MP Sahota Shares Update on the Development of a Canadian COVID-19 Vaccine
The Voice of Canada News:
Brampton, ON – Ruby Sahota, the Member of Parliament for Brampton North, is pleased to share that as we continue to address the health, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19, the Government of Canada is actively pursuing the purchase and development of vaccines, treatments, and related supplies to protect Canadians from the virus and support our recovery from the pandemic. This includes investing in Canadian projects, and strengthening our country’s biomanufacturing sector and capabilities to fight future pandemics through leading-edge vaccine technology.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an investment of up to $173 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) in Medicago to support Canada’s response to COVID-19 and future preparedness. The project, valued at a total of $428 million, will advance Medicago’s virus-like particle vaccine, developed on the company’s unique plant-based production platform, through clinical trials. It will also establish a large-scale vaccine and antibody production facility to increase Canada’s domestic biomanufacturing capacity.
“Our Government has signed an agreement with Medicago to secure up to 76 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, enough to vaccinate 38 million people,” said MP Sahota. “This is the first domestically developed vaccine candidate the Government of Canada has secured.”
The Federal Liberal Government will also invest up to $18.2 million in Vancouver-based biotechnology company Precision NanoSystems Incorporated (PNI) through the SIF. This investment will support a $24.27-million project to help advance the development of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate through pre-clinical studies and clinical trials. The Government is also providing up to $23.2 million in funding through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program to advance six COVID-19 vaccine candidates in various stages of clinical trials.
