San Diego, June 23, 2014. – The Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) are partnering with CQDM to provide an additional $3 million to two programs focused on innovative technologies to accelerate drug discovery and development.
With an investment of $500,000, the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) are joining forces with CQDM in the launch of the 2014 edition of the Explore program to fund the Ontario portion of this program. This unique initiative by CQDM promotes highly innovative and unconventional biopharmaceutical research that has the potential to be game-changing. Thanks to the partnership with OCE, this program will be open for the first time to researchers in Ontario, in addition to those in Quebec.
With a commitment of up to $2.5 million, OBI is joining CQDM and the Neuro Canada Foundation in the new national initiative “Focus on Neuroscience.” OBI’s contribution raises the total funding available to researchers in universities and SMEs across Canada to $12.5 million for the development of cutting-edge technologies to accelerate the discovery of new drugs that are safe and effective for brain and nervous system disorders. OBI’s funding will be awarded to entities based in Ontario. By combining resources and expertise in neuroscience across Canada, this new partnership will build on the complementary strengths of researchers, promote innovative industry-university collaborations, increase Canada’s competitiveness in neuroscience, and facilitate the participation of Canadian researchers in international networks dedicated to providing better remedies for patients and their families.
The partnerships were announced today at the International BIO 2014 Convention in San Diego by Jacques Daoust, Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Export Trade (MEIE) of the Government of Quebec, as well as representatives from CQDM, OCE, and OBI.
“Our new partnership is an extension of the work we have done with CQDM in the Ontario-Quebec life sciences corridor,” said Tom Corr, President and CEO of OCE. “We are thrilled to expand our collaboration to CQDM’s Explore program, making this unique program accessible to researchers and SMEs in Ontario. With CQDM and its partners, we can bridge the innovation gap and fund innovative research projects that have the potential to be game-changers in drug discovery and development.”
“We are pleased to join CQDM and the Neuro Canada Foundation in the ‘Focus on Neuroscience’ program, which is a major initiative aimed at supporting innovative translational research with tangible outcomes on the drug discovery process to prevent, treat or cure neurological or mental health disorders,” said Donald Stuss, President and Scientific Director of OBI.
“We are very pleased to strengthen our collaborations with OCE and OBI in these unique initiatives and to make a real contribution to filling the innovation gaps in Quebec, Ontario, and across Canada. We look forward to tapping into the excellence of research in Ontario and further developing synergies between Quebec and Ontario. Today’s announcement also illustrates the added value of CQDM’s unique business model for supporting truly innovative translational research,” said Diane Gosselin, President and CEO of CQDM.
“I’m glad to see Ontario organizations like OCE and OBI working with their counterparts in Quebec on programs of this magnitude. These are the types of strategic partnerships we envisioned when we created the Ontario-Quebec life sciences corridor. Developing new innovative technologies in this area will result in positive economic impacts for both provinces,” said Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario.
“Our government is pleased to see that its support for CQDM continues to bear fruit. These investments will help strengthen the design of tools for the development of promising new drugs and will consolidate Quebec’s position in this future-oriented field,” said Jacques Daoust, Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Export Trade of Quebec.
About CQDM
CQDM is a pre-competitive research consortium whose mission is to fund the development of innovative technologies and tools to accelerate drug discovery. Unique in the world, CQDM’s business model is based on a collaborative approach where all stakeholders share the costs of biopharmaceutical research and benefit from its results. CQDM also provides a common meeting ground where academia, governments, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries converge to address numerous complex medical challenges. CQDM receives financial support from AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer Canada, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Novartis Pharma and Sanofi, as well as from the Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et des Exportations du Québec (MEIE) and the Government of Canada under the Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence program (BL-NCE). www.cqdm.org.
About the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI)
The Ontario Brain Institute is a not-for-profit research centre funded by the province with a mandate to maximize the impact of neuroscience and establish Ontario as a world leader in brain discovery, commercialization, and care. Convergent partnerships are created between researchers, clinicians, industry, patients, and their advocates to foster discovery and deliver innovative products and services that improve the lives of those living with brain disorders. www.braininstitute.ca.
About Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc. (www.oce-ontario.org)
Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc. drives the commercialization of cutting-edge research across key market sectors to build the economy of tomorrow and secure Ontario’s global competitiveness. OCE fosters the training and development of the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs and is a key partner with Ontario’s industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and government ministries. A champion of leading-edge technologies, best practices and research, OCE invests in sectors such as advanced health, digital media and information communication technology, advanced manufacturing and materials, and cleantech including energy, environment and water. OCE is a key partner in delivering Ontario’s Innovation Agenda as a member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE). Funded by the Government of Ontario, the ONE is made up of regional and sector-focused organizations and helps Ontario-based entrepreneurs and industry rapidly grow
their company and create jobs. For more information, visit www.onebusiness.ca.
About Brain Canada
Brain Canada is a national non-profit organization headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, that enables and supports excellent, innovative, paradigm-changing brain research in Canada. For more than one decade, Brain Canada has made the case for the brain as a single, complex system with commonalities across the range of neurological disorders, mental illnesses and addictions, brain and spinal cord injuries. Looking at the brain as one system has underscored the need for increased collaboration across disciplines and institutions, and a smarter way to invest in brain research that is focused on outcomes that will benefit patients and families.
Brain Canada’s vision is to understand the brain, in health and illness, to improve lives and achieve societal impact. Brain Canada is achieving its vision by:
Increasing the scale and scope of funding to accelerate the pace of Canadian brain research;
Creating a collective commitment to brain research across the public, private and voluntary sectors;
Delivering transformative, original and outstanding research programs.
About the Canada Brain Research Fund
The Canada Brain Research Fund is a public-private partnership designed to encourage Canadians to increase their support of brain research, and maximize the impact and efficiency of those investments. Brain Canada has committed to raising $100 million from private and non-governmental sources, which will be matched by government on a 1:1 basis. The Fund was announced in federal budget 2011, which proposed to “allocate up to $100 million to establish the Canada Brain Research Fund, which will support the very best Canadian neuroscience, fostering collaborative research and accelerating the pace of discovery, in order to improve the health and quality of life of Canadians who suffer from brain disorders.” For more information, visit us at www.braincanada.ca.
Source:
Julie Martineau
Senior Director, Communications and Business Development
CQDM
Tel.: (514) 766-6661, ext. 2198
jmartineau@cqdm.org
www.cqdm.org
Garth Smith
Director, Industry Relations
Ontario Brain Institute
Tel.: (647) 872-1208
gsmith@braininstitute.ca
www.braininstitute.ca
Stuart Green
Manager, Media Relations
Ontario Centres of Excellence
Tel.: (416) 861-1092
Stuart.green@oce-ontario.org
www-oce-ontario.org
