Pharmahorizons Lifetrack
Volume 8 Issue #4 - May 2007

Story 1:

Good growth nationally in drug sales in 2006
E-sales to the U.S. decline

A national market of $17.8bn remains relatively modest compared to the North American market as a whole of $300bn, or the Japanese market of $56.7bn.  But our access to drugs is greater than that in Latin America, where, all countries combined, the total value purchased was $27.5bn.  We won’t even begin to translate that into per capita terms...

The bulk of the growth was accounted for by the generics, which saw their sales increase by 13.6%.  Name-brand drugs increased by 6.8%, which was close to the global growth of 6.5% and for the first time in the history of Canadian drugs, the «big four» featured a generic.  Apotex was the year’s fourth largest seller in Canada, with $1.1bn.  It was preceded by Pfizer ($2.4bn), Astra Zeneca ($1.2bn), and Johnson & Johnson ($1.1bn).  This pattern is set to stay, with IMS predicting the transfer of another billion dollars from the name-brand pharmas to the generics in 2007.

But the creators of name-brand compounds, too, have cause for celebration.  For 2006 brought them their best Canadian returns since 2003.  That is to say, certain products, such as COX-2 inhibitors, having greatly suffered following innocuity problems, have regained the favour of doctors and healthcare workers.  IMS is also citing the greater use of oncology drugs.

Cyber-Canada is no longer replying... or almost

The big losers this year are the virtual pharmacies, which were supplying pills by Internet to an American clientele none too worried about the authenticity of the prescription.  While the Canadian cyberpharmacists had taken in $420m on the American market in 2005, they had to be happy with $211m in 2006.

Their business, like that of all Canadian exporters, fell victim to the exchange rate.  They were also victims of Canadian manufacturers, who tightened the screws with more restrictive supply regulations.  It should also be said that the American public drug insurance system became a little more generous towards the poorest citizens.

The cyber-suppliers should not become too despondent, though.  A legislative initiative is underway in the U.S. that would facilitate easier importation of drugs.  In a pre-electoral period, however, one shouldn’t expect to learn much more about it too soon.

Source: Guy Paquin/Français à la Carte

Top of Page

Story 2:

Quebec extends free drug coverage to 300,000

Anti-poverty groups in Quebec are welcoming a government initiative to extend free prescription medication benefits to nearly 300 000 additional people — those on welfare and senior citizens on limited incomes. Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard announced the move on Feb. 1, at the same time detailing a plan to lift the freeze on prescription drug prices in effect since 1994.

"The price freeze was no longer sustainable," Couillard said. "We were facing a situation where some manufacturers were ready to withdraw their products from the Quebec market."

As of April 18, pharmaceutical companies will be free to increase prices to match the inflation rate, which hovered at about 2% last year. Patent drugs will also be allowed to stay 15 years on the list of eligible prescriptions under the province's mandatory public drug plan, even if cheaper generic versions come on the market. Couillard said the measure is meant to help secure the 20 000 jobs in Quebec's patent pharmaceutical sector.

Quebec has been assessing its provincial drug plan for 3 years. Since it was introduced a decade ago, costs have ballooned from $1.1 billion in 1997 to $3 billion in 2006. That in turn sent premiums sky-rocketing. In 1997, Quebecers without private drug insurance plans were compelled to join the public plan, paying $175 annually in premiums. By 2006, that premium was $538.

Making drugs free to another 300 000 people at the bottom of the income ladder is a significant improvement to the drug plan, says Aaron Lakoff, a community organizer at Project Genesis, a group in Côte-des-Neiges, one of Montréal's poorest neighbourhoods. Until now, most welfare recipients paid premiums of $16 per month under the mandatory prescription drug plan. But with welfare hovering around $560 a month for a single person, even that small amount was significant. Several community groups are calling on the government to extend the free drug plan to the working poor — another estimated 300 000 in Montréal alone— who earn less than $20 000 per year.

Health professionals say lifting the freeze on prescription drug prices was inevitable, as Quebec's market is too small to dictate prices to global pharmaceutical giants. But they acknowledge that ending the moratorium will almost certainly translate into higher insurance premiums.

"Premiums will eventually go up," agrees Lakoff. "So, the health minister is giving a small candy to the poor while giving quite a large gift to the big pharmaceutical companies who are going to benefit from the increase in the price of medication."

Footnotes: Loreen Pindera is a journalist with CBC Radio in Montréal.

Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal

Top of Page

Story 3:

More hospitals asked to join patient safety campaign

MONTREAL – Dr. Ross Baker of the University of Toronto, and one of Canada’s top authorities on patient safety, announced that leading teams within the national Safer Healthcare Now! (SHN) campaign, and its partner campaign in Quebec – Together, Let’s Improve Healthcare Safety – are reducing preventable injuries and deaths in Canadian hospitals. But he stressed that more hospitals and healthcare providers must sign on to significantly lower the rate of medical error across Canada.

Dr. Baker reported that the incidence of adverse events such as healthcare-acquired infections and harm related to medication errors can be dramatically reduced through consistent implementation of evidence-based leading practices.

Preliminary results of the campaign’s first phase indicate that real improvements in patient safety in Canadian hospitals are possible. Baker cautioned however, that “for patients in Canada to benefit fully from the Safer Healthcare Now! campaign, (www.saferhealthcarenow.ca) greater participation of healthcare providers across the country is needed, along with continued commitment to use these effective practices.”

Launched in June 2005, the Safer Healthcare Now! campaign is the largest healthcare quality improvement initiative in this country’s history. Over 600 healthcare teams, representing more than 180 healthcare organizations, are participating in this pan-Canadian campaign to reduce adverse events in hospitals.

The Quebec campaign – Together, Let’s Improve Healthcare Safety – was launched in Quebec in April 2006, and works in collaboration with the Safer Healthcare Now! campaign. To date, 30 teams representing 15 healthcare organizations have enrolled in Quebec. Teams in both campaigns are committed to improving outcomes for patients by implementing one of the following six targeted healthcare interventions:

• Deploy Rapid Response Teams (RRT) – at the first sign of patient decline

• Deliver reliable, evidence-based care for Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI)– to prevent deaths from heart attack

• Prevent Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) – by implementing medication reconciliation (MedRec)

• Prevent Central Line Infections (CLI) – by implementing a series of evidence-based steps to improve catheter insertion and maintenance

• Prevent Surgical Site Infections (SSI) – by taking steps before, during and after surgery to protect patients from unnecessary infections that can prolong hospital stays

• Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP) – protecting already vulnerable patients in intensive care units (ICU) from a life-threatening infection.

Some key results from the preliminary report indicate that:
• Hospital-acquired infections affect 5 percent to 15 percent of hospitalized patients and can lead to complications in 25 to 33 percent of those patients admitted to ICU’s. One of the most common causes is pneumonia related to mechanical ventilation. Pneumonia has long been considered an occasional, but unavoidable consequence of spending time on a ventilator. A number of teams working to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates participate in both the SHN campaign and the Canadian ICU Collaborative. Some of these teams are reporting significant reductions, reducing VAP by 50 percent or more. Many teams have started measuring “time between infections” as VAP is now a rare event in their units. For example: South Shore District Health Authority, Bridgewater, NS, has had no cases of VAP in 14 months; Valley Regional Hospital, Kentville, NS – 9 months; Palliser Health Region, Medicine Hat, AB – 20 months; St. Paul’s Hospital, Saskatoon, SK – 10 months.

• Patients who develop surgical site infections have longer and costlier hospitalizations. They are twice as likely to die, 60 percent more likely to spend time in an ICU and more than five times more likely to be readmitted to the hospital. In Quebec alone, it is estimated that for2005, the cost to treat patients who developed preventable surgical site infections was over$10 million. By applying the Quebec model to Alberta data, where there were approximately 81,000 surgeries and 3 percent of those patients experienced an infection, with the implementation of evidence-based practices, a 10 percent reduction in infection rates would result in cost savings of $4.4 million; and a 50 percent reduction would achieve cost savings of $22 million. (Health Costing in Alberta, 2006 Annual Report.) The Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, in Toronto, has achieved a 35 percent reduction in surgical site infections in their cardiac surgery unit.

• Approximately 22 percent of patients who ‘code’ (cardiac or respiratory arrest) are successfully resuscitated. Specifically trained teams of health professionals, known as Rapid Response Teams (RRT), can intervene at the earliest sign of a potential problem to stabilize patients before they stop breathing or their hearts stop. Shortly after implementation of the RRT, Nova Scotia’s Dartmouth General Hospital recorded a 30 percent drop in their number of code calls.

• Medication errors during hospitalization occur with disturbing frequency and over 50 percent of these occur when patient care is being transferred from one setting to another (Rozich &Resar, 2001). A medication reconciliation process, which involves the development and communication of a complete and accurate list of the medications a patient is currently taking, has been shown to significantly reduce these types of errors. Using this medication reconciliation process, Safer Healthcare Now! teams across Canada are identifying and reducing discrepancies between the medications a patient is currently taking and what they should be taking as part of their plan of care.

“Early results of the first phase of the campaign have established that a better quality of care and improved patient outcomes are possible, and achievable,” said Dr. Baker. “These indicators show that the SHN interventions can reduce harm to patients. With more participation, full implementation of the interventions, and all hospitals measuring and reporting results, we can make a difference and reduce the incidence of injuries and deaths related to adverse events.”

“Despite the best efforts of health professionals dedicated to providing the best care for their patients, when it comes to patient safety, our hospitals are not as safe as they could be,” said Philip Hassen, Chair of the SHN National Steering Committee and CEO of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, the campaign secretariat. “Leading teams within the campaign are proving that dramatic improvements can be made – that a better quality of care is possible – the status quo is no longer acceptable.”

“Awareness of patient safety provides a focus for changes in practice that will significantly reduce the number of needless injuries and deaths through adverse events,” added Hassen. “A commitment to the evidence-based practices outlined in the SHN campaign can improve patient safety within our hospitals. This awareness, together with an increased commitment from governments, CEOs, boards, and other senior leaders; and strong clinical leadership, especially among physicians, will help to assure Canadian patients that our hospitals are safe.”

“Healthcare professionals across Canada have committed to providing a better quality of care for their patients,” said Hassen. “Patients are encouraged to learn more about Safer Healthcare Now! and to ask their local health organization about their participation in the campaign.”

About Safer Healthcare Now!
The Safer Healthcare Now! campaign, and Together, Let’s Improve Healthcare Safety in Quebec are modeled on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) 100,000 Lives campaign in the United States. Both the U.S. and Canadian campaigns focus on six evidence-based strategies to improve targeted areas of care. The Canadian National Steering Committee, composed of patient safety leaders in Canada, consulted with IHI to gain valuable insights into how to plan and coordinate a national campaign. Teams are supported by the Atlantic, Ontario and Western nodes, as well as the Quebec campaign (Together, Let’s Improve Healthcare Safety) and three clinical supports: the Canadian Intensive Care Unit Collaborative, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada, and the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres. Phase 1 of the Safer Healthcare Now! campaign does not end here. Teams will continue to improve the quality of care for their patients and spread these practices throughout their organizations. In the coming months, the campaign’s National Steering Committee will be examining additional interventions that could be implemented in other healthcare settings, such as long-term or community care. These interventions will be announced in June and the next phase of the campaign will formally be launched in the fall.

Source: Canadian Healthcare Technology

Top of Page

Story 4:

McGill-led team identifies spina bifida gene
Groundbreaking research can make diagnosis easier

Researchers at McGill University have identified a gene that causes the debilitating developmental disorder spina bifida. “We’ve known for years that there’s a genetic component, and now we’ve discovered one of the culprits,” said Dr. Philippe Gros, James McGill Professor of Biochemistry and Distinguished Scientist for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) at McGill.

Dr. Gros and his team of post-doctoral fellows collaborated with researchers at the Instituto G. Gaslini in Genoa, Italy, to study patients with neural-tube defects (NTDs). The team identified three mutations in the VANGL1 gene that implicate the gene as a risk factor in human NTDs. Their findings appear in the April issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

“This is the first gene that has been shown to cause the disorder in humans,” said Dr. Gros, whose lab has been studying NTDs in mice for over a decade and was the first to clone the gene for laboratory study prior to the recent human trials.

NTDs are characterized by the incomplete closure of the embryonic neural tube, resulting in the incomplete development of the spine and spinal cord. Some types of the disorder, such as anencephaly, result in stillbirth or death very soon after delivery, while with spina bifida, survival rates are often longer despite severe disabilities including varying degrees of paralysis. After cardiac abnormalities, NTDs are the second most common birth defect, occurring in as many as two births in a thousand.

In addition to the genetic risk, there is a strong environmental component to the occurrence of NTDs. Folic-acid supplementation during pregnancy has been shown to reduce the incidence of neural-tube defects by 50 to 70 percent.

“This discovery won’t have a major impact on the search for a cure yet, but it can have an immediate impact on diagnosis or risk assessment,” noted Dr. Gros, whose lab is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. “A pre-natal diagnosis would allow physicians to decide whether to follow a pregnancy more closely.”

“Since NTDs constitute of the most prevalent types of serious birth defects, even after the reduction achieved with folic-acid fortification of grain products, these new research findings on the genetics and developmental mechanisms underlying neural-tube defects hold great promise for preventing future cases and their devastating consequences for children and families,” said Dr. Michael Kramer, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health.

Michael Bourguignon
Communications Officer
McGill University Relations Office
514-398-8305
Press Release April 5, 2007 - On the Web: New England Journal of Medicine

Top of Page

Story 5:

Gene discovery raises hope of treatment for memory loss

Ian Sample, science correspondent - The Guardian, UK

A memory-enhancing pill capable of boosting people's ability to learn and remember is a step closer following the discovery of a gene in the brain that plays a crucial role in memory formation. By tweaking the action of the gene in mice, researchers were able to alter the speed with which they learned to perform different tasks, suggesting it might be possible to develop drugs to improve memory.

The finding paves the way for unprecedented treatments for people suffering from memory loss and dementia, but similar drugs might also improve the memory performance of healthy people. Scientists at McGill University in Montreal studied an unusual gene that normally produces a protein that stops memories from forming. During the tests, they found that mice carrying a defective version of the gene performed better than others when trained to swim to a hidden platform in a water tank.

"If a person were reading a page of a textbook, it might take several times to memorise it," said Mauro Costa-Mattioli, a researcher on the team. "A human equivalent of these mice would get the information right away."

When the mice were given a substance that enhanced the effect of the gene, they gradually showed signs of memory impairment. The scientists now hope to follow up their discovery by finding a drug that improves memory by interfering with the memory-blocking protein.

"If such a pill could be generated, it might provide a new method for treating people with memory-related disease such as Alzheimer's," said Dr Costa-Mattioli, whose study appears in the journal Cell.

"While a drug that worked in this way wouldn't cure the disease itself, it might rescue the symptoms of memory loss."

Memories are formed when brain cells are activated enough times to strengthen the connections between neighbouring neurons. Mild training regimes cause only temporary strengthening of neural connections, leading to short-term memories lasting for minutes to hours. But intense, repeated training activates mechanisms in the brain which stabilise nerve connections, which become long-term memories lasting days, weeks or years.

In the experiments, mice were trained to remember the location of a platform slightly submerged in the water. After several days of training, the mice carrying the memory-boosting version of the gene were able to find the platform much quicker than normal mice. The mice were later tested for their response to fear, by checking how well they associated a sound played at the same time as a mild shock, which they had been given 24 hours beforehand.

Again, the mice with the memory-enhancing gene reacted more quickly to the sound.

Top of Page

Story 6:

BIO 2007 - BOSTON, du 6 au 9 mai 2007

BIOQuébec, en collaboration avec le MDEIE (Ministère du Développement Économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation), organise à nouveau une délégation québécoise afin de participer au plus grand événement en biotechnologie de calibre international – le «BIO International Convention»– du 6 au 9 mai 2007 au Boston Convention & Exhibition Center à Boston.

Pour l’édition 2006, plus de 74 entreprises et organismes du Québec ont participé à cet événement à Chicago, où le Premier ministre du Québec, M. Jean Charest et le ministre du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation, M. Raymond Bachand, ont marqué la mission par leur présence.

Les entreprises et organismes intéressées à se joindre à la délégation peuvent contacter Stéphane Mark au (514) 733-8411, poste 202 ou par courriel à smark@bioquebec.com

Mission exploratoire - Plancher d'exposition

Partez à la recherche de partenaires potentiels et des nouvelles tendances sur l’échiquier international

  • Un laissez-passer pour le plancher d’exposition seulement ;

  • Distribution de vos documents promotionnels selon l’espace disponible ;
    Coût :
    Membres de BIOQuébec : 500$ + taxes
    Non membres de BIOQuébec : 600$ + taxes

Entreprises et organismes du Québec présents à BIO 2007 :

  1. Aegera Thérapeutiques (www.aegera.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  2. Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (www.aeternazentaris.com)
  3. Alethia Biothérapeutiques (www.alethiabio.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  4. Ambrilia Biopharma(www.ambrilia.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  5. BD Diagnostics - Geneohm(www.bd.com)
  6. BioContact
  7. Biomed Développement de Sherbrooke (www.biomed.ca) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  8. Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. (www.bioniche.com)
  9. BIOQuébec (www.bioquebec.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  10. Bourse de croissance TSX (www.tsx.com)
  11. Centre Québécois d'Innovation en Biotechnologie (www.cqib.org)- Exposant au kiosque #1020
  12. Cité de la Biotech – Laval (www.citebiotech.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  13. Corealis Pharma Inc. (www.corealispharma.com)
  14. Gemin X Biotechnologies (www.geminx.com)
  15. Génome Québec (www.genomequebec.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  16. Gestion Univalor, s.e.c. (www.univalor.ca)
  17. Gestion Valeo, s.e.c. (www.gestionvaleo.com)
  18. Innodia (www.innodia-inc.com)
  19. Investissement Québec (www.investquebec.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  20. Lapointe Rosenstein (www.lapointerosenstein.com)
  21. Methylgene (www.methylgene.com)
  22. Mistral Pharma (www.mistralpharma.com)
  23. Montréal International (www.montrealinternational.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  24. Montréal InVivo (www.montreal-invivo.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  25. Osprey Pharmaceuticals Limited
  26. Pôle Québec Chaudière-Appalaches (www.pole-qca.ca) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  27. ProMetic Life sciences Inc. (www.prometic.com)
  28. REPLICor Inc.(www.replicor.com)
  29. RoyalMount Pharma (www.royalmountpharma.com)
  30. Solabs (www.solabs.com)
  31. Technoparc Saint-Laurent (www.technoparc.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  32. Topigen Pharmaceutiques (www.topigen.com) - Exposant au kiosque #1020
  33. Ulysses Pharmaceuticals (www.ulyssespharma.com)
  34. Valeant Canada (www.valeant.com)
  35. Variation Biotechnologies (www.variationbiotech.com)

Si votre entreprise ne figure pas sur cette liste et que vous serez à BIO, SVP communiquez avec Stéphane Mark at (514)733-8411 #202

Top of Page

Story 7:

Ontario budget puts $64 million into e-Health

TORONTO – As part of the new provincial budget, Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara (pictured) announced $37.9 billion in healthcare spending for 2007-08, a 29 percent increase from 2003–04, the year the current government first took office. The spending will include an additional $64 million, in 2007-08, to promote the provincial government’s e-Health strategy.

Components of the strategy include a secure electronic health record for all Ontarians, giving providers the information they need to care for patients safely, no matter where they treat them. Another major strategic direction is the expansion of drug and lab information systems, as well as diagnostic imaging systems, while protecting the security and privacy of patient information.

According to the government, by the end of 2007-08, 150 Family Health Teams are planned to be fully operational – providing care to more than 2.5 million Ontarians in 112 communities. In addition, by 2007-08 the number of Community Health Centres will rise to 76 from the current 54.

Shortages of doctors and nurses will be alleviated by the government’s health-human-resource strategy, Health Force Ontario. Key components of this strategy include:

• Hiring over 8,000 more nurses by the end of 2007-08. The budget proposes spending an additional $43 million, bringing the total to $89 million, to provide every new Ontario nursing graduate with an opportunity for full-time employment, and an increase of $14 million for more nurses in long-term care homes; and

• Training more doctors – first-year medical school enrolment is being increased by 23 per cent between 2004-05 and 2009-10.

The government is improving access to emergency care by investing an additional $143 million in 2007-08 through the Emergency Department Action Plan to:

• Improve physician coverage in, and increasing the efficiency of, emergency departments across the province;

• Invest $35 million in more home-care services and supports to keep people healthy at home; and

• Support the development of 1,750 new long-term care beds and replacement of 662 long-term care beds to help discharge patients from hospitals.

The government is further investing in public health by:

• Providing approximately $20 million, growing to approximately $40 million per year, for colorectal cancer screening for those aged 50 and older – the first program of its kind in Canada;

• Providing funding for the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, an arm’s length centre of excellence that would provide support during any future public health emergency;

• Providing $1.5 million in 2008-09 – growing to $2.5 million by 2010-11 – to enhance regional capacity of communities to respond to HIV/AIDS; and

• Investing approximately $7 million to expand addiction treatment programs. The government is also investing $1 million for a one-year pilot project in Stratford to target producers and traffickers of methamphetamine (crystal meth) and dismantle their labs.

Source: Canadian Healthcare Technology

Top of Page

Story 8:

Multi-lingual kiosks tested in emergency rooms

TORONTO – The Scarborough Hospital (TSH) and Canada Health Infoway have announced a new initiative to improve emergency room service. By using kiosks in the emergency waiting rooms at both hospital campuses, patients will be able to enter information in seven different languages, helping to facilitate more effective triage.

Called “Enhancing Emergency Services: A Patient-Centred Approach” (EES), the initiative aims to better support nurses and physicians with smart tools so they can work more efficiently to enhance patient flow and improve patient care.

“Our staff is the backbone of our emergency department, serving over 300 patients daily,” says Dr. Hugh Scott, President and CEO, TSH. “What’s great about this system is not only that it benefits our staff and physicians, but also our ER patients by allowing them more direct involvement with their care, enabling more accurate triage and providing better access to appropriate care.”

These patient-centred information systems will assist patients in communicating their status to ER staff and physicians as they wait in emergency waiting rooms. An alert will pop-up on the nurses’ screen each time a patient updates information. “Patients now have the option to play even more of an active role in their care process during unavoidable waiting time,” adds Dr. Scott. “Also, the new e-triage tool will assist staff with the patient reassessment process and reprioritization of care as needed.”

The user-friendly kiosks are available in English, but will also feature interfaces in eight different languages including English, French, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Tamil, Punjabi, Farsi, Hindi and Urdu. Patients are asked a number of questions in their native language and can choose answers from a comprehensive list. The system then translates the information into English for use by the care providers. It is estimated that approximately half of the patients at The Scarborough Hospital speak English as a second language.

“It’s good to see hospitals, like The Scarborough Hospital, willing to consider innovative approaches to improve the access to care for their patients,” says George Smitherman, Minister Health and Long-Term Care. “It will be interesting to see how this system develops and how effectively it assists patients seeking care in the emergency department.”

“Since The Scarborough Hospital serves a diverse community and a high volume of patients, they are a good test ground for this new approach to improve patient triage,” says Richard Alvarez, President and CEO, Canada Health Infoway. “The system could eventually serve as a model for other emergency departments in the country,” he added. Infoway is investing $1.5 million dollars in this pilot project, approximately half of the project’s total cost.

The new technology will capture more detailed data from patients, process that information and provide it to the nurses and physicians. The Centre for Global e-Health Innovation, University of Toronto Healthcare Resource Modelling Laboratory, the University of Alberta’s TRIAGE Solution and Medisolve, are also partners in this project.

The system is designed to enhance aspects of our ER service for patients without increasing staff or enlarging facilities. “We focus on patient-centred care. We expect to achieve even greater staff and patient satisfaction with this new solution,” says Dr. Scott.

About The Scarborough Hospital
The Scarborough Hospital (TSH), Canada’s largest urban community hospital, delivers innovative, high quality patient care, advocates for our community’s health and wellness issues, and is a leader in research, teaching and learning. TSH is a regional treatment centre for dialysis and is renowned for its sexual assault care centre and mental health programs. Affiliated with the University of Toronto, TSH is also a referral centre for vascular surgery, pacemakers and corneal implants. For more information on The Scarborough Hospital, please visit: www.tsh.to.

About Canada Health Infoway
Infoway is an independent not-for-profit organization that invests with public sector partners across Canada to implement and reuse compatible health information systems which support a safer, more efficient healthcare system. Fully respecting patient confidentiality, these private and secure systems provide healthcare professionals with rapid access to complete and accurate patient information, enabling better decisions about diagnosis and treatment. The result is a sustainable, healthcare system offering improved quality, accessibility and productivity.

Source: Canadian Healthcare Technology

Top of Page

Story 9:

New partnership leverages promising Canadian stem cell IP

MaRS and Canadian Stem Cell Network Partner in Translational Development Company Focused in the High Growth Area of Regenerative Medicine

Toronto, ON - April 11, 2007 -- MaRS Discovery District (MaRS) and the Canadian Stem Cell Network (SCN) today announced a partnership agreement whereby MaRS and SCN have agreed to work together to vigorously pursue long-term public or private financing for the translational development activities currently being undertaken by Aggregate Therapeutics Inc. (Aggregate); to further expand Aggregate's potential portfolio into regenerative medicine; to build within MaRS commercialization capacity in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine accessible to all Canadian principal investigators; and to facilitate the private financing of spin-out companies from Aggregate and member institutions of SCN.

Aggregate is a translational development company dedicated to developing products and therapies in the high growth area of regenerative medicine, which includes stem cell therapies, tissue engineering, and biomaterials. Aggregate holds the exclusive rights to work to commercialize promising stem cell technologies of 37 leading Canadian scientists at 16 major university and hospital research institutes. This radically new commercialization model allows investors to quickly identify the most innovative convergent technologies by offering them a central point to access early Intellectual Property.

MaRS takes over immediate ongoing management and governance responsibilities for Aggregate. MaRS will also provide SCN academic members with commercialization services like market research, translational development, and IP guidance. SCN is a national research network of Canada's leading stem cell scientists, bioengineers and clinicians focused on translating research into clinical and commercial outcomes. MaRS is dedicated to supporting the next generation of significant global companies emerging from Canada's strong foundation of science and technology innovation. MaRS will leverage its expertise in commercialization to ensure the success of Aggregate.

Click here to read the full report

Top of Page

Story 10:

Sunnybrook’s surgical infections reduced by 40%

TORONTO – A team of Sunnybrook nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, pharmacists and infection control staff are working together to continue to reduce the hospital’s surgical site infection rate, sparing many patients the grief and pain of a post-operative infection and saving the healthcare system thousands of dollars a year.

Dr. Claude Laflamme, Director, cardio-vascular anesthesia at Sunnybrook, is known across the country for his work in reducing the rate of surgical site infections (SSIs). After working with a multi-disciplinary team to improve the SSI rate of cardiac surgeries, Dr. Laflamme is now concentrating his efforts on general surgery at Sunnybrook, an initiative that continues to generate favorable results since it began just a few months ago.

From August to December 2006, Sunnybrook’s SSI rate was reduced by an incredible 40 percent in general surgery and continues to decline, thanks to the efforts of staff in general surgery, infection control, pharmacy and anesthesiology, as well as nurses in wound-care, the OR department, same-day admission, the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) and post-discharge.

Surgical site infections account for 17 percent of all hospital-acquired infections in North America. Each SSI translates into huge costs, including lengthened hospital stays, delays in chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients and even death in severe cases.

Financially, each infection can cost the hospital an additional $400-30,000, with an average cost of $3,500. Most importantly, 60-70 percent of SSIs are preventable.

The Sunnybrook SSI initiative concentrates its efforts on four key areas: antibiotics, hypothermia, hair removal and glucose control. The area that has contributed the most to the SSI rate decrease at Sunnybrook is that of preventing hypothermia in patients during surgery. Research conducted by Dr. Laflamme showed a 46.4 percent infection rate in surgical patients who experienced a hypothermic state, compared to only 12 percent of those who remained normothermic. “We were convinced that this was the area we needed to invest our time in,” says Dr. Laflamme.

Because of the anesthetic, the body is unable to warm itself as well as it does under normal circumstances. A 1-2 degree lowering of body temperature means there is less oxygen flowing to the open wound and the body is unable to fight infection to its full potential.

To prevent this temperature drop, OR staff were advised to use the intraoperative warming blankets whenever possible to keep patients’ body temperatures at a higher level during surgery. Since mid-January, patients have been provided with a warming blanket before the surgery as well, to ensure that the body temperature drop is kept at a minimum.

“The co-leader of this initiative, Shari Moura, an Advanced Practice Nurse in surgical oncology, has been instrumental in the implementation of this group,” says Laflamme. “We have a group of professionals that are committed; they make a motivated team. I’m very confident that we will reduce the SSI rate even more in the following months.”

The entire Sunnybrook SSI initiative is fueled by Safer Healthcare Now! (SHN), a campaign launched in April 2005 to promote patient safety in Canadian health facilities. Working under the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) umbrella, SHN focuses on six targeted interventions to improve patient care. It challenges Canadian healthcare providers to work at one or more of these interventions by applying evidence already available in medical literature. Sunnybrook is one of the national leaders in the Safer Healthcare Now! SSI intervention.

“The point is not to create new information, but instead implement the theories and information that are already at our disposal,” says Dr. Laflamme, who is also Assistant Professor in the department of anesthesia at the University of Toronto. “Reducing the infection rate is something that doesn’t take a lot of financial investment, but a change in behavior, in culture. Communication and leadership are instrumental in this initiative.”

Thanks to funding from Sunnybrook and a CPSI studentship award, Dr. Laflamme is able to push this initiative even further with the help of Ewen Weili Chen, a 4th year undergraduate thesis student in the human biology, psychology and physiology programs at Victoria College, University of Toronto.

Chen has been working full-time at the hospital, collecting and analyzing data, helping with research protocol and coordinating staff for the SSI initiative. “The whole process of preventing infections is like making bread. If you don’t have one ingredient, the whole loaf is ruined,” says Chen.

Dr. Laflamme was asked to present his data at the National SHN meeting, held in Montreal on March 27th and 28th, to motivate other hospital representatives with the success Sunnybrook has experienced so far with this initiative.

Source: Canadian Healthcare Technology

Top of Page

Story 11:

BIOTECanada Responds to the Federal Government’s Budget Announcement

OTTAWA--Canada's biotechnology industry cites positive developments in reviewing the federal budget released in March.

"Resolving the long standing issue of tax fairness under the Canada-US Tax Treaty has been our number one priority for the biotechnology industry. To see this settled is a major accomplishment for the investment climate in Canada and our international colleagues will take notice," said Peter Brenders, President & CEO, BIOTECanada.

"The Canadian biotechnology industry was pleased to see the overall commitments introduced in the budget to benefit from the potential of a knowledge-based economy. Particularly the $300 million investment in vaccines to prevent cancer, the intention to change the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit, the tax deduction for donations of medicines, the $2 billion dollar investment in new renewable sources of energy and the ongoing investment to research institutions. Innovative industries in Canada need an environment that attracts investment and supports continued research and development in the public and private sectors. Budget 2007 can offer our industry a boost," he said.

Biotechnology continues to impact innovations in health care, the environment, agriculture and energy. Research and development in the sector is approaching $2 billion annually, with the majority of Canadian companies having fewer than 50 employees and no revenues.

"Canada has established global leadership in biotechnology discovery and development over the past 20 years. With more than 500 companies, our industry contributes more than 12% of the total research and development spending in Canada. We are increasingly susceptible to international competitors establishing strong research and financial commitments to developing biotechnology but directions offered by the government will help build Canada's advantage," he said.

This government throughout the past year recognized it can play an important role in the ever growing competitive marketplace of innovative companies. "Canadians expect to realize the potential of their home grown research. The federal government is helping to close the widening gap between early discovery and realizing commercialized products. We look forward to further working with this government's outline of a Science and Technology strategy," continued Brenders.

About BIOTECanada
BIOTECanada is dedicated to the sustainable commercial development of biotechnology innovation in Canada. It is the national association with almost 200 members, representing the broad spectrum of biotech constituents including emerging and established companies in the health, agricultural, and industrial sectors, as well as academic and research institutions and other related organizations.

For further information: please contact: Cate McCready, BIOTECanada, (613) 230-5585 ext 230

Top of Page

Story 12:

Canadian scientists lead international autism genome discoveries

Autism-causing genes linked to a special group of neurons

TORONTO – Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the Offord Centre for Child Studies have led an international consortium in the discovery of a previously unidentified chromosomal region containing autism-causing genes. Their findings, part of the largest genome scan ever attempted in autism research, have just been published online in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics.

Working with 137 researchers from eight other countries, the scientists analyzed DNA from about 1,600 families worldwide to zero in on a special group of neurons and the genes affecting their development and function. In particular, they implicate neurexin 1, a member of a family of genes believed to be important in neuronal contact and communication.

All the scientists involved in the project are members of a first-of-its-kind autism genetics consortium called the Autism Genome Project (AGP). The AGP began in 2002 when researchers from around the world decided to come together and share their samples, data, and expertise to facilitate the identification of autism susceptibility genes. The first phase of the effort involved the assembly of the largest autism DNA collection ever and a genome linkage scan.

The Canadian team, led by Dr. Stephen Scherer of SickKids and Dr. Peter Szatmari of the Offord Centre for Child Studies, has played a lead role from the beginning. It was Dr. Scherer who first co-discovered the existence of common genetic variants in the general population that could be involved with autism and other common disorders. These copy number variations (CNVs) are what the AGP scientists were looking for in their DNA scans of autistic individuals.

Dr. Szatmari led the committee to decide the phenotypes to be used in analysis, and was instrumental in drafting the memorandum of agreement among the consortium members, who represent 50 different institutions. They include a dozen other Canadian scientists from five institutions and four provinces.

“We first used genome scanning technology to test genetic markers in autistic children and find regions in the genome linking to autism susceptibility genes,” said Dr. Scherer, a senior corresponding author of the study, senior scientist in Genetics and Genomic Biology at SickKids and professor of Molecular and Medical Genetics at the University of Toronto. “By combining this with cutting edge CNV analysis we were able to reveal, for the first time, the genetic architecture underlying autism susceptibility.”

Using this unprecedented statistical power, the scientists were able to implicate a previously unidentified region of chromosome 11, and neurexin 1, among other regions and genes in the genome. The neurexin finding in particular highlights a special group of neurons, called glutamate neurons, and the genes affecting their development and function, suggesting they play a critical role in autism spectrum disorders.

“The clinical implications of this discovery are unprecedented,” said Dr. Szatmari, director of the Offord Centre for Child Studies, Professor, Vice-Chair of Research, Head of Division of Child Psychiatry at McMaster University. “Not only have we found which haystack the needle is in, we now know where in the haystack that needle is located. This is a major breakthrough in our efforts to better understand the disorder and improve diagnosis and treatment for patients and their families.”

Autism is a complex developmental disorder affecting roughly one in 165 children, making it the most common form of any neurological disorder or severe developmental disability of childhood. Those affected exhibit severe impairments in reciprocal social interaction and communication, and a preference for repetitive, stereotyped behaviours.

“As a parent of a child with autism, I am very excited about this news. Our son, Jaden was already two-and-a-half years old when he was diagnosed and began his ABA program,” , said, Mr. Mike Lake, MP for Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont and active member of the Edmonton Autism Society. “This research will lead the way to earlier diagnosis and treatment, which is crucial for achieving the best possible results for these kids.”

“Canadians should be extremely proud of the leadership role our researchers have taken on this project and on other autism-related projects. This is an incredibly important day for families affected by autism, not only in Canada, but around the world."

The launch of a $26.7 million dollar second phase of the project, building on the success of the linkage and CNV scan, is being announced today (see accompanying press release).

Canadian members of the research team include Wendy Roberts from SickKids and Bloorview Kids Rehab, , Andrew Paterson, Jessica Brian, Xiao-Quing Liu, Jennifer Skaug, Lili Senman, Lars Feuk, Cheng Qian and Christian Marshall from SickKids, Ann Thompson from McMaster University, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, formerly from McMaster, now at the University of Alberta, John Vincent from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and Susan Bryson from Dalhousie University.

This research was funded by Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Parie, Autism Speaks, Bloorview Kids Rehab, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation, Fondation de France, Fondation France Télécom, Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, Genome Canada/Ontario Genomics Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Institute Nationale de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, the McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Swedish Science Council, Seaver Autism Research Foundation and SickKids Foundation.

The Offord Centre for Child Studies is an internationally recognized research centre devoted to studying the factors that influence the emotional, social and cognitive development of children and youth. Responsible for some of the most exciting recent developments in the field of autism research, its reputation as a centre of excellence in autism research is second to none in Canada. The Offord Centre is affiliated with McMaster University and McMaster Children’s Hospital. For more information, please visit our web site at www.offordcentre.com.

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), affiliated with the University of Toronto, is Canada’s most research-intensive hospital and the largest centre dedicated to improving children’s health in the country. As innovators in child health, SickKids improves the health of children by integrating care, research and teaching. Our mission is to provide the best in complex and specialized care by creating scientific and clinical advancements, sharing our knowledge and expertise and championing the development of an accessible, comprehensive and sustainable child health system. For more information, please visit www.sickkids.ca. SickKids is committed to healthier children for a better world.

For more information, please contact:
Chelsea Novak, Public Affairs - The Hospital for Sick Children
(416) 813-5045 - chelsea.novak@sickkids.ca

Sherry Cecil - Offord Centre for Child Studies
(905) 521-2100, ext. 74946 - cecils@mcmaster.ca

© Genome Canada, Ottawa 2007

Top of Page

Story 13:

New laws give Alberta pharmacists the power to prescribe certain medications

James Stevenson - Canadian Press

CALGARY (CP) - Pharmacists in Alberta will soon have the precedent-setting power to prescribe medications, but grave concerns remain over their ability to make the right diagnoses. Laws that take effect Sunday morning will make Alberta pharmacists the first in North America to be legally and independently allowed to prescribe drugs for minor conditions or in urgent situations.

They will also be entitled to modify or alter the dosages and duration of prescriptions written by doctors. Pharmacists are hailing the changes as a logical way to improve patients' drug therapy while easing the strain on overworked family physicians and jammed emergency rooms. They hope pharmacists in other parts of Canada will soon get the same powers.

Some doctors say too many questions remain unanswered - including what types of conditions and medications are involved and who is ultimately responsible when there's a disagreement between pharmacist and physician. Jeff Poston, executive director of the Canadian Pharmacists Association, says the changes to Alberta's Pharmacy and Drug Act and Health Professions Act could be a shot in the arm for the health system.

"There are numerous examples where I think patients can get treatment for a number of disorders from a community pharmacy. They don't need to see the physician, they don't need to go to the ER and the pharmacist is going to be perfectly competent in terms of managing them," Poston said from his Ottawa office.

"Pharmacists are not going to be stupid about this. The patient who's got a headache and is also dizzy and has blurred vision, you're not going to sell them a new headache tablet. You're going to refer them to the emergency room straight away."

But the president of the Alberta Medical Association says doctors remain unpersuaded that pharmacists have the education and training to assess and diagnose patients accurately.

"If you're going to recommend a new treatment or new drug, you need to know with 100 per cent assurance that you're treating the appropriate thing," said Dr. Gerry Keifer, a pediatric surgeon in Calgary.

"That's why we go to medical school."

Keifer insists that concerns over the pharmacists' new powers derive not from "turf protection" but from concern that patients get the best care possible. Some doctors say pharmacists should be held to the same standards as they are for care and accountability, including rules on record keeping, liability insurance and strict protocols on contacting physicians when prescriptions are altered.

Greg Eberhart, registrar of the Alberta College of Pharmacists, says many of the changes coming to Alberta on April 1 simply recognize what pharmacists have been doing daily for years.

"We are not talking about these pharmacists venturing into the world of diagnosis as physicians know it," Eberhart said from Edmonton.

"We're talking about pharmacists continuing to manage and work with patients and care for conditions that are presented in symptomatic form at pharmacy counters every day."

He argues the new laws are an extension of changes over the years that have allowed pharmacists to "prescribe" such over-the-counter medications as common anti-inflammatories or anti-ulcer drugs and nasal spray - all of which were once prescription only.

It will probably take until this fall for the college of pharmacists to start extending "additional prescribing privileges" to members who have clearly demonstrated knowledge and ability. Eberhart says pharmacists will not be authorized to prescribe narcotics or controlled substances such as opiates or anabolic steroids. Harvey Voogd, co-ordinator of the Edmonton-based Friends of Medicare, says his group is concerned about potential conflicts of interest. He said pharmacists could prescribe medication and then charge a dispensing fee, and could possibly also get paid by pharmaceutical companies.

"I think we are concerned with the potential conflict of interest with pharmacists not only being retail operators, selling drugs, but now being in the position to prescribe.

"It's not yet clear . . . how that issue's going to be dealt with."

But practising pharmacists, including Carol Vorster in Fort McMurray, Alta., say the changes are a step in the right direction for the public. Vorster said the changes will come in small steps that shouldn't alarm anyone. "We don't want the public to start thinking that we can start prescribing like a physician," said Vorster.

"The prescribing is really very limited and it's within a prescribed framework and definitely always in collaboration with other healthcare professionals."

© The Canadian Press 2007

Top of Page

Story 14:

Alberta doctors’ agreement would re-start POSP funding

EDMONTON – The Alberta government, regional health authorities and the Alberta Medical Association intend to re-start funding of the Physician Office System Program (POSP) as part of the latest compensation package offered to the province’s doctors.

As stated on the Alberta government’s Health and Wellness website, the proposed agreement commits funding to the continuation of the POSP, providing for the continued computerization of physician offices. Over 3,300 Alberta physicians are enrolled in the POSP, but entry into the program ended in March 2006. Reactivation of funding will make it possible for additional doctors in Alberta to receive incentives for computerizing their practices.

As well, early participants in the program have voiced concerns about how they will pay for upgrades, maintenance and on-going training once their funding runs out. The Alberta Medical Association’s board is recommending its membership vote for the financial agreement. The ratification process is expected to take seven to eight weeks because of the time it takes to mail the tentative agreement and a ballot to each physician, and then have the ballot returned.

The main thrust of the proposed agreement, which will be ratified by some 7,100 Alberta physicians and medical residents, would provide increases of 4.5 percent per year [retroactively] from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2008. Increases to specific fees will be determined through the tri-lateral allocation process.

The largest increases are to the physician services budget, which funds fee-for-service payments and alternative relationship plans. Total funding in these areas will be $1.7 billion in 2006-07 and $2 billion for 2007-08.

“The trilateral relationship, which is unique in Canada, allows the three parties to jointly address complex and difficult situations that continue to emerge,” said Dr. G. N. (Gerry) Kiefer, President of the Alberta Medical Association (AMA). “For example, this tentative agreement addresses Alberta’s physician shortages with the new Retention Benefit and the Clinical Stabilization Initiative that focuses on under-serviced areas and communities in crisis.”

The tentative agreement contains $103.5 million over two years dedicated to three innovative features which focus on retention and recruitment initiatives to help meet the increasing demand for more physicians in Alberta.

A new retention benefit will recognize physicians for the number of years that they have practiced in Alberta. This will reflect physicians’ terms of service in the province. The unique circumstances of communities under pressure and under-serviced areas will be addressed through the new clinical stabilization initiative. These communities will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. A provincial framework for under-serviced areas is to be finalized by June 2007.

As well, special funding has been designated to address extraordinary increases in practice costs. Details on how it will be distributed are yet to be finalized. Primary care initiatives, an innovative approach to offering team-based primary healthcare, will also receive ongoing support under the tentative deal. Currently, there are 19 Primary Care Networks in the province serving over one-million people.

Soaring rents, labour costs and real estate prices in the oil-rich province were one of the chief concerns in the talks – which stretched over the last 18 months – with the government and regional health authorities. The thousands of people moving to Alberta for a piece of the red-hot economy only added to the stress. Alberta has a shortage of 1,000 physicians, and it is causing treatment delays and making it impossible for some people to find a family doctor.

Dr. Kiefer has suggested in the past that the doctor shortage will increase to 1,500 over the next few years unless the government offers physicians fee increases big enough to cover their rising costs. A pediatric orthopedic surgeon at the Children’s Hospital in Calgary, Dr. Kiefer explained it is hard to attract doctors when they face higher office expenses and an increased cost of living in an inflated economy.

“Of course, these overhead costs are driven by Alberta’s oil and gas tsunami,” said Dr. Kiefer. “”I believe the proposed agreement goes some way in addressing these overhead costs, although I would acknowledge some physicians may feel it is still inadequate in this regard.”

Alberta doctors last received a raise in October 2005, when their fees were increased by 3.5 per cent. Because the current round of talks took so long, the latest agreement would only last until the end of next March. Dr. Kiefer said the medical association will send out a letter of intent to negotiate next month and the whole process will start again.

Source: Canadian Healthcare Technology

Top of Page

Story 15:

Calgary’s Sembiosys in GM insulin breakthrough

Insulin produced by genetically modified plants - with a human gene added - could be on the market in three years, a Canadian company has claimed.

By Hugh Levinson - BBC News

Sembiosys said it has made scientific breakthroughs and found a short cut through current drug regulations. The firm's CEO Andrew Baum said his company could become one of the first to sell a plant-based pharmaceutical. However, critics believe that these products pose greater environmental and health risks than GM food crops.

Most insulin is now produced by genetically modified bacteria, inside sealed tanks. The new technique uses GM plants grown out in the open. The company is growing insulin in the seeds of safflower, a relatively little-used seed oil plant. The safflower is being grown on a trial basis in fields in Chile, the US and Canada.

Their crop is grown counter-seasonally to reduce the risks of the insulin-producing genes crossing to other plants. Mr Baum said: "Sembiosys believes it will be one of the first - or the first - company to get a plant-based pharmaceutical on the market."

Sembiosys has predicted an "explosion" in demand for insulin because of a growing number of diabetics. Moreover, new methods of delivering the drug, like inhalation, require more insulin per dose than injections. Mr Baum said that one large North American farm growing his safflower could meet the global demand for insulin - and that the price of the drug could be cut significantly.

If the firm can demonstrate that the plant-based insulin is identical with human insulin, it won't have to go through all the long and costly stages of full clinical trials. Mr Baum said he saw his product as part of a new wave of GM plants which could help change public opinion - particularly in Europe - in favour of the technology.

"The goodness of what we're doing is so clear - people who are dying of diabetes in the developing world will eventually get insulin - that I think people can understand it "
Andrew Baum Sembiosys CEO

He said: "While the first wave of products were really focused on the farmer and improving agricultural economics, there's an increasing emphasis now in the industry on products that address more direct consumer benefits and consumer needs."

There are also more projects under way to develop many other pharmaceutical crops. Professor Ed Rybicki of the University of Cape Town has modified tobacco so it produces a vaccine for cervical cancer. He said the aim was to help women in the developing world. Furthermore, there are plans to produce spider silk from potatoes and to make non-polluting engine lubricants in seed oil plants.

A Danish company is even trying to create plants that will help clear minefields. The flowers of the modified thale cress would change from white to red if their roots absorb traces of explosives - showing where the landmines had been laid. However Clare Oxborrow, of Friends of the Earth, said the risks of contamination from pharmaceutical plants was actually greater than from food crops.

She said there had already been contamination incidents with experimental pharmaceutical plants. One American company, Prodigene, was heavily fined for its mistakes in 2002. Similar problems have occurred recently with GM food crops.

Pollution fears
She said: "It's worrying enough when it's a crop intended for human consumption.

"But when it might be a pharmaceutical crop in the future that contaminates the food chain that raises serious worries and questions about the risks involved for human health."

Ms Oxborrow said the promised benefits would not be great enough to shift public opinion. She pointed to many other factors influencing public views - like the impact on the environment, potential health concerns and corporate control of the food chain. However Mr Baum insisted: "The goodness of what we're doing is so clear - people who are dying of diabetes in the developing world will eventually get insulin - that I think people can understand it."

Source: BioSmartBrief

Top of Page

Story 16:

Scientists warn of nanotech backlash

By Richard Foot

EDMONTON - Scientists in the emerging field of nanotechnology are warning that Canada must make a serious effort to examine the safety of nano-products, and consider whether the country needs new laws to govern them.

They say nanotechnologies may pose few risks to human health or the environment, but unless the issue is carefully studied and explained to the public, the new technology and its economic benefits may suffer from the same kind of public backlash that greeted the arrival of genetically modified foods a decade ago.

"We don't necessarily know how these new materials we are engineering will behave when we put them out into products," says Nils Petersen, director of the federal government's new National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) in Edmonton.

"While many of us are convinced that we know enough about the chemistry and physics of these things, that there are not going to be serious problems, new chemical properties are still new properties. "We need to get the regulatory agencies - in the environment, health etc. - to figure out what the regulatory framework will be, that the public can accept and that industry can understand and work with."

Adds John Preston, director of the Brockhouse Institute at McMaster University, a major nanoscience facility: "It's not that we're saying, 'Oh this is a dangerous thing and we should stop developing it.' Because it's going to be important in creating new industries in Canada. "But if we want to benefit from it, then the country needs to regulate it very effectively. If we're too conservative, nanotech companies will set up elsewhere. But if we're not careful and do nothing, we'll have a public backlash."

Nanotechnology involves manipulating atoms and molecules to engineer new materials with chemical properties custom-made for specific purposes. Already, more than 300 nano-products are on the market. Most of these early-stage products are textiles, such as stain-resistant pants, or cleaners with antibacterial particles.

But nanoscience is on the verge of far more important breakthroughs in pharmacology, biomedicine and electrical engineering that could drastically alter the way we live. Surveys and focus groups in recent years show positive Canadian attitudes towards nanotechnology, as long as any new products fall under strict government controls.

"There is legitimate reason for public concern," says Lori Sheremeta, a legal research officer with NINT, a branch of the National Research Council. "Alarm bells are being rung in the nanoscience community to suggest that certain nano-sized particles behave differently, yet we're not yet looking at what that means to people and animals and the environment.

"It's important to find out what's harmful and what's not harmful and then do some public outreach," she says. "If we do this wrong, then potentially beneficial technologies are going to be rejected by the public. That's what happened over genetically modified foods."

GM food crops were introduced in the midst of controversy in the 1990s, over fears that they posed health risks. As a result, GM foods were banned by some countries and delayed from reaching the market in others. It's not clear yet whether nanotechnology poses an inherent risk. When nanoscience was in its infancy in the 1980s, some speculated that the world would one day be overcome by nano-sized, self-replicating molecular robots. Such science fiction has given way to more legitimate concerns about the health risks of engineered nano-particles used as drug-delivery systems in humans, or the risks of inhaling carbon nanotubes - tiny carbon particles that are increasingly showing up in consumer products such as sports equipment.

Sheremeta says while some preliminary work is being done by the federal government, the subject is not getting enough attention in Ottawa. She says a federal "nano team" should be appointed to oversee risk research and figure out what, if any, new laws Canada needs. Similar warnings have been raised in Britain and the U.S. Last fall in the American science journal Nature, 14 scientists said a failure to properly investigate and regulate the risks of nanotechnology was "threatening to slow" its development.

Scientists acknowledge they can do more to investigate safety issues on their own. McMaster University has a new research program examining what Preston calls the potential "pitfalls of nanotechnology." But Robert Wolkow, a physicist at NINT, says only the government has the power to regulate new products, and tie its research funding to a requirement that risk factors be examined, too.

"We need to be careful about what we're playing with here," he says. "We're talking about some materials that could be dangerous. And so far, it's been very hard to engage with anyone in the federal government, to get things happening."

© CanWest News Service 2007

Top of Page

Story 17:

Federal budget delivers on health care but still disappoints: CMAJ

By Wayne Kondro

A multi-million incentive for provinces to establish formal wait time guarantees and recourse mechanisms, and a $300 million start on vaccinating young girls and women against quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) were among $1.4 billion in new health outlays unveiled Mar. 19 in federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's 2007/08 budget.

But critics, including CMA President Dr. Colin McMillan, say the outlays fall short of what is needed, particularly with regard to electronic health record-keeping and developing a comprehensive pan-Canadian strategy for educating, recruiting, licensing and equipping doctors.

Overall, Flaherty administered a $10.3 billion hypodermic to Canadians in hopes of turning their hue to Tory blue in the anticipated election. Federal spending now totals $233.4 billion.

Included is a $1.2 billion increase in the Canada Health Transfer to the provinces, as agreed upon in the September 2004 federal/provincial/territorial 10-year Plan to Strengthen Health Care, under which recipients agreed to work towards Patient Wait Times Guarantees in 5 priority areas: cancer treatment, heart procedures, diagnostic imaging, joint replacement and sight restoration. But there was no real obligation to actually create programs or to specify patient recourse mechanisms when a benchmark isn't met.

To hasten the process, Flaherty gave the provinces until Mar. 31 to "publicly outline" a plan for a wait times guarantee, in at least 1 of the 5 priority areas, to qualify for a per capita allocation from a new $612-million wait times fund. As of CMAJ's press deadline on Mar. 20, only Québec had announced such a plan, qualifying the province for $126.6 million over 3 years.

CMA's McMillan says the $612 million should have topped $1 billion to actually accomplish the wait time task. "It's not a care guarantee just yet." Canadian Health Care Coalition President Sharon Sholzberg-Grey concurred, arguing that government wait time promises are meaningless without specific recourse mechanisms, like dedicated monies to help patients obtain treatment in another jurisdiction. "When is a guarantee, not a guarantee? When it doesn't define what is guaranteed."

McMillan is also concerned about the adequacy of new outlays for the Canada Health Infoway, an intergovernmental initiative to promote electronic health record keeping. Some $400 million will be pumped into Infoway; $1.2 billion has already been spent on the project, which is projected to ultimately cost $10 billion. Spending thus far has been limited to the production of electronic "health" records and systems for developing them, rather than electronic "patient" records.

Outlays for the latter were "the cornerstone of what we were looking for," said a disappointed McMillan. "We think this is a very important thing for the delivery of health care, for its efficiency, certainly for the element of safety, and perhaps down the road it may have a cost factor, so we're a little surprised to hear that it's not going to doctor's offices."

As perplexing, McMillan added, was the absence of funding to implement a national strategy for health human resources, as recommended by Task Force Two (CMAJ 2006;174:1827). Systemic improvements to health can't be achieved "unless we have the doctors and nurses," he argued.

Flaherty's other big ticket health item was the creation of a $300 million over 3-year per capita trust that provinces can draw upon to establish HPV vaccination programs in hopes of reducing the incidence of cervical cancer. (An estimated 1350 new cases were diagnosed last year.)

The new vaccine, Gardasil, will be made available to all women aged 9 to 26 at a projected cost of $435 per patient. Given that Statistics Canada recently projected there are 175 000, 9- year-old girls in Canada, and vaccinating that group alone would cost $75 million, Health Canada officials conceded during the budget lock-up that it will be all but impossible to vaccinate all eligible women within current financial parameters, so the provinces will have to pick up the slack.

Among other health measures included in Flaherty's new $1.4 billion health outlay are:

• $20 million over 2 years and $15 million annually starting in 2009 to establish a Canadian Mental Health Commission, as recommended by the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science & Technology last May.

• A $22 million hike in the annual budget of the Canadian Institute for Health Information to $57 million.

• $2 million to the Canadian Medic Alert Foundation to provide free MedicAlert bracelets for children who suffer from peanut allergies or diseases such as diabetes.

Flaherty also unveiled several other health-related measures in addition to the $1.4 billion. Those included:

• $105 million to 8 research labs, including the Montréal Neurological Institute and UBC's Brain Research Centre, to essentially enhance their capacity to become world leaders in their fields. They and other research institutes will be in open competition next year for a new $195 million pot of money set aside to create an undetermined number of national Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research.

• $37 million or a 5% increase in the base budget of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to $737 million.

• $30 million to the nonprofit Rick Hansen Man in Motion Foundation to support research on spinal cord injuries.

• $30 million over 3 years for "innovative" pilot projects to reduce wait times.

• Expanded tax breaks for pharmaceutical firms to participate in international programs to provide drugs combating AIDS and tuberculosis in the developing world.

• $10 million over 1 year to create 5 "Operational Stress Injury Clinics" across the country to treat Canadian soldiers suffering from stress-related disorders stemming from military service.

Source: CMAJ April Issue: Vol 176, No 8

Top of Page

Story 18:

Health Canada approves Sprycel, a new treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia

MONTREAL, March 28 /CNW Telbec/ - Canadians living with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) have been given renewed hope in their fight against this rare but often life-threatening disease. Health Canada has granted a Notice of Compliance under the Notice of Compliance with Conditions for SPRYCEL (TM) (dasatinib) for treatment of adults with chronic, accelerated or blast phase CML who fail or are intolerant to prior therapy including imatinib mesylate (marketed as Gleevec (R).(1)

"Patients lose hope when they're told by their physician that their treatment isn't working for them," said Rudy Punts, CEO of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. "Thanks to research and development, new therapies offer promise to patients who have run out of options. The approval of SPRYCEL is really good news for these patients."

CML, one of four types of leukemia(2), is a slowly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow that is characterized by an overproduction of white blood cells which ultimately crowd out the healthy red-blood cells.(3) The potential for drug resistance to develop in these patients may increase depending on the length of prior treatment and the stage of disease.(4) It is therefore an understandably devastating event for CML patients to be told that they are intolerant to or are resistant to standard treatment.

"We know that CML primarily affects adults and accounts for about 15% of all leukemias," said Cheryl-Anne Simoneau, President and CEO of the CML Society of Canada. "In Canada, there are approximately 460 new cases each year, which represents 1 case for every 100,000 people.(5) Each CML case is unique to that patient and not all patients are going to respond to first-line treatments. This is why SPRYCEL represents an important advance for the treatment of CML in patients who have failed or did not respond to previous therapies."

The unmet medical need
Canadian hematologists and oncologists recognize that there is currently an unmet medical need for the 20-30 percent of chronic and advanced phase CML patients who fail to respond or are intolerant to imatinib. In a recent pan-Canadian survey, an overwhelming 83% of hematologists agreed that there is a need for additional therapy to treat these CML patients.(6) Furthermore, 76% of respondents believe that a new drug treatment can provide better therapeutic success to the same patients who are resistant to other treatments.(7)

"Early clinical data show that patients achieved hematologic and cytogenetic responses across all phases of CML," said Dr. Jeff Lipton, Medical Oncologist and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. "Through its unique mode of action, SPRYCEL shuts down the cancer cell and ultimately the CML. Since cytogenetic response is associated with a survival benefit, it is reasonable to expect that this treatment will allow patients to keep their condition under control for a very long period of time."

SPRYCEL is a multi-targeted inhibitor and works at various sites within the abnormal cell. It has a unique mode of action which targets multiple pathways associated with CML and reduces the activity of one or more proteins responsible for the uncontrolled growth of the leukemia cells. This reduction allows the bone marrow to resume production of normal red cells, white cells, and platelets.(8)

About CML
CML is distinguished from the other types of leukemia by a genetic abnormality in the white blood cells called the Philadelphia chromosome which promotes the growth of leukemia cells and seems to be present in nearly 90 per cent of CML cases.(9) The Philadelphia chromosome is thought to be acquired after birth and is formed when two chromosomes (9 and 22) switch some of their gene material, forming a new chromosome.(10)

Efficacy and safety
SPRYCEL is indicated for the treatment of adults with chronic, accelerated or blast phase chronic myeloid leukemia with resistance or intolerant to prior therapy including imatinib mesylate.(11)

Health Canada issued a marketing authorization for SPRYCEL 20 mg, 50 mg and 70 mg tablets to reflect the promising nature of the clinical efficacy and safety of SPRYCEL in patients with this serious disease and the need for further follow-up to verify the clinical benefit. This approval is based on the rates of hematologic and cytogenetic responses in six clinical studies (one Phase I dose escalation and five phase II multicenter studies) in patients resistant to or intolerant of treatment with imatinib.

SPRYCEL is already available in more than 25 countries including the United States, Austria, Germany, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada
Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, a global pharmaceutical and related health care products company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life. Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada is a leading provider of medicines to fight cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS), nervous system diseases and serious mental illness. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the BMY symbol. Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada's operations are headquartered in Montréal, Québec.

™Sprycel is a registered trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Gleevec® is a trademark of it's respective owner and not of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

(1)  SPRYCEL Product Monograph
(2)  http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=7026
(3)  http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=8501
(4)  Shah NP. Hematology. 2005:183-187
(5)  http://www.cmlsociety.org
(6)  The pan-Canadian survey was conducted by CROP.  A sample of over one-quarter of physicians specializing in hematology was questioned specifically about CML between January 16 and February 12, 2007. All respondents are either currently treating CML patients or have treated a CML patient in the past 12 months, 71% practice in a hospital centre and 29% practice in a regular hospital. The data gathered from the survey were in response to a written questionnaire.
(7)  Ibid
(8)  https://www.sprycel.com/pdf/patient_info.pdf
(9)  Faderi S, Talpeas M, Estrov Z, et al. The Biology of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. N Engl J Med 1999;341(3):164-172
(10) http:// www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=4870,
(11) SPRYCEL Product Monograph

Marc Osborne, Director, Public Relations, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, (514) 333-2463, marc.osborne@bms.com; Julie Holroyde, H&K Health, Hill & Knowlton Toronto, (416) 413-4625, julie.holroyde@hillandknowlton.ca; Peter Gay, (416) 413-4732, peter.gay@hillandknowlton.ca

Source: Pharmalive

Top of Page

Story 19:

Canadian contribution to the US physician workforce

Background: A physician shortage has been declared in both Canada and the United States. We sought to examine the migration pattern of Canadian-trained physicians to the United States, the contribution of this migration to the Canadian physician shortage and policy options in light of competing shortages in both countries.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the 2004 and 2006 American Medical Association Physician Masterfiles, the 2002 Area Resource File and data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the Canadian Medical Association and the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada. We describe the migration pattern of Canadian medical school graduates to the United States, the number of Canadian-trained physicians in the United States in 2006, the proportion who were in active practice, the proportion who were practising in rural or underserved areas and the annual contribution of Canadian-trained physicians to the US physician workforce.

Results: Two-thirds of the 12 040 Canadian-educated physicians living in the United States in 2006 were practising in direct patient care, 1023 in rural areas. About 186, or 1 in 9, Canadian-educated physicians from each graduating class joined the US physician workforce providing direct patient care. Canadian-educated physicians are more likely than US-educated physicians to practise in rural areas.

Interpretation: Minimizing emigration, and perhaps recruiting physicians to return to Canada, could reduce physician shortages, particularly in subspecialties and rural areas. In light of competing physician shortages, it will be important to consider policy options that reduce emigration, improve access to care and reduce reliance on physicians from developing countries.

By Robert L. Phillips, Jr, Stephen Petterson, George E. Fryer, Jr and Walter Rosser

Click here to Read the full report

Top of Page

Story 20:

Feds fund nurse mentoring program in British Columbia

VANCOUVER – A joint three-year pilot project to increase the number of nurses in BC was introduced at a funding announcement by Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

Supported by the BC Ministry of Health and the BC Ministry of Advanced Education, the $4.1 million project was developed through a unique partnership including Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health, the Nurses Bargaining Association, the University of Victoria and the University of BC. The BC partners are contributing $1.2 million, with Ottawa contributing the remaining $2.9 million through a grant.

“Canada’s new government is committed to meeting the changing demands of the health sector,” said Minister Solberg (pictured). “Through this important initiative, we are taking concrete steps to combat nursing shortages and ensure Canada stays ahead of the curve with an adequate pool of highly trained healthcare workers.”

This new nursing education model, known as “Preparing A Nursing Workforce to Advance Health Services” aims to prepare, recruit and retain quality nurses to meet ongoing provincial demand. The program will also address the shrinking number of nursing educators in the province.

The “focused masters” program allows nurses to progress through multi-stage advanced training, broadening their skill base and increasing their ability to mentor those one rung down on the “career ladder”. This provides nurses with a robust educational and vocational experience, encouraging long-term commitment to both nursing education and practice.

“This is an excellent example of the innovation we need to fill our workforce shortages,” said Ida Goodreau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vancouver Coastal Health. “Together, Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health alone project a need for 3500 new registered nurses by 2009. This initiative will go a long way towards supporting our nursing needs for the future.”

Said Keith Anderson, President and Chief Executive Officer (interim) of Fraser Health: “This project is exciting and innovative on many levels. It provides a new paradigm for collaboration, cooperation and learning across the healthcare, labour relations and education sectors.”

Nurse shortage leads to bed closures in Saskatchewan
REGINA – Saskatchewan’s nursing shortage is forcing bed closures at both Regina hospitals. A spokesman for the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region said that six beds on a general surgery/gynecology/family medicine unit at the General Hospital will soon be closed.

That’s in addition to eight beds on a general surgery/orthopedics unit which have been out of service since late February at the Pasqua Hospital. “It has exclusively to do with [the fact that] there isn’t the nursing staff available to provide safe patient care,” said spokesman Mark Torjusen. “Recruiting is ongoing, but certainly, as health organizations across the country experience, it is a challenging process.”

Health Minister Len Taylor said the province is working to recruit health professionals in North America and around the world, noting that a shortage of health professionals isn’t unique to Saskatchewan.

During an early April question period session at the provincial legislature, Saskatchewan Party health critic Don McMorris said bed closures will only worsen the waiting list situation, especially for orthopedic surgery.

“Waiting lists are increasing and, under this government’s watch, beds are closing. That does nothing to reduce the waiting lists around the province,” he said.

Health Minister Taylor said the province has taken steps to address the shortage of health professionals as the province’s financial picture improved in recent years. “When we began to have additional resources available to us, in and around the year 2000 and since, we have continually increased the number of (training) seats and the money that’s available for collective agreements, recruitment initiatives and the bursary program.”

However, according to McMorris, the recent provincial budget fell far short of what’s required by only establishing 18 new seats to train registered nurses. A search on the www.saskjobs.ca web site showed over 270 nursing positions listed as available in early April.

Source: Canadian Healthcare Technology

Top of Page

Story 21:

Ethanol makers dispute Parliamentary report on biofuels spending

By Terry Pedwell

OTTAWA (CP) - A group representing biofuel manufacturers disputes a report in April that suggests the federal government's massive investments in ethanol won't dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The study, by Frederic Forge of the Library of Parliament's science and technology division, says regulations to promote biofuels will have "relatively minor impact" on reducing greenhouse emissions across Canada.

The report casts doubt on one of the biggest green initiatives in the Conservative budget - a $1.5-billion investment over seven years to promote renewable fuels such as corn-based ethanol. The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association calls the report "factually incorrect."

"Canada's renewable fuel standard will reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by over 4.2 megatonnes," says the association. "The equivalent of taking over one million cars off the road each and every year."

The association says "the use of 10 per cent ethanol blends reduces greenhouse