Leading independent CRO Chiltern International is reporting significant increases in demand for its services in Canada, and believes the country’s pharmaceutical market presents real opportunities.The pharmaceutical and biotech sectors are key contributors to Canada’s economy and the industry has a very significant presence. In Montreal alone, there are no less than 1500 companies involved in R&D.Canada is currently 15th in the world for R&D performance but has set itself formal goals of being one of the world’s top five by 2010.Pharmaceutical R&D in Canada has increased by no less than 700% over the last ten years, a rate of growth exceeding that of any other industrialised country and in 2001 Canadian pharmaceutical manufacturers employed more than 20,000 people and spent in excess of CDN$1 billion on research and development projects, 65% of which was in clinical research. Clinical development projects can consume up to 10 times the resources consumed by a discovery research project and thus outsourcing is becoming a more popular option for R&D-based companies.
