Life Sciences Ontario Launches Blueprint for Coordinated Ontario Life Sciences Strategy

December 1, 2017 |

2 min read

The document is endorsed by leading provincial and national life sciences, health, and economic organizations.

Dec. 1, 2017 13:45 UTC

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Life Sciences Ontario (LSO) today released its Blueprint for a Coordinated Ontario Life Sciences Strategy, during its Annual Policy Forum at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto. The document is endorsed by leading provincial and national life sciences, health, and economic organizations.

LSO’s Blueprint lays out a comprehensive plan and recommendations for government and policymakers to accelerate the success of life sciences – Ontario’s largest economic growth opportunity. It recommends a pan-government strategy with specific action around promotion of our sector, access to capital, talent growth, and support for innovation.

“Life sciences is Ontario’s greatest opportunity for economic growth – and data backs this up,” says Jason Field, President and CEO of Life Sciences Ontario. “We have the science, talent, and infrastructure to grow globally-competitive companies and create high-value jobs for Ontarians. But to create and sustain these success stories, we need a roadmap.”

As a sector that contributes $38.5 billion to the province’s GDP and ranks among the top clusters in North America, the economic growth potential for Ontario life sciences is enormous.

Just how big is the opportunity? In the US, two biotech companies, Amgen and Celgene, have a combined market capitalization of US $242B, rivalling the entire Canadian mining sector listed on the TSX (over 1,200 companies with a market cap of US $244B). An Ontario biotech success story has the potential to revolutionize our economy.

A life sciences strategy is also crucial to driving sustainability in our health care system, developing technologies to control climate change, and providing knowledge-based jobs for our highly-educated workforce (more than 55% of Ontarians have a college or university degree, 25% higher than the OECD average).

The Blueprint for a Coordinated Ontario Life Sciences Strategy is endorsed by leading provincial and national partner organizations, including: Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, BIOTECanada, Chemical Institute of Canada, Innovative Medicines Canada, MEDEC, Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, Ontario Chamber of Commerce, and TO Health.

To download the full report, click here.

To read a summary, click here.

ABOUT LIFE SCIENCES ONTARIO (LSO)

Life Sciences Ontario is a member-driven organization that represents and promotes the province’s vibrant and diverse life sciences sector. LSO collaborates with governments, academia, industry, and other life science organizations in Ontario and across Canada to promote and encourage commercial success throughout the sector. Membership in Life Sciences Ontario includes individuals, students, emerging companies, investors, service providers, and companies with marketed products. The organization provides a wide range of networking and educational events, and operates a mentorship program that is helping to develop highly-skilled talent and build new business opportunities for the life sciences sector. LSO is an effective conduit for delivering policy options to governments, and is dedicated to promoting Ontario’s life sciences sector internationally.