Canada has the science. Does it have the strategy to be a life sciences power?

Co-authored by Matthew Carlyle, President and CEO, adMare BioInnovations; Maura Campbell,  President and CEO, OBIO; Jason Field, President and CEO, Life Sciences Ontario; Benoît Larose, President and CEO, BIOQuébec; Wendy Hurlburt, President and CEO, Life Sciences BC; Grace Lee Reynolds, CEO, MaRS; Prakash Gawd, Interim CEO, Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners; Véronique Dugas, President and CEO, CQDM; Maxime Pesant, Private Placements and Impact Investing | Life Sciences, Fonds de solidarité FTQ; and Stéphanie Doyle, President and CEO, Montréal InVivo.

The federal government’s pharmaceutical and life sciences task force arrived at a pivotal moment. As Canada enters CUSMA negotiations and navigates U.S. “most-favoured nation” (MFN) drug pricing policies, the task force was charged with a dual mandate: strengthening reliable, sustainable access to medicines, and identifying made-in-Canada solutions that drive innovation, competitiveness and long-term growth. These are not separate goals. Done right, responding to MFN and building domestic life science industry strength are part of the same strategy that builds value across the entire value chain and establishes Canada as a life sciences power. 

MFN amplifies a tension Canada has long managed: our publicly funded health system must maintain affordable access to medicines, while pricing and market access decisions also influence where global companies invest in R&D, run clinical trials, manufacture, partner, and bring new therapies to patients. That tension is real. But responding to it with pricing policy alone would be a missed opportunity of historic proportions. 

Because this moment is not just about managing external pressure. It is about whether Canada chooses to own a piece of what comes next. 

A generational opening — if we act with purpose 

Life sciences is one of the world’s most dynamic sectors. Global investment in biotech, medtech, and pharmaceutical R&D is accelerating, driven by breakthroughs in RNA therapeutics, precision oncology, AI-accelerated drug discovery and next generation medical devices and diagnostics. The countries capturing a disproportionate share of this growth are those with coherent policy frameworks, patient capital, competitive market access and deep talent pools. The U.S., the U.K., and the EU are all deploying sophisticated strategies to attract capital and global investments and build anchor companies and sovereign capacity. Canada’s approach must be equally deliberate. 

We have the foundational assets: world-class universities and research hospitals, a skilled scientific workforce, and a track record of translational discovery. A coordinated, intentional policy environment that considers the entire life sciences value chain, from discovery, investment, clinical development, regulatory approval, manufacturing market access and pricing, is critical to translate those assets into more investable, globally competitive companies that can grow, scale and remain anchored here. 

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the cost of over-reliance on foreign supply chains. Building resilient domestic life sciences capacity is now a matter of both economic and national security, and rightly recognized as part of the defence industrial strategy.  

The missing middle 

MFN puts a focus on pricing and market access. These are also essential considerations for patients, payers, hospitals, investors, government and Canada’s own emerging biotech and medtech companies. Global companies have the potential to bring R&D investment, clinical trial activity, manufacturing jobs, and innovative medicines that Canada needs.   

Equally important is a focus on the missing middle: the gap between discovery and a company capable of attracting serious capital and scaling. Filling it requires access to early-stage funding and follow-on capital, experienced operators, fit-for-purpose infrastructure and predictable pathways for adoption and reimbursement. Without it, Canada remains a source of ideas that get developed, scaled, and anchored elsewhere. 

Investment and access are not in tension 

Countries that succeed in this environment will be those that generate a steady pipeline of high-quality domestic assets, anchor more value at home through companies that grow in-country, attract sustained global investment, and retain strategic capabilities in advanced therapeutics, medical technologies and manufacturing. Without a comprehensive strategy, Canada risks becoming what it must not: a price-sensitive reference market, a consumer of innovation developed elsewhere, and a marginal voice in shaping the future of the sector. 

None of this diminishes the importance of affordable access to medicines and health technologies that Canadians rightly expect from our health system. But affordability, access and innovation are not mutually exclusive. A stronger domestic life sciences industry means earlier access to new therapies, more robust supply security, stronger partnerships with global companies and a health system that benefits from the economic returns of a sector we helped build. Investment and access are mutually reinforcing. 

Owning Canada’s life sciences future 

As the federal government advances its life sciences strategy, an integrated approach that reflects the realities of a changing global environment is imperative. That means recognizing company creation and domestic scaling as  core pillars of national competitiveness and security; strengthening mechanisms that support translation from discovery to commercialization including protecting intellectual property, attracting investment and building executive talent; designing policy frameworks that consider the interplay between pricing, regulation, access, investment, and innovation capacity; and developing differentiated incentives for companies that are genuinely rooted in Canada. 

The goal is not simply to respond to MFN or weather a difficult trade environment. It is to ensure that Canada emerges from this period with a stronger, more sovereign and globally competitive life sciences industry: one that discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers the next generation of therapies and health technologies, attracts sustained global investment, scales Canadian companies and generates economic returns — for our patients, our economy, and our future.