$22M funding for new personalized medicine centre

Montreal, QC – The Montreal Heart Institute and Genome Quebec have announced the creation of a Centre of Excellence in Personalized Medicine. This project represents funding of more than $22 million over five years. Of this amount, $13.8 million will be provided by the federal Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program, which was announced today. The remainder will come from investments by private and public partners, including the ministere du Developpement economique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation of Quebec.

The mission of the Centre of Excellence in Personalized Medicine is to develop approaches and methods that will optimize treatment and ensure their rapid and productive transition from the research stage to use in clinical practice. The centre will position Quebec and Canada as world leaders in the optimization of personalized treatment. The integration of pharmacogenomics and biomarkers into drug development will improve effectiveness and safety, enabling the proper drug to be prescribed to the proper patient, at the proper dosage, right from the start. The centre, which was developed in collaboration with major corporations from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, will serve as a tool in positioning these strategic sectors on the international stage.

“The centre will serve to develop new approaches to optimizing treatment, including drugs, so that Canadian patients can benefit from personalized medicine,” said Dr Jean-Claude Tardif, director of the MHI Research Centre and professor of medicine at the Universite de Montreal.