(OTTAWA) The federal government isn’t considering pouring funds to help buy stock in the country’s only COVID-19 vaccine maker, but it is “working on a solution” with Medicago’s parent company.
Posted yesterday at 10:51 p.m.
Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has been in Japan for a week, touting Canada as a good place to produce electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.
When meeting with the presidents of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma and Mitsubishi Chemical, which hold a 79% stake in Medicago, Champagne said there were discussions about the company’s future as a global vaccine manufacturer.
Its biopharmaceutical vaccine was rejected by the World Health Organization (WHO) because tobacco company Philip Morris is a minority shareholder and the UN agency has a strict policy on engaging with industry. tobacco.
The Covifenz vaccine was licensed by Health Canada in February for adults aged 18 to 64, and the federal government has signed a contract to buy up to 76 million doses with vaccine donation plans for low-income countries. .
However, donations are not permitted without WHO approval.
Mr Champagne says the government is working with the company to make Medicago “a world leader in global health”, but that does not include buying shares at this stage.
He points out that the government has already invested to strengthen the research and development capacity as well as the manufacturing capacity of Medicago.
Mitsubishi has approached the Quebec government for support so that Medicago’s vaccines “will receive a favorable reception from the WHO and can be marketed on a large scale,” according to a file in the Registry of Lobbyists.
“The nature, form and amount of funding are unknown,” it added.
Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon stressed in June that he was in talks with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma executives to resolve the impasse, but that the Japanese company must first negotiate the purchase itself. of the participation of Philip Morris.