Ontario Ministry of research and innovation By Chris Rogers
a perFeCt setting
OntariO
As we rode the five floors up to the OICR (Ontario Institute for Cancer Research) offices it was easy to get excited. MaRS, the centre of Toronto’s research initiatives and arguably the heart of Ontario’s Innovation Agenda sped by, and the glass walled elevator rose up over the offices revealing the Ontario legislature, Queen’s Park and beyond that the bustling University of Toronto.
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The lift slowed and we made our way into the OICR laboratories to meet Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation, John Milloy. Scouting the best possible places for our cover shoot we were shown around the busy labs - brimming with the state-of-the-art technology that graces the New Product section of Biotechnology Focus each month. Researchers hopping from station to station, collecting data. This is where innovation happens. Snapping a few quick pictures, I immediately felt like I was holding everyone up, like I was delaying some massive discovery. The researchers asked if they were getting in the way of a good picture. “I’m the one getting in the way,” was all I could think.
Biotechnology Focus / May 2010
As the Minister arrived he was immediately just as interested in the happenings around the labs as we were. As we set up for pictures, he eagerly began asking questions of the staff about the data they were collecting; about the research going on. We made our way from the labs to a board room overlooking MaRS and U of T, a perfect setting considering the tone of the conversation. I was expecting a 10,000 metre overview of the province’s research infrastructure and a slew of lofty goals but what I got was an honest appraisal of the province’s innovation landscape and realistic assessment of the life science climate in Ontario. Lofty goals? Sure, those were there too, but Milloy and his team at MRI understand where the potential lies and are poised to make Ontario live up to these expectations. “We have an outstanding healthcare system here,” said Milloy. “We have one of the most diverse populations on earth which every researcher I meet tells me is amazing.” Holding concurrent positions as Minister for MRI and TCU (the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities), has given Milloy a firm understanding of Ontario’s major research areas and strengths. “We have incredible strengths in many of the issues related to aging and neuroscience is our theme at BIO this year. There is important work going on in colleges in terms of healthcare delivery related to aging. We have the strength here in Ontario – just look at U of T, the University of Western Ontario, and Baycrest – we have this wonderful
John Milloy
Ontario is ready to accept its place as a leader in life sciences
healthcare platform,” Milloy boasts. “These are incredible strengths that we can use to not only solve our problems here at home but also to deal with efficiencies in the healthcare system and issues around patient care. Why can’t we export our technologies and products around the world? I think Ontario is poised to be a global leader.” It’s a fair assessment of Ontario’s strengths, but this industry has been rocked by a lack of investment in recent years and MRI had just announced it was no longer accepting applications for one of its more lucrative, albeit contentious programs, the Biopharmaceutical Investment Program (BIP). Criticisms levied against the program included being narrow in scope with funds that were almost impossible to access. While not a failure, the short-lived program did fund a number of initiatives and there are still promises of more to come as the final applications are reviewed. “BIP was a successful program and although we’re not accepting new applications we’re still in the process of evaluating some applications that are still outstanding,” Milloy explains. “It provided much needed support and led to the creation of 1,400 jobs.” That’s acceptable, but in a gesture that really shows they’re listening to the concerns of the industry, MRI is rolling out a new program which will broaden the scope of the initiative. Hopefully allowing many more start-up companies access to the funding they desperately need. “Even though [BIP] was important and it had a very positive impact on the sector, we want to roll out something
