R7 Launches a Partnership in Health Research & Innovation

OTTAWA, March 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Canada's leading national health research and innovation organizations have come together to form Research 7 (R7), an unprecedented partnership to work with Canadian governments to tackle our biggest health and health care challenges and secure Canada's place as a global leader in health innovation.

The federal government's science and technology strategy, the Council of Canadian Academies and the Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC) have identified Canada's Health and Life Sciences sector as an engine for economic growth and long-term prosperity that can close the innovation gap with our traditional competitors and emerging economies. The recent Jenkins' report, Innovation Canada: A Call to Action, called for Canada to take "a fundamentally new approach to building public-private research collaborations in areas of strategic importance and opportunity for the economy."  The report also called for a "whole lot of government leadership".

R7 is united in the view that the development of strategic partnerships has never been more important. There is ample opportunity for greater collaboration among all stakeholders dedicated to improving the health and wealth of Canadians in tackling the most challenging health and innovation issues facing our nation and citizens in the 21^st Century.

The unique value of R7 is that it represents the broad continuum of health research, innovation, knowledge translation and commercialization speaking with one voice.  The public sector, the research hospitals and academic regional health authorities, academic medicine, private and charitable sectors are now better placed than ever to work together and share responsibility for tackling some of the most pressing health challenges. The R7 includes:

• Association of Canadian Academic Healthcare Organizations (ACAHO) -  represents Research Hospitals, academic Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) and their Research Institutes;
  
• Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) - represents Canada's 17 faculties of medicine;
  
• BIOTECanada represents more than 250 member companies with operations in all aspects of biotechnology innovation and commercialization;
  
• Health Charities Coalition of Canada (HCCC) -  represents 28 national health charities;
  
• MEDEC - represents Canada's Medical device technology companies;
  
• Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx &D);
  
• Research Canada: An Alliance for Health Discovery - represents the interests of Canadians through a multi-stakeholder alliance drawn from the academic, private and voluntary sectors.

R7 is developing options for governments and others to consider in the belief that they might help attract the best research minds, accelerate knowledge creation and its application, improve the performance of the health system and contribute to sustained economic prosperity.  R7 has identified three over-arching priorities and, through them, will be reviewing the upcoming federal budget:

• Building Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships within the federal government as well as inter-government mechanisms for collaborative decision making and consultation.
  
• Creating a World-Leading Environment for Health Innovation by modernizing the heath regulatory approval process, adopting world-class intellectual property policies and creating tax incentives to stimulate health research, innovation and commercialization.
  
• Investing in Knowledge Creation & its Application by developing sustainable funding models for Canadian health researchers and research organizations.
  
  

The R7 partnership is committed to lay a foundation for robust public policy discussion about Canada's science and technology future-one that is built on bold strategic thinking and forward-looking options.

SOURCE CANADA'S RESEARCH-BASED PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES (RX&D)