Ottawa, February 19, 2021 – Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC) issued the following statement in response to calls for the disclosure of proprietary business information related to the federal government’s procurement of vaccines and medicines for COVID-19:
“Canada’s innovative medicines and vaccines companies continue to work closely with one another and with governments at all levels in the fight against COVID-19. As part of this effort, several IMC members have entered into confidential agreements with the federal government to provide Canadians with COVID-19 medicines and vaccines.
“As we have indicated before, companies entered into those agreements on the assumption that the government’s legal obligations of protecting their commercially sensitive and proprietary information would be honoured. If this commercially sensitive information is now made public, it will have a negative impact on the companies in question and will also undermine business confidence with respect to the government’s willingness and ability to protect sensitive commercial information in future.
“Not only will disclosing this information undermine the integrity of the contracts signed with the Canadian government but given these companies also have entered into agreements with other countries around the world, disclosure would also jeopardize discussions they are conducting in other countries. Furthermore, the disclosure of commercially sensitive information will erode investor confidence in Canada, making it more difficult to attract investment from the very companies working to protect Canadians from the virus at a time when we should instead be doing all we can to grow our life sciences sector.
“We urge all parties to respect the confidential nature of these commercial contracts which were entered into in good faith, and to ensure that commercially-sensitive and proprietary information is protected from disclosure at this critical time.”
About Innovative Medicines Canada
Innovative Medicines Canada is the national voice of Canada’s innovative pharmaceutical industry. We advocate for policies that enable the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative medicines and vaccines that improve the lives of all Canadians. We support our members’ commitment to being valued partners in the Canadian healthcare system.
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For further information:
Sarah Dion-Marquis
Director, Media and Public Relations
Telephone: 613-769-6510
E-mail: sdmarquis@imc-mnc.ca
