May 9, 2011
The Innovation Equation
Canada has the scientific talent and world-class facilities to become the leader in life sciences research. But it will need to dramatically increase access to new medicines and vaccines to get there.
Canada should have a thriving, robust knowledge-based economy fuelled by the life sciences research sector. After all, its public health care system is the envy of most countries, and boasts world-class talent and infrastructure, from its universities and hospitals to its healthcare centres and research facilities. Yet of the almost $100 billion being invested globally into the discovery of breakthrough new medicines and vaccines each year, Canada’s share is a relatively paltry $1.2 billion.
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May 9, 2011
Canada’s approach to assessing the value of healthcare innovation is causing us to fall behind the rest of the world, particularly when it comes to access by patients to new therapies. As a result, people within the Canadian operation of the world’s largest independent biotechnology company, Amgen, are working with others in the broader health system to spark a public debate on how to better evaluate new healthcare technology.
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May 4, 2009
Globally, the pharmaceutical industry is undergoing what many experts have characterized as “transformational change.” That is evidenced by the number and size of recent mergers and acquisitions, including Merck Frosst’s $41-billion acquisition of Schering-Plough and Pfizer’s $68-billion takeover of Wyeth, both announced earlier this year. But the mega mergers aren’t simply a by-product of a weakened economy whereby the stronger companies are opportunistically gobbling up their more vulnerable competitors.
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May 4, 2009
Canada is very much nearing its tipping point in the race for global life sciences research. The outcome could make or break Canada’s knowledge-based economy. The necessity for the government and the country’s pharmaceutical and bio-pharmaceutical sectors to work together toward innovation, and therefore win the knowledge-based economy race and advance health care, has never been at a more critical stage, according to the industry association. “I truly believe that we are entering into a defining period in our industry’s history,” says Russell Williams, President of Canada’s Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D). “If you look at what’s on the horizon, whether it’s the changing business model in our sector, or the current downturn in the global economy, if Canada can seize the opportunity, and build a strong research and development environment, we can grow.”
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May 4, 2009
Merck Frosst Canada understands the importance of strength in numbers when it comes to achieving sustainable growth in the increasingly competitive world of pharmaceuticals. Following the recent multibillion-dollar merger of Merck & Co. and Shering-Plough Corporation, the combined company is formidable, with a much larger research and development (R&D) pipeline, and a much broader, diversified portfolio of medicines and vaccines in therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, respiratory, oncology, neuroscience, infectious disease, immunology and women’s health.
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