'This is beyond my expectations,' Champagne says of Canadian biomanufacturer rebound
Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canada's biomanufacturing sector has rebounded beyond his initial expectations in the last several months, as a Canadian drug maker stands poised to bring positive results from the first plant-based COVID-19 vaccine to Health Canada.
At the outset of the pandemic, Canada's lack of biomanufacturing capability came into sharp focus, and the incapacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines domestically caused some major initial stumbles in the country's early vaccine rollout.
Champagne says his vision was to rebuild the sector based on the different families of vaccines, as well as improve the capacity for contract manufacturers in Canada.
"This is beyond my expectations," Champagne said in an interview Monday.
The government spent billions of dollars in an attempt to rebuild Canada's flagging biomanufacturing capabilities as quickly as possible, after decades of decline.
Canadian company Medicago benefited from its largest investment, $173 million, to support the development of a plant-based COVID-19 vaccine and establish a large-scale manufacturing plant.
Now, Medigaco is churning out doses of its made-in-Canada vaccine in anticipation of its application to Health Canada, after trials showed the drug is 75.3 per cent effective against the Delta variant of COVID-19.
The company announced its trial results Tuesday, citing 88.6 per cent efficacy against the Gamma variant of COVID-19, and 75.3 per cent efficacy against Delta.
Medicago plans to take those results to Health Canada before the end of the year, as well as regulators in the United Kingdom, the United States, the World Health Organization and eventually Japan.
It has already started building inventory, 75 million doses of which have been promised to Canada.
Champagne's plan to have several types of COVID-19 vaccine produced in Canada appears to be coming together.
Moderna and BioVectra are set to manufacture mRNA technology in Canada. If Medicago gets a green light from Health Canada, it will produce its plant-based vaccines. Novavax has already filed for regulator approval of its protein based vaccine, which will be manufactured in the National Research Council's Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Montreal. Sonofi will spend $925 million to build a new vaccine facility in Toronto to bolster manufacturing capacity.
And just yesterday Merck Canada announced it inked a deal with Thermo Fisher Scientific to manufacture the oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment, molnupiravir, at its facility in Whitby, Ont. with a mandate to supply the product domestically, as well as to the United Kingdom, European Union, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
It's a sign more companies see Canada as a stable place to set up shop, he said.
"I think what … attracts them most is really the talent pool we have, the open and stable environment to produce, the fact that we kept our supply chain open," Champagne said.
To build on the progress, Champagne said Canada will need to focus on research and innovation to attract investment. The goal is for local manufacturers to provide drugs not only to Canada, but the world.
Medicago, which benefited from a large government investment, said Canada should also look to foster new start ups.
The homegrown company got a large cash injection from the government, but it still would not have made it without large private investment in the early days of its inception, said president Takashi Nagao.
"Canada compared with the U.S. still has what I see as a younger or less mature capital market to promote emerging licensed companies. So, these companies tend to go to U.S. NASDAQ and others for the funding," said Nagao.
"I think the government can play a vital role to help the funding during the early stage of the company to grow and be ready in the situation like this."
That is what Canada's official Opposition would like to see as well.
"Most of the government's recent investments have been made into foreign companies," said Ed Fast, Conservative critic for science, innovation and industry.
"Where are the substantive investments in Canadian startups that will ensure that we develop a homegrown ecosystem that encourages Canadian companies to conduct research, manufacture and commercialize here?"
He said his party wants to see policies that ensure policies for Canadian innovators and startups.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said it's encouraging to see Canadian private production on the rise, but his party wants to see a Crown corporation responsible for producing vaccines and critical drugs.
"We've seen the lack of that capacity and the impact it's had on Canadians and how important it is to be able to produce locally," Singh said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2021.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Local Spotlight
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Investigating the tale of Winnipeg's long-running mystery bookstore
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
'Love has no boundaries': Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.