It’s a generational moment for the life science industry

The most serious crises often trigger significant changes in society, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. It underscored the crucial role of the life sciences industry in our lives and exposed Canada’s vulnerability in the reliability of our domestic supply. The race to develop and distribute vaccines made it clear that Canada urgently needs a robust and well-coordinated domestic life sciences sector. We were behind pre-pandemic. We appear to be catching up. Now, let’s lead. Gordon C. McCauley is president and CEO of adMare BioInnovations. Photograph courtesy of Twitter Governments have taken decisive actions in response to the pandemic, making significant investments to support the life science industry in finding solutions to COVID-19 and building greater resilience for a future crisis. In Canada, for instance, the Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy is a $2.2-billion initiative aimed at strengthening the national biomanufacturing and life sciences sector by acting on critical determinants such as governance, talent, company growth, public capacity, and regulation. Early in the pandemic, the federal government made significant investments in different organizations such as Genome Canada ($136-million), National Research Council of Canada ($126-million), adMare BioInnovations ($92-million), and the Stem Cell Network ($45-million). Additionally, the Strategic Innovation Fund received an additional $1-billion to support cutting-edge companies such as Jubilant HollisterStier ($23.4-million), Biovectra ($39.8-million), Resilience Biotechnologies Inc. ($199.2-million), and Sanofi Pasteur Limited ($415-million). These investments are critical to strengthening our industry and will help to ensure we are better equipped to respond to future crises. And there will be future crises. While those recent investments have clearly strengthened capabilities, Canada cannot stop there. Others around the world are trying to get ahead of us. Now is the time to double down, expand basic research, push Canadian life sciences innovation, create a more responsive, resilient, and competitive domestic life sciences sector, assist local life sciences entrepreneurs in launching or expanding their businesses, retain our best graduates and scientific researchers, attract new talent to Canada, encourage domestic and foreign investment, and advance our position. The life sciences industry in this country is experiencing a generational moment. It’s time to take our place as a worldwide leader by continuing the efforts made during the pandemic with further strategic investments and initiatives. To realize our potential, we must realize the life sciences sector is a complex chain, where each link is crucial to build overall strength, and enhance personal and economic well-being of Canadians. Ultimately, life sciences are about personal health and the industries that provide the products and services that foster it. The process starts with excellent academic research where we currently hold our own globally. It then moves to the creation of robust biotech companies; a thriving network of support, expertise, and advice; connected clinical trials and aligned data collection systems; and culminates in the manufacturing and commercialization of innovations. When a link is vulnerable, the whole chain is at risk. Today, one critical weak link is space for emerging companies to grow. Established companies can make long-term commitments to landlords, but emerging ones cannot. adMare operates almost 200,000 square feet of this kind of emerging company space—filled with the most promising companies of tomorrow—and we are bursting at the seams. Recently, the government of British Columbia invested in exactly this kind of space to continue the momentum of this industry. The same demand remains in Toronto and Montreal, among other centres, which means some of the most promising companies of tomorrow are currently homeless. To be clear, it is not just about specialized space and specialized equipment. Data from around the world tell us that, as critical as those two elements are, it is when animated with expertise and mentorship that the infrastructure leads to extraordinary advances. It can seed investments in one third the time, advancing from seed to series A 30 per cent faster—twice as likely to get there at all, and two times faster when they do. And when a company shines, its success reflects on all the other links of the innovation chain. The ultimate links of the chain are the patients benefiting from innovative treatments. Canadian research touched billions of patients around the world—yes, billions—when Canadian companies developed an essential component to both COVID vaccines and the first effective therapy. Our life sciences sector, with its high-quality researchers and ambitious entrepreneurs, if given the means it needs, can make a difference for many other patients around the world. That's why we must continue to make the investments that are needed. Twenty years ago, in another context, the musician Bono said, “the world needs more Canada.” Let us make that increasingly true in life sciences. We are entering centre stage with our basic research capacity and breakthroughs during COVID. Let the music play on. Gordon C. McCauley is president and CEO of adMare BioInnovations. The Hill Times