With an investment of $500,000, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) is joining CQDM in launching the 2014 edition of CQDM’s Explore Program to fund the Ontario arm. This unique initiative fosters highly innovative and unconventional game-changing biopharmaceutical research. This is the first time this program will be open to researchers in Ontario as well as in Quebec, thanks to the partnership with OCE.
With a commitment of up to $2.5 million, the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) embarks with CQDM and Brain Canada on the new national initiative in neuroscience “Focus on Brain”. OBI’s contribution thus brings to $12.5 million the total funding available to researchers in academia as well as SMEs across Canada, for the development of breakthrough technologies to accelerate the discovery of new, safe and effective drugs for disorders of the brain and nervous system. OBI’s funding will be dedicated to Ontario-based entities. Combining resources and strengths in neuroscience across Canada, this new partnership will build on complementary expertise, foster innovative industry-academic collaborations, increase Canada’s competitiveness in the field and allow our researchers to better engage in international networks dedicated to bringing better cures to patients and their families.
The partnerships were announced today at the 2014 Bio International Convention in San Diego by Jacques Daoust, Quebec’s Minister of Economy, Innovation and Exports (MEIE) and senior officials from CQDM, OCE and OBI.
“Our new partnership is the continuation of the work we have been doing with CQDM in the Ontario-Quebec Life Sciences Corridor,” said Tom Corr, President and CEO of OCE. “We are delighted to extend our collaboration to CQDM’s unique Explore Program, opening it to Ontario-based researchers and SMEs. With CQDM and its partners, we are making it possible to bridge the gap and fund innovative research projects which can potentially be game changers in drug discovery and development.”
“We are glad to join CQDM and Brain Canada in the ‘Focus on Brain’ program which is a major initiative to support innovative translational research with tangible results 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 happy to deepen our collaborations with OCE and OBI in such unique initiatives and bring a true contribution in filling the gaps in innovation in Quebec, Ontario as well as Canada. We are glad to tap into Ontario’s excellence in research and further develop synergies between Quebec and Ontario. Today’s announcement illustrates the value-added of CQDM’s unique business model to support truly innovative translational research”, said Diane Gosselin, President and CEO of CQDM.
“I am pleased that Ontario organizations like OCE and OBI are working with colleagues in Quebec on such important programs. These are the kinds of strategic partnerships we envisioned when we created the Ontario-Quebec Life Sciences corridor. Developing innovative new technologies in this field will result in positive economic outcomes for both provinces”, said Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario.
“Our government is delighted to note that our support for CQDM continues to bear fruit. The investments will bolster the design of tools geared to the development of promising new drugs in addition to consolidating Quebec’s position in this field of the future”, said Jacques Daoust, Quebec Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Exports.
About CQDM
CQDM is a pharma-based consortium active in pre-competitive research whose mission is to fund the development of innovative tools and technologies to accelerate drug discovery and development. 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, biotechs and the pharmaceutical industry converge to address numerous complex medical challenges. CQDM receives financial support from 8 of the largest pharmaceutical companies around the world (AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer Canada, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly Canada, Novartis Pharma Canada and Sanofi Canada), as well as from Quebec’s Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Exportations (MEIE) and the Government of Canada under the Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence program (BL-NCE).