Pfizer Canada recently announced it is
providing $1.25 million to support the establishment of the Quebec - Clinical
Research Organization in Cancer (Q-CROC) network.
Made in partnership with the
Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) and its Cancer Research
Network, the funding will lay the groundwork for a province-wide consortium on
clinical research in oncology.
The Q-CROC has brought together 100 experts from
hospitals and research centres affiliated with the four universities that have
a medical school: McGill University, Laval University, the Université de
Sherbrooke and the Université de Montréal.
The Q-CROC represents a concrete
response to the concerted research approach called for by the États généraux
sur le cancer, organized in 2007 by the Coalition Priorité Cancer au Québec.
The need for joint action was also echoed by researchers, the medical community
and industry.
“This clinical research infrastructure
in oncology will facilitate the development of new therapies to help cancer
patients,” said Raymond Bachand, minister of finance and minister of economic
development, innovation and export trade.
“It is an innovative partnership
between Pfizer Canada, the Q-CROC and FRSQ that is in keeping with the policies
and guidelines enunciated in the Stratégie québécoise de la recherche et de l’innovation.”
“In Quebec, as elsewhere in the
country, Pfizer is looking to promote collaborative projects that support
innovation in conjunction with the scientific community, governments, patients
and industry. Support of the new consortium is a cogent example because it
serves as a rallying point for our best and brightest researchers and offers
people with cancer improved access to clinical trials, thereby paving the way
to more treatment options for patients. This is crucial to the development of
therapeutic solutions that adopt an increasingly targeted and personalized
approach to fighting cancer,” says Paul Lévesque, president of Pfizer Canada.
