CSPC 2018

Organized by: The Centre for Drug Research and Development, Barry Gee

Canada has a proud history of international leadership in health research, and in supporting innovation in the global life sciences industry. Despite constituting less than 0.5% of the world population, Canadians produce 5% of the world’s research publications, with a citation rate that ranks amongst the top 6 nations worldwide. However, Canada doesn’t full take advantage of this competitive advantage by translating it into a leading life sciences industry: The winners of the Canadian federal government’s 2018 ‘Supercluster’ funding initiative represented a multitude of industries encompassing digital technologies, oceans, mining, artificial intelligence, smart agri-food, and advanced manufacturing. Jarringly, no life sciences proposals were ultimately supported.

This session will debate the government's decision, and discuss how we can tap into the life sciences sector’s potential to contribute immensely to Canada’s economy and transform into the next Canadian supercluster. Our panelists will share perspectives on two salient topics: (i) the means by which the public and private sectors can best come together to support the growth of Canada's health sciences ecosystem, and (ii) strategies for the federal government to establish comprehensive public policy and work with the private sector to support basic research, build a robust translational and commercialization pathway, and ultimately attract increased venture capital investment to Canada such that we can scale Canadian SMEs, and establish global Canadian anchors.