MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO by Andrew Casey, BIOTECanada
AT THE TIME OF WRITING THE WORLD HAS REACHED THE TWOYEAR MARK OF THE COVID19 PANDEMIC. While there are clearly differing opinions of how and when our societies and economies should transition out of life with restrictions, that the debate can even be had is in large part due to this industry’s timely delivery of highly effective vaccines. At a minimum, hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved and the overall impact of the pandemic on economies has been greatly reduced as a result of the solutions this industry discovered, developed, and delivered. While there is still some COVID-19 road ahead, many governments are wisely preparing for the possibility of another pandemic at some point. Having spent over two years solving for COVID-19 on the fly, it is clear there is now a strong desire to avoid repeating the experience and prepare now for COVID-30 or whatever other global health threat may emerge down the road. Global investors are also seeing the opportunity the sector represents. For the most part, the increased recognition of the sector’s value and importance is good news for Canada. Canada’s biotech ecosystem is built on a reputation of strong scientific research including a diverse mix of early-stage companies, universities, incubators/accelerators, research centres, investors, and multinational pharmaceutical/biotech companies.
From a biomanufacturing/vaccine perspective, Canada is also home to two established commercial vaccine facilities, BioVectra’s Atlantic Canada premises and the soon to be operational Medicago site in Quebec City. Combined, there is in place a valuable life sciences sector and biomanufacturing base in Canada which can form the foundation upon which to build. Investing more in enhancing this foundation will not only help meet the preparedness objective, but if done strategically, can be leveraged as the federal government moves forward with its life sciences strategy and corresponding biomanufacturing initiative. It is important to recognize that Canada is not alone in its quest to grow its life sciences sector and biomanufacturing capacity. Not surprisingly, the pandemic has focussed the attention of many governments globally on the importance of building strong domestic biotech sectors. As federal and provincial governments implement strategies to grow the sector, attract investment and talent, Canada will need to keep pace with other nations seeking to do likewise. It is a competitive space where the elbows will be sharp and high. As the COVID-19 fog begins to lift and we focus on moving forward, rebuilding and preparing for future challenges (including that of global climate change which has continued
unabated throughout the pandemic, as evidenced by the UN International Panel on Climate Change report), the importance of this sector and the solutions it provides will only increase. Accordingly, the federal government is making significant investments to enhance Canada’s life sciences and biomanufacturing sector. There remains much work to be done to attract investment, grow and diversify the pool of talent and ultimately create Canadian based anchor companies. It will not be easy, but the past year represents a solid start with enormous promise for the future. The months ahead represent an important opportunity for the entire BIOTECanada membership which is representative of the Canadian biotech ecosystem.
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