Innovative Medicines Canada Welcomes ISED Roundtable Recommendations for Health & Biosciences Sector

OTTAWA, Sept. 25, 2018 /CNW/ - Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC) welcomes the recommendations made by the Government of Canada's Health/Biosciences Economic Strategy Table (HBEST) Report released today.

"The recommendations put forward in this report are a strong signal that the government recognizes the contributions made by companies and organizations in the life sciences sector and is prepared to work with us to address the challenge we face in attracting and retaining capital, particularly from a regulatory perspective," said IMC President Pamela Fralick. "As an important driver of innovation in this sector, the innovative pharmaceutical industry supports over 30,000 high-quality jobs and contributes over $19.2-billion to our economy."

The report outlines the HBEST vision for Canada which is to position the health and biosciences sector to become a top-three global hub by 2025. This would involve doubling health and bioscience annual exports from $13-billion to $26-billion, doubling the number of health and bioscience companies from 900 to 1,800 and doubling the number of high growth firms from 40 to 80.

Ms. Fralick indicated the government's plan to review and modernize eligibility criteria for research and development was welcomed by IMC members, many of whose current R&D activities are not fully captured by the 30-year old existing definition. According to a recent EY analysis, 10 per cent of industry revenues are invested into R&D.

She noted that IMC is working together with officials from ISED and Statistics Canada to develop a new definition that reflects how R&D is conducted in today's business environment.

ABOUT INNOVATIVE MEDICINES CANADA

Innovative Medicines Canada is the national voice of Canada's innovative pharmaceutical industry. We advocate for policies that enable the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative medicines and vaccines that improve the lives of all Canadians. We support our members' commitment to being valued partners in the Canadian healthcare system.

SOURCE Innovative Medicines Canada

For further information: Sarah Dion-Marquis, Director, Media and Public Relations, Telephone: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]

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