One of Canada’s biotech hot spots is hoping a shiny new research hub will help bring more of the US$2.8 trillion global life science business to the city.
Driving the news: A new state-of-the-art life science hub is being built in Montréal, a facility that will include a medical research lab and an incubator to nurture startups. The goal is to attract more life science companies, talent, and investment dollars from around the world.
- Montréal is already a top-10 life science hub in North America, but the provincial government’s stated goal is to move into the top five by 2027.
Why it matters: Canada’s life science sector excels at research, but when it comes to turning work into commercial products, the industry has struggled. And in the life science business, any real economic benefit comes from bringing those innovations to market.
- A recent report found that while Canada ranks ninth among its global peers in research and talent, it ranks 17th for its business outputs from that knowledge and technology.
Bottom line: About 80% of the funding in Canada’s life sciences sector is for R&D, while very little is invested in helping research teams bring products to market. Until that changes, Canadian researchers are likely to keep looking to the U.S. to commercialize their work.—LA