Contents
A global centre for growing life sciences companies
Where business and research converge
A breeding ground for breakthroughs
All figures are in US dollars unless
otherwise noted. The exchange rate
used is based on the Bank of Canada's
average exchange rate:
Cdn $1.00 = US $0.88 (2006)
Cdn $1.00 = US $0.83 (2005)
Come to Ontario. Global giants -- GlaxoSmithKline, sanofi pasteur, Johnson & Johnson,
Amgen, Genzyme -- are all here. World-leading multinationals -- MDS, Apotex, TLC Vision -- all started here.
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What's our secret?
We provide all the ingredients needed to grow strong, healthy life sciences companies:
- a smart, skilled workforce— scientists for research, technicians for quality control, business managers with experience in global markets
- world-leading research institutes
- strong government support through generous R&D incentives, partnership programs and competitive tax rates.
Fast Fact
More than $2 million is
spent on health research
every day in Ontario.
Ontario offers one of those rare locations worldwide where leading-edge medical research converges with both international business expertise and advanced manufacturing capabilities.
That powerful combination has given birth to a thriving biomedical sector. Ontario's life sciences industry employs more than 40,000 people at more than 800 companies which generate $11+ billion in revenues annually.
It includes world leading pharmaceutical companies, innovative medical device developers and a wealth of biotechnology firms.
Ontario is a major North American life sciences hub that is closely connected with
researchers and markets around the world. Many Ontario operations have global product
mandates. Ontario medicines and medical devices are welcomed in world markets.
Every year between 1994 and 2004, Ontario biomedical exports grew by 18%.
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A history of breakthroughs
People around the world are benefiting from made-in-Ontario medical discoveries: insulin, the pacemaker, the artificial kidney, advances in 3-D imaging techniques and the discovery of genes for cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, breast cancer and Alzheimer's.
New breakthroughs are happening in our labs everyday. More than $750 million is invested in health research in Ontario annually.
Canadian headquarters for the business of life sciences
As Canada's financial, manufacturing and biomedical research centre, Ontario has become a magnet for head offices of leading life sciences companies.
Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the TSX Venture Exchange are home to more than 140 life sciences companies with a total market capitalization of more than $20 billion. In fact, the TSX Group operates the third largest life sciences market in the world.
Fast Fact
Ontario is North
America's 3rd largest
centre for biotech.
Pharmaceuticals
- 16,000+ employees
- includes global giants such as AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer
- sales of $5+ billion
- 22,000+ employees
- 600+ companies including multinational leaders such as Baxter, GE Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson Medical Products
- revenues of almost $4 billion
- 3,500+ employees
- 130+ companies including Amgen, Genzyme and sanofi pasteur – more than any U.S. state except California or Massachusetts
- revenues of $2+ billion
L O O K For over 90 years sanofi pasteur has been protecting Canadians against preventable diseases such as polio, tetanus, diphtheria, meningitis and influenza. Founded in 1914 as Connaught Laboratories, sanofi pasteur now offers the broadest vaccine range in Canada, manufacturing or distributing 20 vaccines and immunotherapeutic products. The Canadian vaccine entity—a division of global pharmaceutical giant sanofi-aventis Group— is taking the lead role in the company's cancer vaccine program. It's a bold, innovative collaboration between sanofi pasteur and top cancer researchers in Canada and around the world. Launched in 1997, the company has invested over (Cdn) $290 million dollars to date in its quest to research and develop therapeutic vaccines against certain cancers, including melanoma and colorectal cancer. This research is centered at the company's new (Cdn) $25 million cancer facility and in the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Our Canadian facility has played a significant role in many major scientific achievements, says sanofi pasteur President Mark Lievonen. Leading sanofi pasteur's cancer vaccine program not only shows how important the Canadian operation is to the overall global mandate of the company, it also speaks to the quality of research and development being done in Canada.
L O O K Researchers at Toronto General Hospital, St. Michael's Hospital, the London Health Sciences Centre and other Ontario research institutes are participating in global multicentre clinical trials in three key therapeutic areas – organ transplantation, fungal infections and dermatology – sponsored by Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma, one of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies. My scientific colleagues outside Canada love to include Ontario sites in our trials because patient enrollment is high and on time and the overall quality of the trials is excellent, says Hiro Ozaki, President of Astellas Pharma Canada. The costs tend to be lower here and the R&D tax credits are attractive, but the strongest reason for conducting trials in Ontario is the exceptional quality of the science, the institutions and the doctors.
At leading hospitals around the world, an increasing number of major surgical procedures, from coronary bypass to cancer therapy, are being handled by precision- manufactured, computer-controlled robots.
Procedures are done through pencil-sized incisions just large enough to insert the robotic instruments and endoscope (tiny camera) into the patient's body. Advanced communications technology allows a doctor to manipulate the surgical implements while sitting at a workstation far from the operating room— even hundreds of miles away!
Patients love it. Recovery time is measured in days, instead of weeks, and the risk of complications is greatly reduced.
Canada's national centre for developing and testing these next generation surgical techniques is Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics (CSTAR) in London, Ontario.
CSTAR is one of only a handful of centres worldwide which is successfully marrying precision robotics with 3-D imaging technology and advanced telecommunications. To date, CSTAR teams have performed more than 500 cardiac, thoracic, urologic and general surgery robotic procedures and continue to pioneer world firsts.
Successful life sciences companies need smart, skilled employees who understand science, business and international markets – and that's what they find in Ontario.
More than 40,000 highly skilled people work in our life sciences industry. They come
from a workforce that is among the best educated in the world. A higher percentage of the
Ontario workforce has completed their post-secondary education than in any industrialized
country in the world.
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An exceptional network of universities and colleges
Our top universities—the University of Toronto, McMaster, Queen's, Western, Ottawa and others—are internationally respected for the quality, depth and breadth of their life sciences research.
We have six medical schools including the University of Toronto, one of the largest in North America.
And our leading business schools are ranked among the best in the world by BusinessWeek, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal.
Our network of 20 universities and 24 colleges produces more than 29,000 graduates a year in science, math and engineering.
An international magnet for skilled talent
Ontario's life sciences community attracts and retains some of the best and the brightest scientists in the global research community. The quality of life, coupled with the wealth of business and academic opportunities found here, is a powerful magnet that is drawing highly skilled talent from countries around the world.
Home for leading researchers
Leading Ontario researchers continue to push the boundaries of medical knowledge.
In 2005, the Ontario Cancer Institute's Ernest McCulloch and James Till won the prestigious Lasker Prize for their research done in the 1960s that set the stage for all current research on stem cells.
Also in 2005, neuroscientist Endel Tulving of the Rotman Research Institute at the Baycrest Centre in Toronto received a Gairdner International Award—Canada's leading prize in biology and medicine—for his pioneering research which has had a profound impact on how scientists view human memory, and for his theoretical frameworks which now guide the whole field of memory research.
And in 2006, Anthony Pawson of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute was named by HRH Queen Elizabeth II as a member of the Order of Companions of Honour—the highest recognition a Canadian citizen can receive from the British government— for his international leadership in genetic sciences and cancer research.
Fast Fact
In a survey by The Scientist
magazine, 35,000 researchers
around the world ranked the
University of Toronto as the best
place to work outside the U.S.
L O O K When GlaxoSmithKline, sanofi-aventis and King Pharmaceuticals needed an organization to co-ordinate the landmark DREAM Trial (Diabetes REduction Assessment with ramipril (Altace) and rosiglitazone (Avandia) Medication), they turned to the
Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), at Hamilton's McMaster University. The study, which tested whether Type II diabetes could be prevented among high-risk populations, involved more than 5,000 patients and 191 clinics in 21 countries. The PHRI conducts some of the world's largest international clinical trials. Since the Institute was established in 1999 under the directorship of Dr. Salim Yusuf, it has steadily grown to 180 health care professionals including physicians, epidemiologists, statisticians and other research staff. Projects have involved more than 1,000 centres across Canada and 66 countries around the world. Over the last decade, more than 150,000 individuals have been enrolled in PHRI studies that have led to rapid drug approvals globally. Why do life sciences companies choose PHRI for clinical trials? Our group has led the successful completion of several large and efficient global studies involving tens of thousands of patients that has changed the practice of medicine worldwide and has improved the health of millions of individuals, says Dr. Yusuf. Our success is based on the dedication, skills and innovation of our entire team, both in Hamilton and around the globe.
L O O K Ottawa-based MDS Nordion is a global leader in medical isotopes for molecular and diagnostic imaging, sterilization technologies for disease prevention and radiotherapeutics for targeted therapy. It is widely recognized for its innovative technologies, world-class facilities and solid track record with 60 years of success. Strong partnerships between private industry and academia are critical for the life sciences industry, said Steve West, President, MDS Nordion. With our partners here in Ottawa, we are developing innovative technologies to change the landscape of healthcare on a global scale.
The Structural Genomics Consortium is one of the world's largest public/private partnerships devoted to placing fundamental, yet practical, information about human proteins into the public domain. Based in Toronto and with laboratories at the universities of Toronto and Oxford and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, the Consortium receives funding from, among others, the Wellcome Trust, GSK and the Ontario, Canadian and Swedish governments. How did Ontario, and Canada, become leaders in this new area? Because our scientific and political leaders dare to think big, said Consortium Director and CEO Dr. Aled Edwards of the University of Toronto. It started with the former government providing, for the first time, strong support for our science and it is now set to blossom under the current government, which has set science and innovation as a top agenda item. This bodes well for science but also for the economy and, ultimately, for our children's future.
BAK1 is a protein involved in the process of cell suicide, a normal physiological process, which can go awry sometimes leading to cancer or unwanted cell death and tissue degeneration. The SGC's 3D structure of BAK helps us understand how it can form a pore that allows other molecules to escape their cellular compartment, leading to cell death.
Business and community leaders agree: innovation drives growth, profits and prosperity. To fuel the fires of innovation, more than $8.5 billion is spent on R&D in Ontario every year. Pharmaceutical companies alone invest more than $450 million annually in the search for new and better medicines.
There are top-ranked public research institutes and private-sector R&D facilities across
the province. Five bioscience incubators and the Ontario Centres of Excellence Inc. help life
sciences entrepreneurs successfully move innovations from the lab to the marketplace.
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| Region | Key Research Strengths | Key Facilities |
|---|---|---|
| London |
Imaging Surgical technologies Musculoskeletal biology and orthopedics Cancer and cardiovascular research Vascular health and chronic disease |
University of Western Ontario Lawson Health Research Institute London Health Sciences Centre Robarts Research Institute St. Joseph's Health Care, London |
| Kitchener/Waterloo |
Clinical Trials Analytical and diagnostic testing Bio-informatics Biomedical engineering Ophthalmology |
University of Waterloo
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| Hamilton |
Drug discovery Clinical trials Gene therapeutics Population health |
McMaster University
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| Toronto |
Molecular medicine Cancer Genomics and proteomics Stem cells Vaccines Mass spectrometry Clinical trials Diagnostic imaging |
University of Toronto York University MaRS Princess Margaret Hospital/Ontario Cancer Institute University Health Network Hospital for Sick Children Mount Sinai Hospital/Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Women's College Research Institute Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care |
| Kingston |
Cancer Clinical trials Haptic systems and tactile interfaces Biopharmaceuticals CO2 Supercritical Fluid Extraction |
Queen's University
Kingston General Hospital |
| Ottawa |
Cardiovascular Clinical epidemiology Stem cells Healthcare IT Nuclear medicine Photonics |
National Research Council of Canada University of Ottawa Carleton University Ottawa Heart Institute Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI) Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) |
| Northern Ontario |
Cancer research Clinical trials Development of DNA cancer diagnostics |
Northern Ontario School of Medicine
(co-located at Laurentian University, Sudbury,
and Lakehead University, Thunder Bay) Northeastern and Northwestern Ontario Cancer Research Centres Paleo-DNA Laboratory, Thunder Bay |
L O O K An innovative, new technology from an Ottawa biotechnology startup is changing the way genetic researchers collect DNA. The Oragene™ DNA Self-Collection Kit, developed and manufactured by DNA Genotek, offers an easy, reliable, and cost-effective way to collect and preserve large amounts of DNA from saliva. DNA Genotek markets its products worldwide and has established a global customer base. Top-tier health research institutions, such as Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, and Sweden's Karolinska Institute, are already using Oragene. Within the clinical market, Quest Diagnostics, the leading provider of diagnostic testing services in the U.S., began using the technology in 2006 for gene-based testing that traditionally required a venous blood sample. DNA Genotek was also the only Canadian company recognized by The World Economic Forum for its exclusive list of global Technology Pioneers for 2006. Ontario offers a wonderful environment for R&D and the local manufacturing capability is fantastic, says DNA Genotek's President and CEO Ian Curry. I'm very proud of our partners. They're responsive, respectful and fair, and they work really hard to help us succeed.
L O O K Business and life science research come together at MaRS, a new state-of-the-art convergence facility in downtown Toronto. Strategically located next door to world-renowned medical research institutes and within a few blocks of Canada's financial district, the $350 million facility brings leading life sciences companies under the same roof with top public sector researchers and venture capitalists.Ontario's life sciences industry is anchored by a remarkable foundation of world leading research and a rich tradition of discovery, said MaRS CEO Dr. Ilse Treurnicht. This foundation will support strong industry growth in the decades ahead.
Fast Fact
46% of Canada's highly
skilled labour force, those
with Masters or PhDs,
resides in Ontario.
Ontario's leadership in cancer treatment stretches back more than 50 years. In 1951, the world's first commercial cobalt-60 radiotherapy unit was installed at Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario. Canada went on to supply cobalt-60 machines to 70 countries where they were eventually used to administer half a million treatments annually. Today, support for cancer research is a priority in Ontario. One of the world's leading cancer research centres, the Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI), is at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Cancer Care Ontario has an annual operating budget of almost $400 million. In addition, the Ontario government is investing more than $250 million to establish the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), the first collaborative research institute in Canada to focus efforts on the entire spectrum of cancer issues--from prevention right through to treatment.
Leading life sciences companies are investing billions of dollars in Ontario.
GlaxoSmithKline is investing $19 million to accommodate 22 new manufacturing mandates. AstraZeneca has invested more than $73 million to build and then expand its Canadian Business Centre. Sanofi pasteur is investing nearly $250 million over 10 years in a cancer vaccine research program. And home grown multinational Apotex is investing nearly $500 million to establish a new state-of-the-art research, development and manufacturing facility.
Why? Because Ontario is a highly profitable place to do business.
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Better investment returns
Ontario offers one of the most cost-efficient business environments in the world for life sciences.
A 2005 study by New Jersey-based location consultants The Boyd Company compared the cost of operating a biomedical research and product development facility in 50 North American and European cities. The result? Toronto was among the lowest-cost locations. KPMG's Competitive Alternatives reports in 2004 and again in 2006 came to similar conclusions.
Competitive corporate tax rates of 34.12%— almost 4 percentage points below the U.S. average—are just one of the elements that create this competitive advantage. Lower salary expectations, utility rates, construction costs and other factors all help to keep costs down.
The most generous R&D tax credits in the G7
Research and development costs in Ontario are among the lowest anywhere. The cost of a $100 R&D expenditure can be reduced to less than $41 once tax credits are factored in. And every R&D dollar is deductible, not just incremental dollars as is the case in many jurisdictions.
| More costs qualify for R&D tax incentives. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | United States | |
| Wages and salaries | yes | yes |
| Capital equipment | yes | |
| Materials | yes | yes |
| Overhead | yes | |
| Contract expenses | yes | 65% to 75% |
Life sciences a government priority
A healthy life sciences sector is a priority for Ontario. To signal its importance, the Ontario government created a special Ministry of Research and Innovation, led by the Premier. A key focus is to improve the commercialization of new Ontario breakthroughs and discoveries.
Tens of millions of dollars in health research funding is available from provincial and federal governments, some of it earmarked specifically for partnerships with the private sector.
Support for advanced manufacturers
Fierce international competition in the manufacturing sector led the provincial government to introduce the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy (AMIS). Under this $400 million program, Ontario manufacturers can obtain interest-free loans to develop or adopt leading technologies and innovations to keep them globally competitive.
Fast Fact
The TSX Group operates the third largest life sciences market in the world and is
home to 140 life sciences companies with a total market capitalization of over $20 billion.
| Lower operating costs = better investment return | ||
|---|---|---|
| A comparison of annual operating costs for a representative biomedical research and development facility. | Index | |
| San Francisco, CA | $ 11,223,242 | 128 |
| Boston, MA | 10,617,187 | 121 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 10,533,317 | 120 |
| San Diego, CA | 10,382,208 | 118 |
| Seattle/Bellevue, WA | 9,674,814 | 110 |
| Raleigh/Durham, NC | 9,187,589 | 105 |
| Toronto, ON | 8,792,914 | 100 |
L O O K Ontario is home to one of the top three clusters for biomedical research in North America. We have the critical mass of researchers and facilities needed for large scale research in leading-edge fields such as genomics and proteomics. The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) has developed a $450 million portfolio of genomics and proteomics projects that is creating a wealth of research resources that can be leveraged by the academic and commercial research communities, as well as intellectual property around commercially tractable research results, said OGI President and CEO Dr. Christian Burks. The projects we fund are deliberately structured to attract national and international collaborations with public and private research institutions, biotech companies, and pharma companies. In effect, we are offering our partners an opportunity to double the value of their return on research investment.
L O O K For 50 years, Baxter Canada's Alliston plant has been manufacturing IV (intravenous) solutions that help save patients' lives. Today, the plant, which employs 420 people, produces 57 million litres of life-sustaining IV, nutritional, peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis solutions annually. Ontario offers an ideal production environment for an advanced facility such as Baxter's Alliston operation, which the Recycling Council of Ontario has awarded the Sustainable Technology Award (2005) and Ontario Waste Minimization Award for Sustainable Development (2004). Every day, Baxter products and services help treat thousands of patients across Canada and the world with some of the most complex conditions— from hemophilia to cancer, and immune disorders to kidney disease, says John Eley, the plant's Director of Manufacturing. The strong manufacturing base in Ontario, combined with our access to a top quality workforce and central location, enables us to produce and distribute these products to serve the whole country efficiently.
Telemedicine is bringing better healthcare to people living in rural and remote communities across Northern Ontario. The NORTH Network connects more than 190 sites across more than 120 communities. Using live, two-way video conferencing, NORTH clinicians can examine patients and prescribe treatments by using the latest tele-diagnostic instruments—including digital stethoscopes, patient examination cameras, endoscopic equipment and digital imaging facilities. As a result, patients in remote communities can receive a visit by a specialist right in their community rather than having to travel long distances.
Come build your business in the heart of North America's $15+ trillion marketplace.
The research and business talent is here. Key raw materials for life sciences manufacturing—chemicals, plastics, advanced metal alloys and ceramics—are readily available. Sophisticated transportation and telecommunications networks are in place to support efficient supply chain management.
We understand global markets. Ontario's business culture is export-oriented. The United States is our largest market, buying about 90% of our exports, but we do $40 billion in trade with Europe and Asia every year.
People, products and ideas move easily across our borders.
We're a 2-hour flight from major U.S. centres like Chicago, New York and Boston and a day's drive from half the entire U.S. market.
We have five international airports: Toronto, Hamilton, London, Thunder Bay and Ottawa. The largest, Toronto's Pearson International, has 65 carriers offering same-plane service to 25 Canadian, 43 U.S. and 42 international destinations.
We have the markets, the materials and the people—all the ingredients you need
to grow a strong and healthy life sciences company.
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And after work...
Ontario is an extraordinary place to relax, have fun and raise a family.
We offer everything from major league sports and headlining entertainers to wilderness lakes and forests; from safe, sophisticated cities to friendly small towns.
And for growing families, we provide high-quality, education and publicly funded universal health care.
It's a combination that's hard to beat.
Fast Fact
Between 1994 and 2004, Ontario's biomedical exports grew by 18% annually.
The University of Ottawa Heart Institute leads the country in fusion imaging—a technique combining images derived from various scanning technologies. Here, PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and CT (Computed Tomography) imaging is combined to build a complete picture of the heart, its arteries, and the flow of blood.
L O O K From modest beginnings in Fort Erie in 1974, Ontario, Patheon has grown to become a leading global provider of contract drug development and manufacturing services. Today, 6,000 Patheon employees at 14 facilities in North America and Europe provide services to more than 200 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Revenues in 2005 topped $698 million, up from only $24 million a decade ago. Patheon has grown quite successfully from our original base in Ontario, said Nick DiPietro, President and Chief Operating Officer, Patheon Inc. Our growth has been supported by Ontario's strong infrastructure, ease of access to international markets, and the excellent quality of life which has enabled us to attract highly skilled scientists from other parts of the world.
More than 50 years ago, the world's first cardiac pacemaker was invented by Dr. John Hopps, a scientist at the National Research Council (NRC) in Ottawa, and Ottawa is still an international centre for cardiac research, diagnostics and treatment.
The University of Ottawa Heart Institute
is Canada's only complete cardiac institute,
encompassing research, prevention, diagnosis,
rehabilitation and educational programs.
The Nuclear Cardiology department, for
example, is home to Canada's only Cardiac
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Centre,
which offers detailed 3-D images of the heart
for diagnosis and preparation for surgery.
More than 60 scientists and clinicians work in
the Institute's 90,000 sq. ft. research centre.
Their projects cover the spectrum from cardiovascular devices, biology and genetics to new
surgical techniques, clinical trials and
behavioral and risk modification programs.
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