Waterloo, ON — June 14, 2026 — SynBio Canada today announces the creation of the Canadian Reagent User Network (RUN). It’s an early and 1st deliverable and one of three pillars of the National Biomanufacturing Network (NBN).
Canada has invested billions of dollars in world-class biotechnology research, contributing thousands of biological reagents each year, including plasmids, microbial strains, enzymes, and other foundational research tools. Many of these resources, often developed through publicly funded research, remain difficult to access because of distribution barriers, shipping costs, and restrictive material transfer agreements (MTAs). These barriers limit the reagent’s reuse and impact on research, education, innovation, and commercialization. Given the wealth of biological reagents developed in Canada, and the barriers imposed by existing MTAs, a new way to share and build on these resources is needed.
By making proven biological tools easier to access and reuse, RUN aims to unlock greater value from Canada's research investments and strengthen domestic biomanufacturing. It is a practical step to build scientific sovereignty, keeping innovations accessible to Canadian non-profit and commercial development, creating an asset to be harnessed for nation-building applications.
We announced the RUN pilot this morning at the SynBio 8.0 conference, said Dr. Benjamin Scott, Founder & Vice Chair of SynBio Canada. He continued “RUN is a SynBio Canada-led pilot program designed to fundamentally change how biological reagents are developed and shared in Canada. RUN is establishing the infrastructure for a new model of biotechnology. One in which biological tools can be built, shared, and reused across the country. “
About SynBio Canada
SynBio Canada is a national organization dedicated to advancing Canada’s synthetic biology and biomanufacturing ecosystem. It works to connect people and organizations across research, entrepreneurship, industry, government and commercialization to help build Canada’s capacity to develop and scale biological solutions.
For more information contact – caitlinoh@synbiocanada.org