Ottawa is committing another $1.1 billion to the nation’s scientific research community to accelerate the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as treatments and testing for the coronavirus.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday (April 23) $115 million of that figure will be going towards research into vaccine and treatments.
Another $662 million will go towards clinical trials led by Canada and $350 million is being committed to efforts to expand national testing and modelling for the coronavirus.
The prime minister also announced the launch of a taskforce featuring leading health experts that will be overseeing efforts to pursue blood tests that will track immunity to COVID-19.
He said more than 1 million Canadians will be tested over the next two years.
Private companies on the West Coast have already been using government funds, in part, to develop treatments for the coronavirus.
The Vancouver-based Digital Technology Supercluster announced April 20 it’s committing $60 million from its $153 million budget, backed by the federal government, to support the fight against COVID-19.
Among four projects given the greenlight by the supercluster is Rapid Repurposing of Drugs for COVID-19, led by Variational AI Inc.
The tech company and its partners are tapping artificial intelligence to repurpose available drugs that could potentially treat pandemic patients.
More to come …
