On October 25, 2012, Canada-based international investment bank, Canaccord Genuity, expanded its Australian operations with the addition of a high profile life sciences team. Canaccord Genuity is a global, full-service investment bank focused on growth companies with operations in 12 countries.

It is the global capital markets division of Canaccord Financial, offering institutional and corporate clients idea-driven investment banking, research, sales and trading services. Canaccord is one of the leading life sciences banks in North America. There, the company has eight life sciences analysts, which cover more than 100 companies, and a life sciences banking team covering med tech, diagnostics, biotech and specialty pharmaceuticals.

The international investment banking leader expanded its presence in Australia by appointing corporate banker, Mr Daniel Sharp, and senior analyst, Dr Matthijs Smith, to lead the life science division of the company. Both have plenty of experience in life sciences and have worked on initial public offerings, secondary capital raisings and provided advice to pharmaceutical and medical devise-focused clients such as Mesoblast, Starpharma, Nanosonics and Osprey Medical. BioSpectrum talked to them about their and the firm's plans for the life sciences industry in Australia.

Congratulations to Canaccord for expanding in Australia. What is the focus of the company in this country?
Globally, Canaccord supports emerging companies in various industries and is an investment banking firm. In Australia as well, our focus is on emerging companies with particular strengths in resources, oil and gas, industrials and life sciences.

Have you decided on the companies that you are going to support?
There are a number of companies here in Australia, some of which are experts with very interesting concepts and ideas. We focus on the companies that are suited to attracting institutional investment, typically those that have established protocols in clinical trials, or products near or in market. Our approach is to understand the technologies and products that these companies have to offer and identify the target investment market for these companies.