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reports and analyses of the forces driving science and technology investment in Canada
editor: Mark Henderson How it looks to me.... by Mark Henderson FEATURE REPORTS | RESEARCH BRIEFS | PERSONALITIES How it looks to me.... by Mark Henderson, editor, RE$EARCH MONEY Before the governing Liberals can take any credit for turning the tide on health research in this country, it has to finish the job. The past two budgets -- the last in particular -- reversed a disturbing trend in funding, but any kudos must be withheld until approval and funding is granted to the two major health research proposals now before government. It's been said many times that an adequate level of health research funding would be one percent of the total annual health care tab, which currently totals about $80 billion. Yet Canada is nowhere near the $800 million mark in its funding for the Medical Research Council and all the other health research projects scattered throughout government. Funding the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to this level would elicit the short term thanks of the health research community and the long term gratitude of the population at large. So too would the funding of Genome Canada, which would put Canada back in genomics after the ball was dropped by the feds in 1997. The backers of both CIHR and Genome Canada argue that the money spent on health research will be returned many times over in the form of better productivity, new products and services and the improved health of Canadians. The budget surpluses are available and government would be hard pressed to find better ways than health research to spend it on.
FEATURE REPORTS...
RESEARCH BRIEFS
Math delegation attends Canada-Chinese Mathematics Congress A delegation of more than 60 mathematical scientists have recently returned from China after participating in the first Canada-Chinese Mathematics Congress. Designed to foster close links between mathematicians from the two nations, the bilateral event was marked by lectures, workshops and short courses for students, with a strong emphasis on linkages between math and the new economy. Several Canadian mathematicians remained after the congress to take three one-week courses in cryptography, mathematical finance and mathematical biology. Canada's participation was coordinated by the Centre de Recherche Mathematiques in Montreal, the Fields Institute in Toronto and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences serving Western Canada. They are the same institutes which were instrumental in the successful bid to create the Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS) a federal Network of Centres of Excellence announced last year (R$, October 28/98). The Canadian delegation to China was led by Dr Tom Brzustowski, president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. He deemed the visit a success and said it could lead to active future collaboration in research....
TPC and Climate Change Fund invest in waste conversion project The Government of Canada has invested $4.7 million in a $18.9-million project to develop a new waste treatment system for treating municipal solid waste. The R&D project will be undertaken by Eastern Power Ltd (EPL), Guelph ON, and its subsidiary, Super Blue Box Recycling Corp. The funding is being provided through Technology Partnerships Canada in conjunction with the Technology Early Action Measures program of the Climate Change Action Fund. The project will see EPL construct a 1/10th scale treatment plant that will process kitchen yard and paper waste through an enhanced, multi-stage anacrobic digestion unit. Microbes will break down the material resulting in methane-rich biogas that can be used to generate energy for compost and soil enhancement. If successfully commercialized, the process is expected to create more than 200 jobs and result in significant waste diversion from landfill sites and a source of sustainable energy. EPL operates two landfill gas-powered power plants near Toronto and has a staff of 75, including 25 in R&D....
Expro to develop next-generation airbags with TPC assistance A Quebec-based company that supplies explosives to the Department of National Defence has received a $1.8-million investment from Technology Partnerships Canada to develop second- and third-generation airbags for commercial automobiles. Expro Chemical Products Inc will exploit its expertise gained through the processing of military propellant RDX to develop gas generants for use in automotive airbags. RDX is less volatile than the caustic gas generant used in the current, first-generation airbags. Expro's second-generation versions will be smaller and use a cylinder of compressed gas, while the third-generation airbag under development will be even smaller and not require the gas cylinder. The project is expected to create nearly 30 jobs for Expro, which currently employs 360 at its plant in St-Timothée near Valleyfield PQ....
CDMA accuses Industry Canada of rushing drug legislation The Canadian Drug Manufacturers Association (CDMA) has accused Industry Canada of being in a "mad rush to protect the profits of foreign-owned multinational drug companies" by giving generic drug makers just two days to respond to last-minute changes to legislation extending patent protection for brand-name pharmaceuticals. The charge is just the latest in a long-standing battle between manufacturers of generic drugs and patented drugs. The CDMA press release did not articulate exactly what changes were made that will allegedly cost Canadians millions of dollars in higher drug prices....
MEDICAL BRIEFS
Deadline looming for first round of marijuana research program The October 1 deadline for the first round of applications for the Health Canada/Medical Research Council marks the beginning of a $7.5-million, five-year research program to determine the drug's safety and efficacy in the management of symptoms in patients unresponsive to traditional treatments. The Medical Marijuana Research Plan will largely focus on clinical treatment of patients in several areas, with limited funds available for basic and applied research proposals. Claims have been made that marijuana can relieve symptoms associated with nausea and vomiting and wasting syndrome associated with cancer and AIDS, pains and spasms associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures associated with epilepsy and ocular pressure found in patients suffering from glycoma. Due to the stigma and criminality associated with marijuana, Health Canada is insisting that all sources of marijuana for research purposes are legal and that its importation conforms to domestic and international law. Three competitions will be held annually until 2004....
Biomira to go alone in development of cancer vaccine Biomira Inc has announced it has the resources to finance clinical trials for its Theratope cancer vaccine following the withdrawal of Chrion Corp, Emeryville CA, from the existing collaboration agreement. Edmonton-based Biomira currently added to $46 million in cash and investments with a US$36-million equity line of credit with a group of European investors. In other news, Biomira and spin-off AltaRex Corp have settled their outstanding lawsuits against one another that were issued over disagreement over the terms of a licence agreement. As part of the settlement, AltaRex has agreed to repay a $4.2-million loan to Industry Canada originally taken in 1991, and will re-pay a $250,000 loan to the Alberta government upon the commercialization of AltaRex's lead product candidate, OvaRex, for the treatment of ovarian cancer. The loans were taken to support research by Biomira and Biomira Research Inc that ultimately benefitted Alta Rex....
Microbix advancing clinical trials with $15-million financing deal Vancouver's Micrologix Biotech Inc has closed a $15-million syndicated financing deal to advance its clinical programs and secure strategic alliances with big pharma. The bought deal financing of 7.7 million special units was led by Yorkton Securities Inc and included TD Securities Inc, RBC Dominion Securities Inc, CIBC World Markets Inc and CT Securities Inc. Three of the underwriters have been granted options to purchase additional shares in three equal six-month tranches. Micrologix will proceed with Phase II trials this fall for MBI226, its treatment of catheter-related bloodstream infections and Phase I trials for two additional drug products in the first half of 2000....
Cangene to build new manufacturing facility in Winnipeg Cangene Corp is bringing the final elements of its biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes in-house with the beginning of construction on a 3,000-sq-m facility adjacent to its recently completed R&D facility. It will house the fermentation and down-stream processing aspects of manufacturing. Both buildings were financed with loans from Manitoba and federal governments. Western Economic Diversification provided $3 million, while the provincial Industrial Opportunities Program furnished $2 million. The manufacturing facility should be operational in January, 2001 and will help Cangene meet the demands of its growing contract manufacturing business....
PERSONALITIESThomas Kierans has been appointed chairman of the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research. Kierans will employ his extensive academic and business expertise to assist in the Institute's objective of identifying and supporting top-flight researchers and scholars. He holds a BA from McGill Univ and an MBA from the Univ of Chicago. Kierans has held a number of senior positions at firms including McLeod Young Weir Ltd, Nesbitt Thompson and Pitfield Mackay Ross. He is currently head of the Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and holds the Geoffrey R Conway chair in business ethics at the Univ of Toronto's Joseph L Rotman School of Management. He is the former president/CEO of the CD Howe Institute.... Primaxis Technology Ventures Inc has made three senior appointments to its management team. Joining the seed financing firm are: Dr Tony Redpath, who is leaving Materials and Manufacturing Ontario (MMO) after nine years. Redpath will become VP business development with responsibility for university relations. Redpath is joined at Primaxis by Dr Kevin Goheen who becomes VP government and corporate laboratories. Goheen was formerly a professor of mechanical engineering at Carleton Univ, and previously an associate VP (academic) at Ryerson Polytechnic Univ. The third appointment is Joel Liederman, as VP investor management. Liederman has held senior management positions with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd, Alcatel and Spar Aerospace Ltd. Primaxis is a joint venture between the Royal Bank Capital Corp and BTG International Inc, a UK-based firm specializing in patenting and marketing intellectual property rights. Primaxis has a mandate to commercialize technology in the physical sciences, including electronics, telecommunications, advanced materials and manufacturing processes (R$, March 10/99).... Dr Luis Barreto has been appointed to the newly created position of VP public affairs for Pasteur Mérieux Connaught Canada, where he will be responsible for public affairs and external communications including a public policy function. He will continue to serve as PMCC's global director of international public health affairs.... Dr James Whitteker has been appointed senior RF research scientist for Northwood Geoscience Ltd, an Ottawa-area developer of spatial information management products and precision geospatial data sets. In the newly created position, he will be responsible for leading the firm's propagation R&D efforts, drawing on his expertise in using physical-optics methods to simulate radio-wave propagation. Whitteker enjoyed a 30-year career as a researcher at the Communications Research Centre studying radio-wave propagation on terrestrial paths. He holds a BSc and PhD in physics.... Ian Lennox has resigned as president and CEO of Drug Royalty Corp to become CEO of Phoenix International Life Sciences Inc, a major, Montreal-based contract research organization. He replaces Dr John Hooper, who announced his intention to resign as CEO and board chairman earlier this year (R$, April 28/99). He remains a board director and will work closely with the company's software division. Hooper's position heading up the board has been filled by Claude Forget, who has been a board director since 1989 and has recently worked as a consultant on several projects for firms controlled by Charles Sirois. At Drug Royalty, Lennox's roles have been filled by James Webster, who moves up from executive VP and CFO. He also becomes a company director. Lennox chairs the executive committee and becomes board chairman, replacing MDS Capital Corp president Ed Rygiel who is stepping down.... Donald Whitcomb, president and CEO of Celanese Canada Inc, is leaving the Montreal-based company to pursue other interests following its acquisition by Hoechst AG. He joined the firm 26 years ago in the US and rose through the ranks to become VP and treasurer of Hoechst Celanese. In 1992, Whitcomb became VP business development and administration for the life sciences group, where he played a major role in the acquisition of Hoechst by Marion Merrell Dow. Once the transaction is completed, the company will become part of Celanese AG, a new industrial chemicals business unit....
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