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McKesson Corp. announced that it is buying a few units of Katz Group, a private Canadian company that operates a retail pharmacy network, in a deal worth $920 million. Specifically, McKesson is buying Drug Trading Company, which has a marketing and purchasing arm for a network of over 850 independent pharmacies that primarily operate under the I.D.A. and Guardian brands, and Medicine Shoppe Canada, which runs a franchise business that provides services to 160 independent pharmacies.
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McKesson Canada, a subsidiary of U.S.-based McKesson Corporation, is investing $25 million into a distribution business in Moncton, N.B., that will serve the Maritime region. McKesson Canada is moving to a new distribution centre in Moncton’s Caledonia Industrial Park, where it will employ 90 people. The new centre will hire 40 new workers on top of the 50 existing employees the company had at its previous facility. The company says its distribution centres supply 40% of the medicines used in Canada to 6,300 retail pharmacies and 1,350 hospitals, clinics and institutions.
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Alexion Pharmaceuticals agreed to acquire closely held Montreal’s Enobia Pharma Corp. for as much as $1.08 billion, adding experimental treatments for genetic metabolic disorders. Alexion will pay $610 million in cash upfront for Enobia, and as much as $470 million in addition if certain regulatory and sales goals are achieved, the Connecticut-based company said. The companies said they expect the deal to close in the first quarter of 2012.
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Canadian researchers have invented a device that could make it easier, faster and cheaper to track the progression of HIV in patients living in the developing world. A team led by Rakesh Nayyar, University of Toronto student James Dou, and Stewart Aitchison, has created a portable device that uses a computer chip with software capable of analysing blood tests outside the lab. The team's portable cell analyzer makes it possible for healthcare workers to monitor HIV patients in remote areas by testing their blood on the spot and receiving results within minutes, Nayyar explained.
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Two Canada-U.K. research teams have been funded through the Canada/UK Partnership on Antibiotic Resistance, a collaboration between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the U.K. Medical Research Council. The partnership's aim is to stimulate high quality research on innovative alternatives to existing antibiotics. Both teams, composed of researchers from Canada and the U.K., will receive more than $7 million over four years from CIHR and MRC. They will be working to find new targets for antibacterial drugs and new ways to prevent or stop the spread of drug resistant infections in hospitals and other health care settings.
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Les Laboratoires Servier, France, and Prognomix, Canada, announced that they have entered into a R&D agreement aimed at identifying novel targets as part of programs meant to develop innovative type 2 diabetes and metabolic disease treatment. As part of the agreement, Servier will make a contract signature fee payment and will be granted options to obtain rights to use the results of the collaboration.
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Merck completed a $33.2 million expansion of its Pointe Claire facility in Quebec that will increase the plant's international competitiveness and preserve local jobs, according to the Montreal Gazette. A warehouse was built at the site and the company has installed manufacturing equipment at the plant which will enable it to make 14 new products. The facility is one of the locations in Merck's global network outside of the U.S. to have received QSP-2 certification from the U.S. FDA, which permits Canadian products to be exported to the U.S.
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Genome Alberta announced that it is leading a group of funding partners on two large-scale genomics projects which will help improve Canada's livestock sector. These projects build on Genome Alberta's Applied Livestock Genomics Program which was launched in Dec. 2010. The work will lead to new strategies for disease control in addition to new drugs, improved vaccines, and a safer food chain by reducing the use of antibiotics. Funders for the projects include Genome Canada, Genome Alberta, the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, PigGen Canada, Genome Prairie, an international consortium led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Western Economic Development, and a number of international agencies and organizations.
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An engineered virus by Canadian scientists has shown that it can selectively target and destroy cancer cells in what researchers call a medical first. The findings, which were published in the journal Nature, showed that the genetically engineered virus only attacked cancer cells and left healthy tissue alone. Professor John Bell, lead researcher from the University of Ottawa, says he " believe(s) that someday, viruses and other biological therapies could truly transform (the) approach for treating cancer," said Bell. The new virus, named JX-594, is said to be considered a breakthrough because it doesn't have to be injected directly into tumours to avoid the immune system.
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Eisai Inc., a pharmaceutical company who's parent company is Japan-based Eisai Co., plans to establish its Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, creating 11 new jobs and protecting one other position with the help of the Ontario Government. Eisai’s expansion into Canada could increase access to a variety of therapies and medications, including treatments for advanced breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and epilepsy. Eisai says it will also continue to invest in clinical trials in the province, supporting Ontario suppliers, both public and private research institutions and organizations.
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Swiss international biotech company Roche Holding AG, through its Roche Canada unit, said it will invest almost $200 million over the next five years at its Mississauga plant near Toronto, with a $7.8 million Ontario Government commitment. A new Mississauga research centre, with a staff of 200, will manage all Roche’s clinical trials for new drugs in co-operation with the multinational’s five existing world research centres.
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Ontario's Research and Innovation Minister Glen Murray has announced the MaRS science complex in Toronto will double in size after a $344.5 million expansion. Hailing “some very creative leasing and financing arrangements with the private sector,” the minister said the 20-storey addition will create 4,000 construction jobs and enlarge MaRS to 1.5 million sq. ft. of offices and laboratories. The addition, which should be completed by fall 2013, will house the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and Public Health Ontario’s central lab, which prevents and controls infectious diseases.
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Pharmaceutical company Teva Canada, whose parent company is Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., announced it will expand its production while creating 20 jobs and protecting 182 jobs at its Stouffville, Markham and Scarborough plants. The company plans to upgrade its equipment, which will in turn increase production of generic prescription medication.
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British-based drug and health care company GlaxoSmithKline PLC CEO Andrew Witty was in Canada to launch an expansion of GSK’s plant just west of Toronto and was interviewed by The Globe and Mail. Witty says government support is important when deciding to build or expand research as it is a signal of a commitment to the partnership. During the interview, Witty stated that “(Canada has) a tremendous academic base. It has great output from universities, with a high degree of talent. It is obviously in the top echelon of medical research [and] clinician quality. So the foundations for a vibrant research environment are very good. The reform of intellectual property rights 20 years ago [also] really stimulated the growth of innovation and research.
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Toronto's economy and intellectual capital are attracting major investment from the world's leading life sciences companies according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Cities of Opportunity report. Toronto also ranks second in intellectual capital and innovation according to the PwC report. “A strong, stable economy and a vibrant research and innovation environment are important considerations when companies make investment decisions,” says Patrick Draper, President & CEO of the Toronto Region Research Alliance. “That’s why the Toronto Region is an attractive location for life sciences companies to invest in global R&D and manufacturing operations.”
