Mark Taylor, PEng MSc MBA is UHN's new Director, Technology Development and Commercialization (TDC), effective immediately. Mr. Taylor has been with TDC since 2008; he was promoted to Associate Director in 2019 and has been Interim Director since February of this year.
Mr. Taylor brings a wealth of business and commercialization experience, with previous roles in industry as well as several years developing research innovations within the health sciences sector. An engineer by training, his initial focus at TDC was on the development of medical technologies; he was also instrumental in the creation of the original plans for the launch of the Techna Institute. Over the years, he has helped translate many UHN inventions into products on the market that have improved patient experiences and outcomes, and his expertise in this area is evidenced by regular speaking engagements locally and at international conferences on commercialization and entrepreneurial best practices.
In 2014, Mr. Taylor began leading TDC’s dedicated licensing and commercialization team; under his direction, UHN spin-offs have attracted in excess of $930 million in cumulative risk capital investment, and experienced four major acquisitions/exits totaling more than $2.3 billion—among the highest across all Canadian research institutions.
Mr. Taylor has also helped lead some of the biggest deals in the Canadian and international biotech ecosystem, including those involving UHN spin-off companies AVROBIO and BlueRock Therapeutics, among others. Owing largely to the success of the transactions in which he was directly involved, UHN generated a record $37 million in licensing revenue over the last fiscal year alone—placing the institution in the top tier among North American peers in terms of revenue generation.
As Director of TDC, Mr. Taylor will continue to work closely with Dr. Brad Wouters, Executive Vice Presdient, Science and Research, to help grow UHN's Toronto biotech commercialization ecosystem; build upong the strong relationships with UHN’s invaluable Foundations and industry partners; and attract the best teams and risk capital sources for UHN startups. These goals will be accomplished in a way that provides fair value to UHN for its investments in people, infrastructure and funding—and will deliver excellence in support to UHN’s world-class research community, and fuel a perpetual cycle of discovery, translation and commercialization for the benefit of patients.
In particular, Mr. Taylor will help to advance the UHN Strategic Research Plan 2019–23 and its “Accelerate the translation of discovery to practice” priority—with its goal to elevate the position of UHN, Toronto and Canada on the world stage as a leading destination for commercialization and discovery. Congratulations to Mr. Taylor on this new position.