Holistic Policy Needed to Grow Biotech in Canada

Colin McClelland | Financial Post
Representing some 230 domestic biotech companies, with about 85 per cent focused on health care, CEO Andrew Casey of Ottawa-based lobby group BIOTECanada says government drug price policy must encourage the kind of deals like Pfizer Inc. partnering with BioNTech SE of Germany on a vaccine for COVID-19. “When you smash drug prices down without thinking about any of the consequences of the ecosystem writ large, it’s a fairly narrow way of doing policy and you’ll miss out on all the opportunities that a Pfizer will create by being here in Canada and investing in and partnering with other companies. And that’s kind of critical to seeing the Canadian biotechs rise to the surface,” Casey said by phone.