University researchers and drug developers in Edmonton are joining forces to create what they say will be CanadaB次元官网网址檚 first facility that can take the latest scientific pharmaceutical insights from the lab through clinical trials to the marketplace.

The partnership, announced Monday, brings together a world-leading laboratory and an existing drug manufacturer to plug a hole in CanadaB次元官网网址檚 drug supply system, said Andrew MacIsaac of Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation, the not-for-profit corporation involved in the effort.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 the first large-scale marrying of what API is doing and what researchers at a post-secondary institution are undertaking,B次元官网网址� he said.

MacIsaacB次元官网网址檚 firm, which currently employs about 40 scientists at its Edmonton facility, is teaming up with the University of AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 renowned Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology to form the Canadian Critical Drug Initiative.

B次元官网网址淭his was a good marriage for both,B次元官网网址� said Lorne Tyrrell, institute co-director and the discoverer of the first oral treatment for hepatitis B.

Canada currently lacks the capacity to manufacture its own drug supply, a gap that became obvious when the federal government was trying to lock up supplies of COVID-19 vaccine. The federal government has since funded specific research and manufacturing facilities in Montreal, Winnipeg and Saskatoon.

But the Alberta effort would be unique in linking the lab bench and the drugstore shelf, as well as in the type and breadth of drugs it would help develop.

Michael Houghton, the instituteB次元官网网址檚 other director and a Nobel laureate, said the initiative would focus on so-called B次元官网网址渟mall-moleculeB次元官网网址� drugs B次元官网网址� chemically synthesized drugs that make up the great majority of whatB次元官网网址檚 in peopleB次元官网网址檚 medicine cabinets. Ibuprofen, for example, is a small-molecule drug.

B次元官网网址淲hat weB次元官网网址檙e trying to do at the institute is develop novel vaccines, novel therapeutics and novel drug screening tools,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e have a pipeline which will fit very nicely with the API infrastructure.B次元官网网址�

Academic labs do the early research, bringing a novel drug to a proof-of-concept stage in a lab, MacIsaac said.

The institute can recreate that work under conditions that meet regulatory standards, conduct further study on how the drug will behave in the body and how it should be formulated. It can then manufacture it for clinical trials.

The Canadian Critical Drug Initiative will bring both sides together, said MacIsaac. It will also improve the supply chain for already existing drugs such as propofol, which is commonly used to induce unconsciousness for procedures from surgeries to being put on a ventilator.

B次元官网网址淚t was quite often in short supply before COVID-19, then COVID-19 exacerbated that. Having a resilient supply chain for that drug is critical.B次元官网网址�

MacIsaacB次元官网网址檚 company now manufactures drugs in quantities appropriate for clinical trials B次元官网网址� a few thousand doses a month. Part of the aim of the new partnership is to ramp that up.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檒l be able to produce about 70 million doses of drugs a year, a wide variety from the security of supply basic medicines that are needed with the hospital setting to novel drugs that are coming out of institutes like Li Ka Shing,B次元官网网址� he said.

That will take some expansion.

The initiative is looking to expand its facilities at the University of Alberta and the Alberta Research Park in Edmonton. A 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is also planned.

The whole project will cost about $169 million. Private investors, as well as the municipal and provincial governments, are on board and about half the money has been raised. A funding request has been sent to Ottawa.

MacIsaac said the initiative could be producing drugs within two years.

ItB次元官网网址檚 an economic opportunity for a province looking to diversify, he said.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檒l generate hundreds of jobs in the short term and many, many more in the long term. WeB次元官网网址檒l be able to find a home for a lot of the talent weB次元官网网址檝e grown in the oil and gas sector.B次元官网网址�

The initiative could help create a cluster of firms to add to the hundreds of drug manufacturing jobs already in Edmonton, he said.

Edmonton scientists are already waiting to go ahead with clinical trials for vaccines against scourges, such as hepatitis C, or viruses that threaten transplant patients, said Houghton. A way to bring those breakthroughs to market is the missing piece of the puzzle.

B次元官网网址淲e have a future pipeline,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e going to need the Canadian Critical Drug Initiative infrastructure to finish and help us to manufacture these vaccines for clinical trials and to deliver these vaccines.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擝ob Weber, The Canadian Press