Doctors, researchers consider Orphan Drug Act ‘mission critical’
Despite having a late start in helping people with rare diseases access orphan drugs, Canada is now exceeding and becoming a world leader in some aspects in this field, particularly in genome studies, according to some in the field. According to the government, a rare disease is a life-threatening, seriously debilitating, or serious chronic condition […]
Labelling GMOs about transparency, not health say advocates
Advocates pushing for the government to adopt mandatory labelling regulation of genetically-modified foods may have received a boost, ironically, thanks to a recent Health Canada study. On June 10, Health Canada released a report, “Consulting Canadians to Modernize and Improve Food Labels: What We Heard,” detailing what Health Canada has learned about Canadians’ priorities on […]
Biotech’s life sciences sector sees good news in CETA, but advocacy groups concerned about pharmaceutical R&D investments
The life sciences sector of the biotechnology industry considers the Canada European Free Trade Agreement, which is expected to be initialed on Sept. 25 in Ottawa, good news for pharmaceutical innovation, but advocacy groups are concerned about how a continuing decline in Canadian pharmaceutical companies investment in research and development (R&D) will be addressed […]
Feds must do more to make sure biotechnology industry ‘globally competitive,’ says industry
For biotechnology to continue to thrive in the Canadian economy an industry group says the Supreme Court of Canada has to not interfere in what the federal government is doing in lowering barriers to investment and ensuring ownership to intellectual property. Andrew Casey, president and CEO of BioteCanada, said the government’s approach to the […]
CETA will provide extended protection for pharmaceutical innovators
Biotechnology is a diverse sector within Canada’s vibrant scientific community that is turning cutting-edge research into innovative products and processes including generating new energy through biofuels and biomass, increasing crop yields, and improving health-care treatments with new biopharmaceuticals. Our government has ensured that Canada’s world-class researchers and competitive businesses thrive with targeted investments in research […]
We need a multi-decade, sustained effort to move country in right direction
We often wring our hands at the Canadian economy’s relative lack of capacity to innovate and commercialize. This is not a recent phenomenon. J.J. Brown, a historian of Canadian technology, wrote in his 1967 book, Ideas in Exile, that this was Canada’s most pressing issue, “… which leaves us increasingly weak in competition with other […]
Who decided biotech was a technology winner?
The federal government, regardless of political stripe, has a poor record of picking technology winners. Canadians essentially lost tens of billions when the giant white radioactive elephant Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) had most of its assets sold at bargain basement prices to SNC Lavalin. AECL went for $15-million, with the government pledging another […]
Reaching critical mass for commercialization
We have, in Canada, the foundation for a vibrant health sciences industry. This enviable position has come as a direct result of Canada’s strong public sector support of basic health research through such leading organizations as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Genome Canada, and others. There has […]
Potential benefits of biomedicine, genomics-targeted health care to Canadians difficult to overstate
In less than two decades, genomics—the science focused on understanding the genetic makeup (encoded in DNA) of individual life forms—has transformed how biological research is performed in a range of fields across the life sciences. Today, the power and potential applications of genomics in sectors of vital importance to Canada’s economy (agri-food, forestry, fisheries and […]
Report arguing for mineral rights transfer to First Nations controversial
A Fraser Institute report calling for provincial governments to transfer control of non-energy mineral rights to aboriginal communities has experts talking about the proposal, with not everyone agreeing it’s a realistic policy move. Non-energy minerals include limestone, salt, potash, gravel, gold, copper, and nickel, among others. According to the April report, provinces reserve the rights […]
