NewsThe Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM) announces an investment of close to $8 million dollars in biopharmaceutical research in Québec
The projects will have a major impact on the research and development of new drugs in the field of Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and vaccines MONTREAL, June 8 /CNW Telbec/ - Four outstanding projects have beenselected from the first competition on drug discovery launched by the CQDM inthe fall of 2008. All research proposals have been evaluated through anexhaustive due diligence process involving, among others, an independentscientific and industrial expert panel led by the Fonds de recherche en santédu Québec (FRSQ). These projects aimed at developing new enabling technologiesthat can significantly facilitate the drug discovery process. Quebec is recognized for the quality of its research. The selected CQDM'sresearch projects will be conducted by multidisciplinary top level Quebecresearchers, recognized as international leaders in their respective field. Because of its innovative and unique approach, CQDM promotes the creationof synergy between academic and industrial research. "The four awardedprojects are perfectly well-aligned with CQDM's mission which is to fundinnovative enabling tools and technologies that could have a significantimpact on the drug discovery process for the biopharmaceutical industry", saidMax Fehlmann, President and CEO, CQDM. Based on genuine private-public partnerships, the selected projectsinvolve four companies (Medicago, Caprion, SNC-Lavalin and Perkin Elmer) andfour universities (McGill, Montreal, Laval and Sherbrooke). This investmentwill generate the employment of more than 30 full-time equivalent researchers,postdoctoral fellows and students. Thanks to the contributions and commitments of CQDM's private and publicpartners such as Pfizer Canada, AstraZeneca Canada, Merck Frosst Canada Ltd.,the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), the Ministère duDéveloppement économique, de l'Innovation et de l'Exportation (MDEIE) and theBusiness-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence (BL-NCE), it is possible toinvest in cutting-edge technologies that could accelerate the development ofmore effective and safer drugs and consequently affect patient's health care. Further to fostering greater investments in R-D in the public sector andthe biopharmaceutical industry, CQDM offers an original collaborative modelfrom which new partnerships can emerge. "The number and the quality of thedrug discovery proposals received for the first competition - 78 - furtherunderlines the dynamism of research groups in the province of Quebec anddemonstrate their willingness to collaborate with the industry to address theincreasing medical challenges generated by the rising needs of an agingpopulation", explains Bernard Prigent, Chairman of the Scientific OrientationCommittee of CQDM and Medical Director of Pfizer Canada. This year CQDM's selected projects will focus on: 1) Developing a method to rapidly identify and test new vaccines against the influenza virus (for instance the A(H1N1) virus) and other families of viruses (Louis-Philippe Vézina, Medicago Inc.); 2) Developing tools to allow the early identification of patients with Alzheimer's disease (Louis Collins, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University); 3) Discovering and validating new biomarkers to better monitor the progression of diabetes and the response to treatments (Eustache Paramithiotis, Caprion Proteomics Inc.); 4) Developing molecular and cellular tools to predict efficacy of new drugs (Michel Bouvier, IRIC, Université de Montréal). The presentation and announcement of the projects will be made on June8th, 2009 during the CQDM/Montreal InVivo Creative Partnerships inBiopharmaceutical Research Forum. "This event will allow the partners from thepublic and private biopharmaceutical sector and other stakeholders of theindustry to share their views on critical issues for Quebec, such as theproductivity and value-added creation of the research conducted", indicatedMichelle Savoie, Montréal InVivo's CEO. The event will be held at the Club Saint-James in Montréal. About CQDM CQDM is a not-for-profit organization that responds to the needs of thepharmaceutical industry by contributing to accelerating drug discovery anddeveloping safer, more effective drugs. CQDM's funding is provided by theFRSQ, the MDEIE, the BL-NCE, Pfizer Canada, AstraZeneca Canada and MerckFrosst Canada Ltd.