Montreal, February 23rd, 2009 — Announcement of a new funding obtained from the Government of Canada.
During a press conference held in Montreal, the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) and the Honourable Jean‐Pierre Blackburn, Minister of National Revenue and Minister of State (Agriculture) announced the establishment of two new Networks of Centres of Excellence in the Greater Montreal area and one of which is the CQDM – Québec Consortium for Drug Discovery. The CQDM becomes one of 4 new business‐led networks of Centres of Excellence selected in Canada and will receive 8 millions $ during the next four years.
“These new networks will help Canadian researchers and entrepreneurs get more of their innovations from the lab to the marketplace,” said Minister of State Goodyear. “Our government is committed to investing in research and development to create jobs, improve the quality of life of all Canadians and strengthen the economy for future generations.”
“This is one of the Government of Canada’s key investments that will ensure the country’s long‐term prosperity and growth,” added Minister Blackburn. “These two new networks will encourage more private sector investment in research and development and will train the next generation of researchers, while helping to close
the gap between research and commercialization.”
Also present to this press conference were : the Honourable Raymond Bachand, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, Mrs. Suzanne Fortier, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Mr. Paul Lévesque, President of Pfizer Canada.
