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The Prince Edward Island BioAlliance, in partnership with the ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ and Innovation PEI, recently held its 5th Annual Bioscience Business Marketing Competition for students from Dr. Susan Graham's Business Marketing Course at the ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ. Over 22 teams totalling more than 120 students were judged on the marketing strategies they developed for five PEI bioscience companies.

This year's first place overall winners were Shanshan Cui, Xinyi Dai, and Jiawen Kuang, who took the top prize for the marketing plan they developed for Technology Crops International's soy oil product. Second place winners included April Wilbert, Cheryl Landry, and Alex Grant for their work with medical device company Vitrak. Third prize went to the team of Duncan Sturz, Alana MacKie, Faith Clinton, and Brady McCloskey who developed a marketing strategy for Insectrol's natural mosquito control product. Honourable mention went to Zach MacDonald, Mikey Wasnidge, Derek Gaudet, Will Chandler, and Jimmie MayAleh for their work on Avivagen's canine health product, and to Jonathon Noonan, Fogho Ikede, and Chris McAlduff for their marketing plan for Hendrick Seeds' soy-based aquaculture feed ingredient.

Susan Graham, Professor of Marketing at ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ's School of Business, says the competition gives students the chance to work with real companies on real marketing challenges, so that students can put class theories into practice. "Each year I am impressed by the hard work and dedication exhibited by the students," she said. "They recognize the tremendous learning opportunity it presents. The BioAlliance has been a great partner and I am looking forward to continuing this initiative next year."

'Experienced and well-educated young business and science students are a critical part of what is going to drive this industry forward,' said Rory Francis, Executive Director of the PEI BioAlliance. 'Now they are aware of the exciting business opportunities and challenges in front of bioscience companies operating in PEI. We hope this experience will motivate them to be a part of this dynamic and growing industry.'

A total of $3,000 in prizes were presented to the top three marketing teams. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the National Research Council's IRAP Program, and Innovation PEI partner with the BioAlliance in carrying out this and other human resource development initiatives that support the growth of the bioscience business sector in PEI.

Participating companies for 2012 included: Chemaphor (Avivagen), maker of Oximunol, a natural canine health product that supports immune functionality; Insectrol, a company that produces an all natural brand of mosquito area repellant called Comfort Zone, made from natural garlic oil; Technology Crops International who manages the supply chain of high value non-commodity products derived from specialty crops grown in PEI (and other locations) for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and other specialty sectors; Hendrick's Seeds (Sevita International) who develops and supplies DH premium certified seed to growers and provides premium and non-GMO soybean varieties with enhanced nutrition and functions to international markets; and Vitrak Systems Inc., who is developing and commercializing two patents in the field of movement tracking and analysis, including a pressure sensitive flooring system with sophisticated footprint analytic software for gait research and analysis, called Stepscanâ„¢.