A Competitive Advantage: Does Canada Have One?

Paul A. Barran, Ph.D.
Industrial Technology Advisor | Conseiller en technologie industrielle
Industrial  Research Assistance Program | Programme d’aide a la recherché industrielle
National Research Council of Canada | Conseil national de recherches Canada

 

In 2013 Don Enns, then President of Life Sciences BC, wrote an article discussing 6 aspects he felt drive competitive advantage. In this article I would like to re-visit those six aspects and ask the question:

How does Canada stack-up on each?

Evolutionary business models: In recent years it has become increasingly challenging to build a biotech company using the traditional model: angel financing to get proof of concept, venture capital (VC) financing to get into the clinic, and an Initial public offering (IPO) to get to market. Companies now have to be creative in their business models in order to survive, and Canada has a strong history of innovative business models. For example, Aspreva International Ltd. was one of the first companies in the world to reposition an approved drug as a faster way to get to market; the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) and the Quebec Consortium for Drug Development (CQDM) pioneered the concept of incubating technologies in the academic system longer to increase the chance of success upon spin-out; and Xenon was an early adopter of the partnership model to get big pharma to help fund its research programs.

 Capital formation and access: Access to capital is a chronic issue for life sciences companies and all levels of government in Canada are stepping up to try to help fill the gap between concept and commercialization. Federal programs include: Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) program provides a rebate of approximately 30% on eligible R&D expenditures, National Research Council Industrial of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) which provides non-dilutive research funding to companies, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) which funds academic-industry collaborations, and the regional economic development agencies such as Western Economic Diversification Canada (WDP) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).

Provincial programs include: Provincial SR&ED-like tax credits, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), and Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ). Municipal programs include: MaRS in Toronto,

 
Progressive health policy: Canada has a publically funded universal health care system administered at the provincial level. This type of system has allowed provinces to implement policies such as province-wide screening programs for diseases such as cervical cancer or to establish treatment standards where everyone gets the current standard of care. As a result Canada has extensive provincial databases of anonymized human health data which in the new era of big data and data mining provides a remarkable resource for clinical research.

Globalization: It is widely accepted that successful companies must think globally in all aspects of their business. Canada may be geographically large, but we have a relatively small population and are not considered a major market. As a result Canadian companies have to think globally from inception.

Technical convergence: Electronic medical records and telemedicine are examples of what can happen when there is convergence between different technologies and disciplines. The real opportunities of the future will be found at the interfaces between chemistry, molecular biology, nanotechnology, digital media, and Information and communications technology (ICT) - including wireless. Genomics is an example of how all of these technologies can be brought together from sequencing to bioinformatics to data mining, personalized medicine, and translation into patient care. Canada has one of the world’s top genomics centres in the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at the BC Cancer Agency.

Public engagement: It is said that public policy reflects public sentiment and engagement. Canada has one of the best educated populations in the world with over 14% of people in the workforce having university or college degrees. Outreach is also a big part of our culture with many programs to educate the public and school children in particular about the opportunities, benefits and of course risks of modern life sciences technologies.

So, looking at the six drivers of competitive advantage, I think Canada stacks up very well.

Canada has an innovative business culture, government programs are in place to help fund corporate R&D, health policies create unique opportunities, Canadians think globally, and we have an informed and engaged population.