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North–South partnerships—a study of Canadian firms

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 978–979 (2007)Cite this article

To the editor:

Although developing countries are beginning to harness biotech for health and economic development1,2, there is also an opportunity for industrialized countries to leverage their biotech investments to both develop new commercial markets and address critical global health and environmental challenges. We report here a survey—to our knowledge the first of its kind—that examines the experiences, problems and needs of small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Canadian biotech sector, attempting to commercialize health and environmental biotechnologies in emerging and developing-country markets.

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References

  1. Thorsteinsdottir, H., Quach, U., Daar, A.S. & Singer, P.A. Nat. Biotechnol. 22, DC48–DC52 (2004).

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  2. High-Level African Panel on Modern Biotechnology (Calestous Juma and Ismail Serageldin, Co-Chairs). Freedom to Innovate: Biotechnology in Africa's Development (African Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 2006). <http://www.nepadst.org/doclibrary/pdfs/abp_july2006.pdf>. Accessed March 30, 2007.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the valuable comments of Sarah E. Frew and other members of the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Program on Life Sciences, Ethics and Policy. The Program on Life Sciences, Ethics and Policy is primarily supported by Genome Canada through the Ontario Genomics Institute, Ontario Research Fund, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with other co-funders listed at http://www.mrcglobal.org. A.S.D. and P.A.S. are supported by the McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine. P.A.S. is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Distinguished Investigator award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Program on Life Sciences, Ethics and Policy, University Health Network; McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine at University of Toronto, MaRS Centre, South Tower, 101 College Street, Suite 406, Toronto, M5G 1L7, ON, Canada

    Andrew D Taylor, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Abdallah S Daar & Peter A Singer

  2. David Brook, DBk Consulting, 17 Academy Private, Ottawa, K1R 1B6, ON, Canada

    David Brook

  3. David Watters, Global Advantage Consulting, 31 Goulding Crescent, Kanata, K2K 2N9, ON, Canada

    David Watters

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  1. Andrew D Taylor
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  2. David Brook
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  3. David Watters
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  4. Elizabeth Dowdeswell
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  5. Abdallah S Daar
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  6. Peter A Singer
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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Taylor, A., Brook, D., Watters, D. et al. North–South partnerships—a study of Canadian firms. Nat Biotechnol 25, 978–979 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0907-978

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