In preparation for Edmonton Startup Week 2021, we spoke with DrugBank CEO, Michael Wilson, about his experience launching a company during the week's festivities. Like many founders, the opportunity to participate in Launch Party was a pivotal moment in DrugBank’s origin story. Read on to find out more! 

Tell us about DrugBank and your commitment to public health. 

DrugBank’s mission is to augment human intelligence so that all medical information - from bench side to bedside - is used to its full potential. Our vision is a world where everyone has access to the best possible medical outcomes. We are proud that we have contributed to innovation in many areas of medicine, are grateful for the strong public health system in Canada, and the security and support that it affords our employees and broader society. 

How do you use technology in your business? 

Technology is at the core of our company. We have a team of software developers, data scientists, and machine learning engineers whose work powers our internal curation processes, and many external products and features. We have built custom software tools that help us structure pharmaceutical data, as well numerous machine learning models that help provide data-driven insights to our team, including proprietary technology that powers our API and data downloads. 

Our technology helps make us the industry standard for pharmaceutical research with over 12 million visitors to our online site per year. We’ve also been cited in over 26,500 scientific publications and over $1.5B in research has utilized DrugBank’s tools. We are also trusted by the most influential regulatory agencies in the world including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the World Health Organization (WHO). 

What impact has launching during Startup Week had on your business?

We launched as a different company early on in our journey, and while our first startup didn’t work out, Launch Party gave us the confidence to try again. We were surrounded by amazing talent, and even better support from the startup community, which helped us get back up, learn from our mistakes, and pursue a new idea. Fast forward five years, and we are incredibly proud of DrugBank’s success to date. In the past year we’ve closed an investment round, grown by 150% in people, doubled our revenue, and the startup community continues to celebrate our successes alongside us.

What does Edmonton Startup Week mean to you? 

We look forward to Startup Week every year! It’s part of our origin story and coming back each year to see new companies launching, meeting new people, and learning a ton is why we have a countdown in our calendars. It helps us remember where we came from and how grateful we are to events like Startup Week that help companies get the footing they need. 

What advice do you have for this year’s launching companies? 

Launch Party is all about you! Every person watching and listening to you pitch is there to celebrate and support you as you get up on the (virtual) stage. While it can seem intimidating just take a deep breath, have fun with it, and soak it all up! And remember, your launch is just the beginning and you’re going to need a strong community around you moving forward. So get to know your peers, the folks around you, and be sure to build strong networks.  

Startup Week gives you the chance to build relationships and learn more about how to build an amazing startup in the best city, so take advantage. You never know what you might learn, or who you might meet. Good luck to the 10 amazing companies launching - Team DrugBank will be cheering you on from the sidelines!

Startups and innovation play an important role in Edmonton’s post-pandemic recovery and long-term economic resiliency. In terms of revenue, job growth and economic impact, can you tell us about how DrugBank contributes to Edmonton’s economy? 

We are incredibly proud to be headquartered in Edmonton and want to be a big part of our community’s recovery and economic growth. DrugBank has been extremely fortunate to have grown during the pandemic. We recognize that not everyone in our community has been as fortunate, but we hope that our success can translate into recovery for our city on a larger scale. As the company continues to scale, we will keep employing the world-class talent graduating from Alberta Universities.