A Bright Future in Innovative Healthcare

Innovation is essential for creating new jobs in today’s knowledge economy. Canada is the world’s 11th largest economy and has plenty of room to improve.

Innovators have time and again highlighted their challenges in developing ideas and bringing them into being. One of the prevalent challenges is the lack of proper access to capital in the research and development process. However, the government has rolled out initiatives such as the SR&ED Tax Incentive program and the Industrial Regional Assistance Program (IRAP) to help out the innovators.

In the pharmaceutical and life science research field, the researchers have made incredible contributions towards advancing healthcare technology. Canada has a rich history in ensuring that human health and healthcare in general is improved. Some of Canada’s notable health-science innovations include:

• Discovery of insulin and blood thinners in 1921
• The development of Pablum in 1930
• Development of Vinblastine for Chemotherapy in 1959
• Discovery of the first cancer tumour antigen in 1965
• Introduction of SingulairTM to treat asthma in 1991
• Identification of early onset Alzheimer’s genes in 1995
• Development of  the first meningitis vaccine in 2002
• The world’s first use of palladium seeds for prostate cancer in 2004
• The first HIV preventative vaccine in clinical trials in 2011

These achievements show that R&D in Canada’s healthcare sector has been fruitful for many years. Despite strong international competition in research and development, the healthcare sector in Canada has a bright future.