May 24, 2006

Hon. George Smitherman

Minister, Minister’s Office
Hepburn Block, 10th Floor
80 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, Ontario

M7A 2C4

Dear Minister Smitherman:

Re: Bill 102 and the Government of Ontario’s Innovation Agenda

I am writing to you in my capacity of President of the Toronto Biotechnology Initiative (TBI), a community based biotech organization with close to 400 members representing all facets of the biotech community in the greater Toronto area to provide some feedback on Bill 102, Transparent Drug System for Patients Act, 2006.

Ontario benefits from a well-established drug manufacturing industry, both brand name and generic, as well as a biotech sector with the greatest promise of any in North America. Next to the United States, Canada has more biotech companies than any other country and Ontario is the home to many of them. The promise of biotech is just beginning to be reflected in a growing number of biotech medical diagnostic and therapeutic applications entering the market.

The greatest promise for biotech in Ontario is in the medical sector. It is where the greatest number of Ontario biotech companies are developing products. These will be Canadian products that improve the diagnosis and treatment of disease of our citizens and become important sources of exports to other parts of the world.

Aspects of Bill 102 will impose unprecedented restrictions on the sale of brand name products in Ontario that will make it more difficult for Ontario biotech to be successful. Biotech benefits from a strong and growing drug manufacturing sector. That is not only true of Ontario. In virtually every country where there is a thriving biotech sector one can point to a significant brand name drug presence close at hand. Drug companies are a source of investment capital to biotech, and essential partners for research and development activities and product commercialization. To the extent that brand name drug companies will find Ontario a materially less attractive place in which to do business as a result of Bill 102, Ontario biotech will be disadvantaged. Ontario biotech will find it more difficult to do deals with brand name companies and the pool of experienced managerial talent from which biotech recruits many of its business leaders will be diminished.

Cont’d..

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At the same time, it will be more difficult to attract new brand drug manufacturing and biotech activity to Ontario. Bill 102 is widely perceived in the international biotech community as anti-brand name drug manufacturers and by extension anti-biotech. The work of the leaders of the brand name companies in attracting world product mandates to Ontario is being seriously undermined. The ability of the Government to promote Ontario as a place to do biotech will suffer the same fate.

We believe that the Government of Ontario should rethink its decision to press ahead with Bill 102 and the related polices on the artificial timetable that has been announced and postpone the committee hearings that are scheduled to begin shortly. The Government should complete the policy making process and release details of the various proposed policies that are related to Bill 102 and which have been announced in brief summary only. We realize that this further policy making process may take several months to be completed. That would mean that the committee could begin its consideration of Bill 102 and the related policies sometime this fall.

Sincerely,

Grant Tipler

President, Toronto Biotechnology Initiative

cc: Premier Dalton McGuinty