivity.
  • SpinUp is purpose built to drive life science innovation. It offers early-stage life science start-ups access to outstanding wet lab space, equipment, and expertise in the new science building at U of T Mississauga – at a fraction of the cost of comparable facilities. The new Science Building opened in Fall 2023 as one of the greenest and most comprehensive wet lab facilities in North America.
  • SpinUp is proudly part of U of T entrepreneurship, a network of 12+ innovation accelerators across three campuses. Over the past ten years, this network has supported more than 650 capital-backed companies, which have created 9,000 jobs and raised $2.5 billion in external investment. U of T now launches more research-based start-ups than any university in North America outside of MIT.

► Learn more about SpinUp and U of T Entrepreneurship here.

IMPORTANT: Please include only non-confidential information when filling out your application.

  • Applications open: September 26th 2024
  • Applications close: January 17th 2025
  • Semi-finalists notified: March 2025
  • Pitch event to select a winner: May 2025

For questions about applications to the AbbVie Biotech Innovators Award, please email spinup@utoronto.ca.

In the News


Researcher working in the SpinUp lab.
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