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Canada’s Health Future Starts with Homegrown Innovation
Life Sciences
Marjorie Michel discusses strengthening Canada’s life sciences sector through collaboration, clinical trial modernization, and innovation to improve patient care and healthcare resilience.
Read the full interview with Majorie Michel at healthinsight.ca.
As clinical trials become more complex and globally competitive, adopting a country-wide single ethics review system helps to ensure Canadian research keeps moving forward.
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WRITTEN BY Anne Papmehl
Learn more and get started at canreview.ca.
This article was sponsored by CanReview.
How is Canada strengthening collaboration across the life sciences ecosystem to improve health outcomes and system resilience?
“Canada’s life sciences ecosystem is what anchors our health system, and propels the innovations and technologies that can help protect the health of Canadians, grow our nation’s economic prosperity, and maintain our overall health sovereignty. Our new government is focused on initiatives that strengthen collaboration within the life science ecosystem, including academia, industry and healthcare institutions, in order to turn Canadian research discoveries into real-world therapies, medical technologies, and commercial products. Together with the Hon. Mélanie Joly, my counterpart responsible for industry, I recently announced the creation of the Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Sector Task Force, a first of its kind effort involving senior leaders across the sector to explore innovative, made-in-Canada solutions to support reliable and sustainable access to pharmaceuticals in Canada, and maintain our nation’s industrial competitiveness.”
New Pan-Canadian Collaboration Reduces Clinical Trial Barriers
linical trials are key to life sciences development in Canada. But getting them started across the country can be costly and time-consuming. CanReview, a pan-Canadian collaboration, aims to ease this barrier with an efficient, coordinated research ethics review system for multi-site clinical trials. Rather than requiring separate ethics approvals across trial sites, CanReview combines a distributed research ethics board (REB) model with an easy-to-use online platform that enables researchers to apply for a single Canada-wide ethics review. With over 120 partners, CanReview has made meaningful strides towards improving efficiencies, but full national uptake is needed to keep pace globally. “The UK, Australia, and other countries have moved to national ethics review systems. To remain competitive and bring more trials to Canadians, we have to adopt a Canada-wide mindset,” says Susan Marlin, Nominated Principal Applicant, CanReview and President & CEO, Clinical Trials Ontario.
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Susan Marlin Nominated Principal Applicant, CanReview and President & CEO, Clinical Trials Ontario
What steps are being taken to ensure Canadians have timely access to new and innovative therapies? “Health Canada collaborates with other regulators. For example, Health Canada is part of the Access Consortium, which seeks to provide faster access to safe, effective and high-quality medicines. This past winter, Health Canada also launched consultations for two regulatory initiatives: the Ministerial Reliance Order and Clinical Trial modernization. These proposals are expected to reduce barriers to innovation, introduce more regulatory flexibility, and provide better access to drugs not available in Canada.”
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