From Cradle to Grave Illnesses Cangene Tackles the Scary Stuff
From Cradle to Grave Illnesses Cangene Tackles the Scary Stuff
Cangene Corporation, Winnipeg, MB
Saving the lives of millions of newborn babies, treating lethal, exotic diseases and treating victims of bioterrorism is all in a day’s work for the men and women of Cangene. The Winnipeg-based biopharmaceutical company is one of Canada’s most successful biotechnology companies. With nearly 30 years of experience, Cangene has leveraged its scientific know-how into fighting some of the world’s scariest and most lethal viruses; it develops, manufactures and commercializes hyperimmune products that are used in the prevention of blood disease in newborns as well as treating anthrax, smallpox and hemorrhagic fever caused by Ebola or Marburg viruses and tackles worst-case scenarios such as acute radiation poisoning.
It’s a grim fact but Cangene is one very busy company, especially since 9/11 and the United States’ bio-defense policy that requires the government to stockpile treatments for possible bio-terrorist threats that include virulent small pox and anthrax attacks. Add in the widespread prevalence of international air travel that extends the reach of killer viruses like Ebola, and you’ve got your work cut out for you. But as exotic and dramatic as these threats appear, Cangene is most widely known for its leading product, WinRHO SDF, which millions of pregnant women receive around the world to prevent the hemolytic disease in newborns (HDN), says Dr. John Langstaff, Cangene’s CEO.
The chances are good that you know a woman whose newborn baby benefited from Cangene’s HDN treatment. If the woman’s blood type is RhD-Negative and the baby’s father has RhD-Positive blood type then the baby is at risk of being attacked by its mother’s natural antibodies. Hemolytic disease of the newborn used to be a major cause of fetal loss and death among newborn babies, but thanks to WinRHO SDF, this tragic outcome is a thing of the past in Canada, Europe, Eurasia as well as Central and South America. The mother-to-be simply receives one or more injections of the treatment over the course of her pregnancy, and her baby is protected. In a stroke of good fortune, the drug is also used as a treatment to help babies with a deadly disease that causes its immune system to attack its body’s own platelets.
Cangene’s expertise sets it apart from many other Canadian biotech and biopharmaceutical companies because it’s both profitable and has diversified revenue sources, including product sales, contract manufacturing revenue and substantial R&D contracts. In fact, Cangene is a one of the largest civilian suppliers to the U.S. government with three of its products included in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile.
What Cangene doesn’t do is make vaccines. Instead, they develop treatments for infectious diseases, based on the statistics that potentially 30% of a vaccinated population won’t benefit from a particular vaccine for whatever reasons. It’s these unprotected people who will need the treatments that Cangene develops.
As dramatic as these medical situations sound, what has Dr. Langstaff excited these days is the addition of a sales and marketing division to their already 700-employee strong company.
“This would make us a fully integrated biotechnology company with R&D, manufacturing, clinical trials, licensure and sales and marketing,” he says.
For Cangene, this full integration spells a new era of success. For the Canadian biotechnology industry it is a beacon of hope and a surefire sign that this industry can compete at any and every level.
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