canada’s innovative pharmaceutical companies respond to covid-19 with unparalleled cooperation
an unprecedented global health crisis calls for an unpr...
published nov 26, 2020
last updated feb 21, 2025
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4 minute read
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an unprecedented global health crisis calls for an unprecedented response and industry has risen to the challenge. canada’s pharmaceutical companies are collaborating like never before – with each other, with governments at all levels, with researchers, patient groups and more. together they share one goal: finding and developing treatments to help those infected with the virus, and vaccines to prevent its spread.
innovative medicines canada (imc) is the association representing 43 companies in the innovative medicines and life sciences sectors — from established organizations to startups — and the tens of thousands of canadians who work for them to revolutionize healthcare through the discovery and development of new medicines and vaccines. during the covid-19 pandemic, imc’s advertising campaign positioning — hope is hard work — has taken on even greater significance for canadians.
“ordinary canadians whose lives, health, businesses and livelihoods have been impacted by covid-19 are the reason for this united effort,” says imc president pamela fralick. “i have spent most of my working life in the healthcare sector, and i can honestly say that the degree of cooperation we are seeing across our health systems, industry and civil society is something i have never experienced. canadians will be better off for it.”
canada’s innovative pharmaceutical companies have a history of solving big problems that goes back almost a century, from the discovery of insulin in 1921, to contributions to the development of a polio vaccine in 1955, and developing a standard delivery method for the smallpox vaccine in 1967. more recent contributions include development of a treatment for age-related macular degeneration; an hiv-prevention vaccine; and a cancer stem cell targeting treatment designed to halt cancer growth.
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“as canadians we can be incredibly proud of the industry we have built in this country and the contributions we have made to the life sciences,” says fralick. “we have a strong, innovative sector that is committed to playing its part to improve the health and well-being of canadians. that is why, for example, our member companies have opened their libraries of proprietary molecular compounds to share with the global scientific community to spur the development of vaccines and treatments for the virus through the bill & melinda gates foundation’s covid-19 therapeutics accelerator.”
under that initiative, the accelerator is testing approved drugs for activity against covid-19, screening compounds for which there is confirmed safety data, and considering the application of new compounds and monoclonal antibodies.
canada’s innovative pharmaceutical companies are working to help test those who may have been exposed to covid-19, while also working to treat those who have already tested positive for the virus. biovectra is aiding both efforts by manufacturing critical raw materials for covid-19 diagnostic testing kits at the same time as it collaborates with other canadian biopharmaceutical companies and researchers to develop covid-19 therapeutic products.
imc members are also collaborating with governments and regulatory bodies, lending their expertise to help ensure the rapid development of solutions to the pandemic. roche is one such company, currently working with health canada, the public health agency of canada and provincial public laboratories to develop an efficient strategy to deploy available covid-19 testing solutions and help reduce the level of pandemic impact in jurisdictions across the country.
astrazeneca recently announced an agreement with the government of canada to supply 20 million doses of astrazeneca’s covid-19 vaccine candidate azd1222, should clinical trials prove to be successful and authorization be granted by health canada. following this supply agreement, health canada announced the initiation of a rolling review for azd1222 – marking the first authorization review of a covid-19 vaccine submission in canada. globally, astrazeneca has announced partnerships to enable supply of roughly 3 billion doses of the vaccine in order to support broad and equitable access at no profit during the pandemic period.
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globally, novartis has already contributed more than us$40 million to more than 60 projects across the globe to strengthen medical infrastructure and provide onsite support for communities who have been impacted by the health crisis. in canada, novartis created the community strong covid-19 response program with $500,000 donated to community and patient groups in canada, and established an employee donation program which matched an additional $50,000 in employee donations.
gilead is currently working with regulatory authorities worldwide to help map out options designed to expand access to treatment through the application of expedited regulatory processes.
the federal government has announced agreements with several companies – medicago, pfizer, moderna, johnson & johnson, novovax, sanofi, glaxosmithkline and astrazeneca – to supply roughly 358 million doses of potential vaccines to canadians.
“just as we have met other major health challenges, we know that canada’s innovative pharmaceutical companies have what it takes to contribute meaningfully to this global effort,” says fralick. “they’re willing to apply the effort, commitment and investment required to help fight covid-19 — and offer hope to canadians.”
this story was created by content works, postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of innovative medicines canada.
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