3 minute read
The Last Word
By Peter Brenders
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Peter Brenders, President and CEO BIOTECanada
BIOTECH
is Better than you think
BIOTECanada is celebrating 25 years as an industry association. These milestones remind us to refl ect on how much the industry has accomplished. From global changes come opportunities. Our membership, with some 250 biotech companies working in all sectors, continues to grow every month. Moreover the work of our members is growing a competitive new economy built on an entrenched longevity of success. Every day I meet incredibly talented entrepreneurs who are pushing boundaries, developing useful products, and helping us with the solutions to some of our world’s largest challenges. And yes, we are seeing money being made in biotech.
Even with the increasing knowledge and competition in our industry globally, Canadian companies are focused on growth and even executing exit strategies to create wealth for the investor. In the fi rst 2 months of 2012 we’ve seen over $2 billion in deals. The driving forces we are seeing for company growth include technologies or products with the high potential for clinical development; products well positioned for large partnerships, products with public interest and with growing unmet medical needs that are highly attractive to the markets for fi nancing.
The Canadian biotech industry has certainly had a very diffi cult time over the last few years raising much needed capital. But one thing our industry has learned, is there is little point in complaining and much more value in showcasing our successes. By engaging the imagenenation our leaders are setting inspirational targets for our community to rally behind.
We are showcasing these successes to our government and guiding them to achieve more. If Canada wants to compete and modernize its economy a strong portfolio of public policy tools must be in place. The success of research depends on access to capital and creating the environment for investment. Investors build industries not governments; governments enable investors.
Last fall’s Research and Development Expert Panel Report outlined the need for a simpler more streamlined program, aimed at lessening the level of abuse from perceived applicants or their agents. Our association was pleased to see the panel confi rm the need for funding for commercialization and risk capital, and the call to simplify the SR&ED tax credit. We have been on the record on how best to improve the existing SR&ED to remove some of the administrative burden, grow the value equation for investment into all Canadian-based operations and ultimately realize the levels of capital our industry requires to keep building here. However, we have voiced serious concerns about limiting the current SR&ED program to only including labour costs. In order to compensate for such a change, the new refundable SR&ED rate would have to be dramatically increased.
As Minister Flaherty prepares to table Budget 2012, BIOTECanada has reminded the Government of Canada our biotechnology industry accounts for 11% of all business-sector R&D and represents the new economy. For every job created in the biotech industry, up to fi ve additional jobs are created to build research facilities; maintain laboratory and computer equipment; supply laboratory and offi ce equipment, and provide basic services to even the most modest biotechnology facilities. When you add the use of our innovations and biotechnologies, the Canadian bio-economy has grown to a value of more than $87 billion a year. Our world leading capacity in bio-based technologies, products and manufacturing has established Canada as a destination for research and development collaboration.
We will be monitoring the upcoming Federal Budget announcement, with a particular look at how the recommendations from the Expert Panel on Research and Development may be implemented. Join us in our continued efforts, as we impress upon our elected offi cials the value and success of our industry and the increased benefi ts of investing in home grown innovations.
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