Canadian Biophotonics opportunities

Canada’s life sciences and bio-manufacturing sector is a priority for the current government that goes beyond responding to COVID-19. This is an important component of Canada’s plan to build domestic resilience and improve long-term pandemic preparedness It is also a growing sector that supports thousands of good, middle class jobs.

In the federal budget 2021 proposes to provide a total $2.2 billion over seven years, towards growing a vibrant domestic life sciences sector. This support would provide foundational investments to help build Canada’s talent pipeline and research systems, and support the growth of Canadian life sciences firms, including with $1 billion of support to Canadian firms through the Strategic Innovation Fund. Biophotonics is an important part of the research and manufacturing here lies the opportunity. This package also includes the creation of a new Clinical Trials Fund to support the research and development of new scientifically proven treatments and cures and create good jobs in the health research sector, including the pharmaceutical sector.

As we have seen there are more than 100 companies listed in the Biophotnics section of the buyer’s guide not to mention the other photonics companies that support the manufacturing in the big Pharma with vision, imaging, and other photonics devices.

The Medical Device Research Center a unit of the Canadian National Research Center (NRC) has as one of its focuses Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics this includes Fast-result, low-cost polymer microfluidics innovations scalable for mass production and select applications in Molecular diagnostics, cell and gene therapy, and drug discovery.

The group has collaborations with the Centre for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technologies (CRAFT), a national collaboration centre with the University of Toronto – enabling R&D in microfluidic lab-on-chip technologies, the Collaborative Unit for Translational Research (CUTR), a collaboration centre with CHU Sainte-Justine enabling critical research for improved pediatric care, the Cognitive care network, a network with world-leading clinical sites across Canada, to deliver digital therapeutics for a variety of neurological and mental health conditions.

Other collaborations are with LIFT, an industry-facing initiative targeting the translation of NRC innovations in lab-on-a-chip to market and V-Care, an industry-facing initiative targeting the translation of NRC innovations in virtual care to market

These are some of the opportunities that exist for Biophotonics for collaborations and having an impact in the Life and Science, manufacturing in Pharma and healthcare in diagnostics and treatment.

Link:

Budget 2021: Building an Innovation Economy of the Future – Canada.ca

Medical Devices Research Centre (canada.ca)