QUESTION PERIOD — Innovation, Science and Economic Development
Pharmaceutical Drugs
March 22, 2024
Senator Gold, it appears that, in spite of the federal government’s investment in rebuilding Canada’s pharmaceutical industry following COVID-19, drug companies in this country actually spent less on in-house research in Canada in 2022 than they did the year before. This “deinvestment” is part of a pattern that this industry has established in Canada: abandon in-house fundamental research, mine the work of Canadian scientists and charge high drug prices to Canadians. Can you please tell us what the government is doing to counter this pattern?
Thank you for your question, senator. The government remains firmly committed to supporting cutting-edge technologies and approaches to accelerate drug recovery and to develop new drugs and treatments for the benefit of Canadians. One example of this is the $49 million investment that the government has made through the Strategic Innovation Fund for the creation of the Conscience Open Science Drug Discovery Network. This is a collaborative, pan-Canadian network that aims to address gaps in the development of potential drugs and therapeutics, particularly in the areas of traditional market failure, such as antivirals for pandemic preparedness, medicines for antimicrobial resistance and medicines for rare and pediatric diseases.
Colleagues, I’ve also been informed that Conscience, this network, is expected to work with 27 key partners representing non-profits, academia and industry, including Canadian AI organizations and the pharmaceutical industry in this direction.
Senator Gold, could you please ask the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to provide us in this chamber with a written answer that details the strategy, the evaluation and responsibility framework that his department has developed to ensure ongoing, robust pharmaceutical industry investment in fundamental research — not the network but the pharmaceutical company investment, please?
Senator, thank you for the question, although, respectfully, I think it might have been more appropriate to have submitted this as a written question.
That said, I will bring this to the attention of the minister, and I would be happy to facilitate a discussion between you and the minister on this subject.
