Biotech is a dynamic industry that is driving scientific advances and innovation in healthcare. In Canada, the biotech sector is home to companies pursuing cutting-edge therapies and medical technologies.
According to Grandview Research, the global biotech market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.96 percent between 2024 and 2030 to reach a value of US$3.08 trillion.
Read on to learn what’s been driving these Canadian biotech firms.
1. Bright Minds Biosciences (CSE:DRUG)
Year-on-year gain: 2,290 percent
Market cap: C$243.73 million
Share price: C$34.41
Bright Minds Biosciences is focused on developing novel treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders and pain.
Its portfolio consists of serotonin agonists designed to target neurocircuit abnormalities that make disorders like epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression difficult to treat. The company’s drugs have been designed to potentially retain the powerful therapeutic aspects of psychedelic and other serotonergic compounds, while minimizing their side effects, thereby creating superior drugs to first-generation compounds such as psilocybin.
Bright Minds’ BMB-101, an agonist targeting the 5-HT2C receptor, will target classic absence epilepsy and developmental epileptic encephalopathy. An evaluation of Phase II trials done in collaboration with Firefly Neuroscience (NASDAQ:AIFF) determined that BMB-101 stopped seizures in a mouse model of epilepsy, suggesting it could be a vital new treatment.
In October 2024, Bright Mind’s share price surged nearly 1,500 percent in a single session after global pharmaceutical company H. Lundbeck announced its intention to acquire Longboard Pharmaceuticals, another firm with a 5-HT2C agonist in its pipeline.
In March of this year, Bright Minds added five world-renowned leaders in epilepsy research to its scientific advisory board.
2. Hemostemix (TSXV:HEM)
Year-on-year gain: 170 percent
Market cap: C$20.44 million
Share price: C$0.14
Hemostemix is a clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing autologous stem cell therapies, an approach that uses a patient’s own cells to theoretically enhance safety and efficacy. Its main product, ACP-01, is a cell therapy derived from a patient’s blood to promote tissue repair and regeneration in areas affected by disease.
The company announced its first advanced sales orders for ACP-01 on January 29 and has been working to expand internationally and attract new investment.
In July 2025, Hemostemix reported that the unanimous passing of Senate Bill 1768 in Florida, US, means it can begin commercial ACP-01 treatments for ischemic pain in the state in Q4. The bill creates a framework in which healthcare providers can administer stem cell therapies that had not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but meet the bill’s guidelines.
The company projected 2026 sales of C$22.5 million following the news.
Additionally, Hemostemix is currently collaborating with Firefly Neuroscience on a Phase 1 clinical trial of ACP-01 for vascular dementia.
3. Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals (TSX:EPRX)
Year-on-year gain: 109.3 percent
Market cap: C$266.36 million
Share price: C$7.20
Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals focuses on developing locally delivered therapeutics for patients with unmet medical needs. Its primary focus has been orthopedics and oncology. Eupraxia acquired EpiPharma Therapeutics in late 2023, absorbing the company’s lead candidate EP-104GI.
In February, the company released positive data from the sixth cohort of its Phase 1b/2a trial for EP-104GI in eosinophilic esophagitis. In July, the company advanced its investigation into the Phase 2b portion after selecting an initial dose based on encouraging safety and efficacy data from the earlier Phase 2a cohorts, with top-line results from the Phase 2b study anticipated in Q3 2026.
4. ME Therapeutics Holdings (CSE:METX)
Year-on-year gain: 33.33 percent
Market cap: C$147.95 million
Share price: C$5.00
ME Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing cancer-fighting drug candidates that can increase the efficacy of current immuno-oncology drugs by targeting suppressive myeloid cells, which have been found to hinder the effectiveness of existing immuno-oncology treatments. Immuno-oncology is a relatively new area of cancer drug research and has shown promising results when used to treat cancer with low survival rates.
ME Therapeutics’ antibody h1B11-12 is designed to inhibit the cytokine G-SCF. Research performed by ME in collaboration with Dr. Kenneth Harder at the University of British Columbia demonstrated that G-CSF appeared to increase tumor growth in breast and colon cancer, as well as a correlation between survival in patients with colorectal cancer and low expression of G-CSF.
The work suggests that inhibition of tumor-secreted G-CSF using h1B11-12 could support the existing treatments. Trial planning efforts are ongoing, and the company expects development of a cell line for future production of the drug to be finished in the latter half of 2025.
The company is also part of an ongoing collaborative effort to develop therapeutic mRNA delivery methods to myeloid cells with NanoVation Therapeutics, a privately owned biotech company that develops customized nucleic acid and lipid nanoparticle technologies to empower genetic medicine. The collaboration has already resulted in two new mRNA formulations, for which testing began on October 4, and has demonstrated encouraging anti-cancer activity in a preclinical model of colorectal cancer.
In May 2025, the company said it would receive up to C$140,000 in funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program to advance its mRNA therapeutic program.
ME Therapeutics is also exploring a listing on the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.
5. NervGen (TSXV:NGEN)
Year-on-year gain: 28.42 percent
Market cap: C$276.78 million
Share price: C$3.75
NervGen is a clinical-stage Canadian biotechnology company that focuses on developing innovative treatments to enable the nervous system to repair itself following damage from injury or disease.
The company’s core technology targets a mechanism that hinders nervous system repair. When the nervous system is damaged, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans form a “scar.” Initially, CSPGs help contain damage, but their long-term interaction with the PTPσ receptor inhibits repair.
NervGen’s lead drug candidate, NVG-291, is designed to relieve these inhibitory effects, promoting nervous system repair. NervGen is advancing NVG-291 in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for spinal cord injury (SCI), reporting positive data from the chronic cohort in June. It received fast track designation from the US FDA.
NVG-300, a newer preclinical candidate, is being evaluated for ischemic stroke and SCI.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.