Article Type: Generic

Industry calls for regulatory changes

R&D spending by pharmaceutical companies in Canada inched up in 2005 but not enough to fulfill the 10% R&D-to-sales ratio committed by the industry back in 1987 when government enacted changes to the Patent Act.

Institutional performance varies widely

Not all universities are the same when it comes to generating value for research investment. A new report on Canadian University Publications has developed two new indictors to gauge how much institutions pay for the publications its researchers publish and whether they are getting value for money when compared to other institutions domestically and internationally.

After nine years overseeing the remarkable build-up of research capacity at the Univ of Ottawa, Dr Howard Alper is joining the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) as a visiting executive.

International Review Panel report released

The governing council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) will meet late next month to consider the ramifications of a major review of its first five years and its implications for the future direction of health research in Canada.

First job for new Council of Canadian Academies

By Debbie Lawes

The fledgling Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) has until August 30 to report on the state of science and technology in Canada as part of the Conservative government’s efforts to develop a new science and investment strategy by the end of the year.

Promised fall economic agenda

There is cautious but growing optimism that the new Conservative administration is seriously considering adding innovation and commercialization to its next set of priorities leading into the critical fall decision-making process for the next federal Budget.

Kingston-based Performance Plants Inc has raised $12 million in the first tranche of an anticipated $15-million round of venture financing to move to revenue sustainability by 2009. The 11-year-old plant biotechnology firm secured the funding from a syndicate of venture capital firms to relocate off the Queen’s Univ campus into a new facility and ramp up product offerings based on its Value Enhanced Stress Tolerance (VEST) technologies – one of several technologies under development.

PARTEQ Innovations, the not-for-profit tech transfer arm of Queen’s Univ, is launching a new service to assist its spinoff companies in managing fluctuations in cash flow. PARTEQ Treasury Services will provide short-term bridge loans to firms that require cash and agree to use their scientific research & experimental development (SR&ED) tax credits to secure the advances.

New Conference Board Report

Canada could produce greater results from public-private research collaborations by taking steps to reduce student turnover, clarify university rules and offer tax credits to companies that partner with universities, according to the Conference Board of Canada.

Genome BC is striking out on an ambitious five-year plan that could see up to $300 million invested in key areas of research and applications that correspond to the province’s emerging life sciences strategy.