The Moderna Vaccine facility in Laval, Que. Canada has a golden opportunity to build up and adequately support our current bioscience-related research capabilities.ROGER LEMOYNE/The Globe and Mail
John Bergeron is the emeritus Robert Reford professor and a professor of medicine at McGill University. Kathleen Dickson is a former chief technician from the Montreal Neurological Institute. Dr. Stanley Kutcher is professor emeritus in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University and an independent Senator for Nova Scotia.
The present chaotic geopolitical and economic environment has changed Canada. Our Prime Minister has outlined a series of national projects deemed essential in both helping transform Canada into a global economic leader, and mitigating economic threats from the United States.
However, we note that this initiative has so far ignored one of the most essential components that drives improved health and wealth in Canada: investment in research, and the subsequent development of health-related products arising from the discoveries made.
A “discovery and innovation national project” supporting Canada’s discovery research would foster our own scientific talent and help reverse our decades-long “brain drain.” This project, which would attract international talent, is critical. In concert with the threat of Canada’s annexation, the current U.S. administration has attacked science, and America’s own scientists, by dismantling its scientific agencies and programs, leading to an increasing exodus of U.S. research talent. Recent changes to the H-1B visa requirements in the U.S. could steer new international talent to Canada if we had the entry pathways and research capabilities to absorb it.
Given our new reality, Canada now has a golden opportunity to build up and adequately support our current bioscience-related research capabilities through our existing National Research Council, the Tri-Councils (comprised of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) and universities. We can provide better support for our world-class scientists, keep some of our best young minds at home and recruit world-class talent from the U.S. and elsewhere.
Rapidly developing and implementing a discovery and innovation national project that substantially enhances our capacity in discovery-based research, and creates effective pathways to market, should be an integral part of our national growth strategy.
Indeed, the most recent federal government-commissioned report on Canadian research suggested such an approach. In recent remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Prime Minister Mark Carney recognized the value of our talent, ingenuity and research universities. It is well recognized that investment in discovery research leads to substantial economic gains, with government-funded R&D causally linked to increased productivity and innovation. Yet, Canadian government-funded R&D, as well as business-funded R&D, lags significantly behind that of most OECD countries.
History shows that while some of the most important Canadian biomedically related research discoveries have originated from investigator-driven research, Canada has not benefited economically from these findings. Two recent examples are the development of the molecular envelope that delivers mRNA vaccines, and the co-discovery of GLP-1, which has led to the development of drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity. The return on investment (ROI) for the research, including the development of the envelope for mRNA vaccines and the co-discovery of GLP-1, has been astronomical; however, this has not been the case for Canada. For GLP-1 drugs alone, the market value is estimated to be over US$60-billion just for 2025. Although co-discovered in Canada, little to no ROI from this discovery goes to Canadian businesses.
The former co-founder of BlackBerry, Jim Balsillie, noted to the National Post that “Canada’s approach to trade and competitiveness is outdated and ignores the fact that in the knowledge economy, prosperity flows from ownership of intellectual property.” He goes on: “There were recent patents granted for University of Waterloo research with Huawei, giving away the best battery technology from Dalhousie to 3M and Tesla, giving away the best AI technology from Edmonton and University of Toronto to Google. We don’t have a capture structure in place. So until we fix that, which we have not, I’m extremely wary,” he said.
A discovery and innovation national project would enhance support for our discovery researchers, help retain our emerging scientific talent and leverage the opportunity for top talent to choose Canada as their home. In this way, Canada can become a world leader in biomedical-related discoveries, with an effective mechanism in place to link discoveries to product development and production, resulting in economic, social and productivity benefits.
Now is the time. Will we seize this incredible opportunity, or will we let it slip away to another country?