$1.25M funding helps creation of clinical research network in Quebec

Montreal, QC – Pfizer Canada recently announced it is providing $1.25 million to support the establishment of the Quebec – Clinical Research Organization in Cancer (Q-CROC) network. Made in partnership with the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) and its Cancer Research Network, the funding will lay the groundwork for a province-wide consortium on clinical research in oncology. The Q-CROC has brought together 100 experts from hospitals and research centres affiliated with the four universities that have a medical school: McGill University, Laval University, the Université de Sherbrooke and the Université de Montréal.

The Q-CROC represents a concrete response to the concerted research approach called for by the États généraux sur le cancer, organized in 2007 by the Coalition Priorité Cancer au Québec. The need for joint action was also echoed by researchers, the medical community and industry.

“This clinical research infrastructure in oncology will facilitate the development of new therapies to help cancer patients,” said Raymond Bachand, minister of finance and minister of economic development, innovation and export trade. “It is an innovative partnership between Pfizer Canada, the Q-CROC and FRSQ that is in keeping with the policies and guidelines enunciated in the Stratégie québécoise de la recherche et de l’innovation.”

“In Quebec, as elsewhere in the country, Pfizer is looking to promote collaborative projects that support innovation in conjunction with the scientific community, governments, patients and industry. Support of the new consortium is a cogent example because it serves as a rallying point for our best and brightest researchers and offers people with cancer improved access to clinical trials, thereby paving the way to more treatment options for patients. This is crucial to the development of therapeutic solutions that adopt an increasingly targeted and personalized approach to fighting cancer,” says Paul Lévesque, president of Pfizer Canada.