Banting and Best were the first to discover and commercialize insulin despite competition from multiple groups around the world in part because of the University of Toronto’s facilities and support from its hospital and industrial partners.

The commercialization of research discoveries is not new to the University.

Ninety years ago, Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin not far from the site of the buildings now named after them. In 1922, University of Toronto’s Connaught Laboratories began the production with Eli Lilly and Company coming in subsequently as a partner to mass produce the treatment. Fifty years later, the Connaught Laboratories were sold for $29 million and an eponymous fund was established. Since then, the Connaught Fund has invested $120 million in research and scholars, and is currently valued at $81 million.

The medical discovery made at a U of T academic lab that was turned into an innovation continues to save millions of lives around the world by coming full-circle to contribute directly to academic researchers on campus.