{"id":5099,"date":"2018-04-12T17:09:57","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T21:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.financialpost.com\/?p=1574714"},"modified":"2018-04-12T17:09:57","modified_gmt":"2018-04-12T21:09:57","slug":"sanofi-opens-500m-vaccine-facility-in-ontario-but-says-government-must-listen-on-competitiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2018\/04\/12\/sanofi-opens-500m-vaccine-facility-in-ontario-but-says-government-must-listen-on-competitiveness\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanofi opens $500M vaccine facility in Ontario but says government \u2018must listen\u2019 on competitiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Even as Sanofi Pasteur commits $500 million to revamp a vaccine manufacturing plant in Ontario, the pharmaceuticals company is warning the Canadian government on the country&#8217;s competitiveness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would call upon the government to recognize what the pharmaceutical and vaccine company is doing here. Because we are very important contributors to the economy and the healthcare system,\u201d David Loew, executive vice president of Sanofi, told the Financial Post. \u201cEach country is competing with every other country around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The vaccine unit of Paris-based Sanofi SA aims to double vaccine production with a new facility on its campus in North York, expected to open within four years. The increased production is primarily meant to address the growing need for booster vaccines.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"related_links\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/business.financialpost.com\/news\/economy\/bank-of-canadas-latest-indicator-cliches-it-interest-rates-are-going-up-soon\">Bank of Canada\u2019s latest indicator clinches it \u2014 rates are going up<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ontario is providing a $50 million grant to the project, according to a provincial government release, while Ottawa is also investing $20 million as part of its FedDev program, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains said at the event Thursday, noting that he will &#8220;look forward to your next conversation on the next investment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But before that happens, the pharma company believes the Canadian government needs to \u201ctruly listen\u201d to the industry\u2019s input as \u201ccampuses around the world are competing for investment,\u201d Loew said. \u201cWe feel like the government needs to take this into account and they\u2019re not really doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One issue is the price changes proposed by the Canada\u2019s Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, a federal consumer protection review board that has the power to set maximum prices on newly patented drugs entering the market. The board has proposed new changes to the Patented Medicines Regulations to include penalties for price gouging \u2014 its first major change to the document since it was ratified 20 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019re currently watching with great concern is the ecosystem in Canada especially on the healthcare reimbursements (side), for pharmaceuticals and vaccines at least (as they are) being discussed now through the PMPRB.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to being part of regulatory discussions, \u201cthe pharmaceutical company has not really been having a seat at the table,\u201d Loew said.<\/p>\n<p>The company is arguing that before considering whether vaccines are affordable, it\u2019s important to consider the full impact of vaccination. \u201cActually it is the most efficient intervention in medical care that you can do after clean water. Vaccines help lower morbidity and mortality, which should be considered when setting the price, he said.<\/p>\n<p>An innovative vaccine may cost more but reduces risk of being treated at the ICU and is an example of cost savings that are \u201chighly attractive\u201d in the healthcare system, Loew said.<\/p>\n<p>Sanofi will draw on its own pool of employees in Canada, who will receive specialized training to meet its needs, Vincent Hingot, head of vaccines industrial affairs at Sanofi Pasteur said.<\/p>\n<p>Canada was chosen for the expansion because of the skilled labour force and healthcare environment \u2014 at least prior to December\u2019s announcement on possible PMPRB reforms from Health Canada, Hingot said.<\/p>\n<p>soli@postmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ontario is providing a $50 million grant to the project and Ottawa is investing $20 million as part of its FedDev program<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5099"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5101,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5099\/revisions\/5101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}