Federal government announces three-pillar plan for $1.1B in funding to mobilize the medical research sector

On April 23, 2020, Canada’s federal government announced a plan to further fund and mobilize the medical research sector in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (the “Mobilization Plan”). The Mobilization Plan which includes $1.1 billion in new funding focuses on developing vaccines and treatments, researching the virus and its impacts, expanding testing capacity, and implementing production capabilities within Canada. This funding to the medical research sector, the largest in Canadian history, follows an earlier announcement on March 23, 2020, which allocated $275 million for research and countermeasures against the virus.

The Mobilization Plan is intended to enable Canada to mitigate a second wave of the pandemic and develop a long-term solution to address COVID-19. The Mobilization Plan consists of three groups of funding:

• $115 million committed to fund research and development of vaccines and treatments
• $662 million committed for clinical trials
• $350 million committed to expand testing and modelling, including serological testing for immunity to the virus

The first pillar of the Mobilization Plan, which addresses vaccines and treatments, will focus on collaboration using  existing platforms to draw upon the knowledge of the global community. Canadian organizations will be funded to research and develop countermeasures, and also to study the secondary impacts of the virus on the population, including impacts on mental health.

The second pillar of the Mobilization Plan will then focus on clinical trials for these treatments and vaccines.

And lastly, the third pillar of the Mobilization Plan will focus on immunity and risk mitigation. This pillar will be managed by the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, consisting of Dr. David Naylor, Dr. Catherine Hankins, Dr. Tim Evans, Dr. Theresa Tam and Dr. Mona Nemer (the “Task Force”). The mission of the Task Force is to use serological testing to determine how many people have already been exposed to the virus and provide reliable estimates of potential immunity and vulnerability throughout Canada. Over the next two years, the Task Force aims to test over one million Canadians for exposure to the virus.

Funding has already been committed to various organizations performing and facilitating important work to achieve the aims of the Mobilization Plan, including:

• $600 million allocated to the Strategic Innovation Fund to support vaccine research and clinical trials in the private sector, as well to provide biomanufacturing opportunities within Canada.
• $10 million allocated to a Canadian data monitoring centre to track the virus and share that information across Canada.
• $114.9 million allocated to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support projects that develop, test and implement both medical and social countermeasures against the virus, as well as studying the related social and health impacts.
• $23 million allocated to the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre to support the development of a vaccine, testing, and clinical trials.
• $15.3 million allocated to the Canadian Immunization Research Network to conduct research and clinical trials, as well as to monitor vaccine safety and effectiveness.
• $40 million allocated to the Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network. Genome sequencing of the virus will enable tracking of the virus and its strains and increase understanding of why certain groups are differently impacted from exposure than others.
• $29 million allocated to the National Research Council of Canada to upgrade its Human Health Therapeutics facility. The funding will support critical upgrades and preparations to rapidly implement dosing capabilities once a vaccine is developed.

Enterprises with solutions for research, clinical trials, biomanufacturing and other initiatives within the scope of the Mobilization Plan, may apply for funding to support the efforts against COVID-19, in particular to the Strategic Innovation Fund and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

If you have questions regarding the Mobilization Plan and how you can contribute to the Canadian effort against COVID-19, please contact Andrea C. Johnson, Jessica Ward or any of our key contacts.