What adds up to a small amount of money in terms of government spending could have a big impact on the provincial economy and health care system.
That is the message Jobs Minister Brenda Bailey delivered Tuesday (Oct. 10) when she announced a total of $6.6 million to help build up provincial capacities for clinical trials of pharmaceuticals.
About two-thirds of the money — some $4.2 million — will fund six beds for Phase 1 clinical trials at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver operated by Providence Health Care. Phase 1 clinical trials test experimental drugs or medical devices on human volunteers to judge their respective safety. While trials usually involve a small group, they are necessary for future phases. The six-bed-unit will become operational in late 2024 and it will be the only non-cancer Phase 1 clinical trial unit in Western Canada.
Bailey hopes this status will help British Columbia to continue build its life-science sector.
“What historically has happened, because we don’t Phase 1 (non-cancer clinic trials), is that many drugs will be tested elsewhere,” Bailey said. “(When) those drugs are tested elsewhere, it’s very common that Stage 2, 3 and 4 clinic trials will also happen in a different market that takes those jobs away from us and it also takes away the intellectual property and sometimes even the company.”
Fiona Dalton, president and chief executive officer with Providence Health Care, said Canada captures about four per cent of the global clinical-trial market. This rate is about 10 times higher than Canada’s population, she added. But Canada generally — and B.C. specifically — lack the facilities for Phase 1 resulting in companies having to go abroad for the tests which determine whether to continue development of potential therapeutics. This gap has hurt the provincial economy, Dalton added.
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The University of British Columbia is also receiving $2.4 million to establish a research chair focused on expanding clinical trial capacities in B.C., including a residency training program in clinical pharmacology.
“Expanding clinic trial capacity and expertise will allow university researchers and local companies like AbCellera, Acuitas Therapeutics and Precision NanoSystems, all of which came out of (a) UBC research lab, to grow and develop their technologies and create new blockbuster drugs here in B.C.,” Gail Murphy, UBC’s vice-president research and innovation, said.
“Most importantly, it means British Columbians will have access to life-saving medical treatments sooner,” she said.
Tuesday’s announcement is the latest around B.C.’s life-science sector. In the spring of 2023, Premier David Eby announced $75 million for AbCellera’s new state-of-the-art biotechnology campus with a price tag of $701 million. B.C.’s contribution adds to a federal contribution of $225 million.
The provincial government sees these contributions as part and parcel of a larger program to create jobs in high-tech fields, having launched the so-called Stronger BC: Life Sciences and Biomanufacturing Strategy earlier this year. It aims to establish B.C. as a “worldwide life sciences hub” by building on established expertise.
“Virtually every COVID-19 vaccine candidate that reached late-stage development in 2020 used components that were initiated, developed or manufactured by a B.C. company or scientist, and this strategy builds on our accomplishments,” the provincial strategy report reads.
Providence Health Care also plans to include a purpose-built unit for Phase 1-3 clinical trials at its planned clinical support and research centre next to the new St. Paul’s Hospital at the Jim Pattison Medical Campus. Michael Smith Health Research BC, the province’s health-research agency, will contribute an additional $1.2 million to the centre.
@wolfgangdepner
wolfgang.depner@blackpress.ca
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