BIOTECanada Welcomes Government of Canada’s Strategy on Improving Access to Care for Patients with Rare Diseases

OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BIOTECanada welcomes the government’s dedicated investment of $1.5 B over 3 years to advance effective access to medicines, improve evidence and decisions for the care of patients with rare diseases. The integrated approach, bringing federal, provincial and territorial governments together with national clinical practice expertise networks including clinicians, researchers and industry will be key to creating a national access program to address the long-standing gap in care for patients with rare diseases.

“Canada is home to dozens of small companies from university beginnings and global companies bringing solutions to meet the needs of these highly complex illnesses impacting thousands of Canadian patients and their families. Today’s announcement is an important initial step which sends a strong message to investors and researchers of Canada’s commitment to addressing the need of patients globally. The industry welcomes the opportunity to work with the government to support evidence-based decision making, including data collection, patient registries, gaining evidence and increasing regulatory capacity. Together, successfully building Canada’s capacity in these areas will support the delivery of ground-breaking medicines for Canadians,” commented Andrew Casey President and CEO BIOTECanada.

Canada has been lacking a cohesive strategy to address the needs of rare disease patients for decades. Most other developed nations have had systems of care in place serving the needs of patients, improving clinical research and regulatory capacity while working collaboratively with industry. With the federal commitment outlined today by federal Minister of Health Duclos, Canada is positioned to ensure rare disease patients benefit from the expanding research and development underway here in Canada and globally.

“BIOTECanada’s network of member companies are some of the many companies globally developing breakthrough medicines and therapies to address the unique medical needs associated with rare disorders. Importantly, many global pharma companies are investing in and/or partnering with Canadian companies to advance innovative biotech solutions emerging from Canadian universities and research labs. Remarkable new technologies and therapies are on the horizon, including some being developed by Canadian biotech companies. In this context, the industry looks forward to working with federal and provincial governments on the implementation of this strategy and the corresponding regulatory mechanisms to facilitate greater access for patients,” offered Casey.