there are also thousands of clinical trials underway, which lead to innovative new medicines and vaccines and inject millions of dollars back into canada’s health systems, as well as into our research facilities and universities.
how has the covid-19 pandemic impacted collaboration among imc member companies and with canadian governments?
our members are collaborating as never before in the fight against covid-19—with each other, with governments, researchers, universities and philanthropic organizations. the objective is to accelerate the discovery, development, manufacture and delivery of treatments for people infected with the virus and vaccines to stop its spread.
fifteen of imc’s member companies have shared their libraries of molecular compounds with the global scientific community for coordinated study to spur the development, manufacture and delivery of vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments for the virus through the bill & melinda gates foundations’ covid-19 therapeutics accelerator.
in canada, individual imc companies are also at work developing vaccine candidates as well as diagnostic and treatment options. in british columbia, amgen is working on the discovery of therapeutic antibodies. quebec’s medicago is moving to stage two and three clinical trials of its vaccine this fall. in atlantic canada, biovectra is manufacturing raw materials for covid-19 diagnostic testing kits and developing additional therapeutic products.