The government of François Legault maintains that it wants to find a buyer for Medicago, the Quebec vaccine manufacturer which will be closed by parent company Mitsubishi Chemical. And the government is ready to help this potential buyer.
Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said Friday that his government had held preliminary discussions with potential buyers in the pharmaceutical sector to retain Medicago’s expertise and skilled labor in Quebec.
He said that the governments of Quebec and Canada would be ready to invest money to reach an agreement. The minister clarified that the Quebec government could not operate Medicago itself, but would be ready to help a pharmaceutical company “which considers it worth continuing”.
The Japanese chemical group Mitsubishi Chemical explained in a press release on Thursday that it had decided not to continue marketing the Covifenz vaccine.
This plant-based vaccine against COVID-19 was approved by Health Canada in February 2022, but the World Health Organization ruled it out in May 2022, due to the presence of tobacco company Philip Morris as minority shareholder of the company. This participation goes against a policy of the UN agency adopted in 2005.
Mitsubishi Chemical therefore declared on Thursday that it would dissolve Medicago because it is no longer “viable” to continue to invest in the marketing of this manufacturer’s developmental products.
“They decided there were other [possibilités] or other strategic places to focus. That doesn’t mean that other pharmaceuticals won’t be of interest, Minister Fitzgibbon told reporters on Friday morning during his visit to Longueuil.
“But we’re going to see that in the next few months, because obviously what happened with the announcement yesterday (Thursday) is that Mitsubishi finally put the business up for sale. They want to get out of the operation, but if there is a buyer, it’s better for them. »
The minister said Friday that Mitsubishi Chemical had informed the Quebec government at the end of December of its intention to dissolve Medicago.
Ottawa also in “solution mode”
The Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, also told reporters on Thursday that his government was in “solution mode”.
“Our first order of business is really trying to find a partner who can help us preserve jobs, preserve technology and intellectual property,” Champagne said.
The minister acknowledged that mRNA vaccine technology to fight COVID-19 has become mainstream because it “appears to be the most effective”. But Medicago’s plant-based vaccine was still “promising,” Champagne said.
“Everyone agreed that the plant-based vaccine could very well help in a future pandemic. »
The federal government invested $173 million in Medicago in 2020 to support the development of the Covifenz vaccine and help Medicago expand its production plant in Quebec.
In May 2015, Quebec and Ottawa announced loans of $60 million and $8 million, respectively, for the construction of a complex in the Quebec region to house Medicago’s activities.
Minister Fitzgibbon said Friday that the challenge for his government is not so much to get the loan repaid, but rather to “save jobs, save business”.