OTTAWA, ON, April 17, 2024 /CNW/ - The Canadian biotechnology sector welcomed the federal budget which highlighted investment, research, and regulatory performance in its commitments.

BIOTECanada, the national industry association for biotechnology representing the biotech company, research, and development ecosystem across Canada, offered the following response to the federal budget announced yesterday.

"The federal budget offered timely and important recognition on the strategic importance of securing life science innovation into the overall growth of the Canadian economy.  By reinvesting $200 million in the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative, the initiative to bring pension fund investment capital into Canada's innovation sectors, along with the  SR&ED and patent box consultations, suggests the government is building on the Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy's focus on the biotechnology and life sciences as a sector driving economic growth while supporting the well-being of Canadians," said Andrew Casey, President and CEO, BIOTECanada.

He continued, "With the existing investments in biomanufacturing, and AI, coupled with the initiative to secure investment commitments from large Canadian institutional investors, the biotech industry can look towards establishing the next cycle of company growth which will drive expansion of research and development operations in Canada. Importantly, while significant progress has been made following the pandemic, Canada still has work to do to enhance our regulatory competitiveness and attract investment for it to remain one of the leading OECD nations with biotechnology innovation as a core economic factor for long term sustained growth."

BIOTECanada is the national industry association whose 200+ members are representative of the broader Canadian biotech ecosystem which is national in scope and includes companies and entities in the life sciences/health, industrial and agricultural biotechnology sectors. In the context of climate change, food sustainability and human health needs, the biotechnology industry plays a vital role in developing solutions to help address the health and environmental challenges impacting the global population. Visit: biotech.ca

*French version of this release available at: biotech.ca/news

SOURCE BIOTECanada Association

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2024/17/c4585.html