The Japanese giant Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma is asking the Quebec state to invest in Medicago to replace the tobacco company Philip Morris, which is a shareholder and which prevents it from being in the good graces of the World Health Organization (WHO). ).
“Discussions are ongoing, but we are not commenting on the talks,” the official told Log Romane St-Laurent, press officer in the office of the Minister for the Economy, Lucie Lecours.
In late March, the World Health Organization (WHO) blocked Medicago’s Covifenz vaccine because tobacco company Philip Morris is a shareholder in the company, hurting the country’s first COVID-19 vaccine.
On Wednesday, a lobbyist signed up “to accompany Medicago inc. in the replacement of the shareholder Philip Morris, in particular by means of a participation of the government of Quebec”, one can read.
Yesterday, Medicago did not want to talk about the case and quickly passed the buck to Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, which did not respond to questions from the Log.
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma is owned by Tokyo-based global giant Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, which is worth $11 billion on the stock exchange.
It was in 2013 that Medicago was purchased by foreign interests. At the time, the transaction was worth $357 million. Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma became 60% owner and Philip Morris 40%.
Today, biopharmaceutical Medicago is 79% owned by Mitsubishi Tanabe and 21% by tobacco industry giant Philip Morris.
The latter did not respond to questions from the Logyesterday.
$240 million
To date, Investissement Québec (IQ) has helped Medicago twice, with a $60 million loan in 2015 and a $7 million grant “for research and development against COVID-19” in 2020. .
For its part, Ottawa has invested more than $173 million in the company with an agreement to buy up to 76 million doses of the vaccine.
In the office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, they say they have had several discussions with the company “to find solutions”.
“If this allows Medicago to finally get approval at the WHO level, why not? commented Frank Béraud, CEO of Montreal InVivo.
“It would be a shame to deprive yourself of a vaccine that has been approved”, pleaded in turn Anie Perrault, general manager of BIOQuébec.
“The reality is that people in South America and Africa are less vaccinated, and you have to go get them vaccinated,” she concluded.
– With Sylvain Larocque
▶In mid-February, Health Canada approved Medicago’s two-dose Covifenz vaccine, for people ages 18 to 64. Its efficacy rate is 71% against symptomatic infection and 100% against severe forms of COVID-19.
MEDICAGO IN BRIEF
- Foundation : 1999
- Employees : 500
- Facilities :Quebec and Durham (USA)
- Creation of Medicago United States: 2011
- Construction of a manufacturing unit in Quebec: 2018
- Approval of the COVID-19 vaccine: 2022
Source: Medicago