Genome Canada well positioned for future growth as Meulien departs for top IMI job

This week marks the end of a key chapter in Canadian genomics research with the departure of Dr. Pierre Meulien. After five years as president and CEO of Genome Canada and three and a half years as chief scientific officer (CSO) of Genome British Columbia, Meulien is heading to Brussels to take the helm of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI).

During his time at Genome Canada, the agency has flourished by capitalizing on rapid advances in the field and aligning itself with federal and provincial economic policies, by targeting and anticipating the needs of industry.

As he leaves his position, genomics research in Canada has arguably come of age, expanding into applications in a wide range of sectors and becoming increasingly collaborative and international in scope. Entrepreneurship and commercialization have joined excellence as priorities, with an emphasis on partnerships.

Meulien recently spoke with RE$EARCH MONEY to discuss the Canadian chapter of a stellar career spanning industry, academia and government and to offer his insight into the future of genomics research in fields that holds tremendous economic and social importance.

When Meulien arrived at Genome Canada, the organization was without a leader and seriously short of funding to implement its strategic plan. His predecessor, Dr Martin Godbout, resigned in 2009 after criticizing the government for not providing needed funds in that year's Budget. He faulted the Harper administration for its lack of understanding of the value of research and limiting Genome Canada's ability to contribute to any large-scale projects or initiate new competitions (R$, October 26/09 & March 17/11).

"When I arrived in 2010, Genome Canada was a little bit shaky to be honest. But I understood the challenge and was confident we could very quickly get it back on track. Everyone wanted to work together," says Meulien, "Now we're on the right track but we need to do more top-down planning and avoid building silos. Canada has to link with other countries in the genomics space."

Meulien says that in the 10 years before he arrived, Genome Canada had succeeded in building up "a fabulous base" in the scientific community.

"The capacity building was done ... I put in a few new things like the GAPP (Genomic Applications Partnership Program) and changed how we positioned technology to keep up with the changes (in the field)," says Meulien. "There was early recognition from the Henry Friesens and Michael Smiths who said this was too important for Canada to pass by. Now you can see the (genomics) explosion everywhere."

In addition to GAPP for funding new genomics applications, Meulien also led the introduction of the Large-Scale Applied Research Project Competition and the Genomics Innovation Network — a synthesis of new and existing genome centres to advance the technology. He says the program mix and intended outcomes are working and offer an effective template for other sectors such as information technology, nanotechnology, aerospace and climate change.

Perhaps most significantly, Meulien succeeded in increasing the leverage of federal funding from 1:1 to nearly 1:2. During his tenure, Ottawa awarded $290 million to the agency leveraging co-funding of $530 million.

Genome BC

Meulien's tenure as CSO of Genome BC offers insight to the approach he later employed at Genome Canada, putting the organization on a trajectory that embraces international collaboration and partnerships, underpinned by a strong science base.

Genome BC president and CEO Dr Alan Winter says that when Meulien arrived at Genome BC, he already possessed a global view of biotechnology and granular knowledge of both the European Union and the OECD.

"When he joined us, the field was opening up to international collaboration and he got us into specific knowledge translation projects and set up a program. It proved to be an effective catalyst," says Winter. "He developed a sector strategy for health and then paralleled that into sector strategies in other areas. He premiered those at Genome BC and then went to Genome Canada and made them national programs."

Winter says Meulien's tenure at Genome Canada has been remarkable on a number of fronts, not least of which is a dovetailing of research and industry priorities. By bringing intimate knowledge of how enterprise works, he brought stability to the organization, successfully raising funds from the federal government and helping to generate enthusiasm among the provinces which also contributed significant sums of money.

But it was in industry sectors that Meulien and his team had the most notable success, convincing companies to support long-term, targeted research projects.

"Pierre used the sector strategy to engage those communities where they live … to see if they were interested in genomics … Pierre is also very personable which always helps when explaining what you do," says Winter, adding that Meulien's Canadian experiences and track record made him an ideal candidate for the IMI. "Kudos to Genome Canada and Canada that we gave Pierre the tools to develop his skills."

As Meulien prepares to leave for Brussels, he says the Canadian innovation ecosystem is relatively healthy but he cautions against taking the foot off the gas. The dramatic decrease in the cost of sequencing has opened up the field to other players resulting in a highly competitive global environment.

"The technology price is still dropping and still has not stabilized. Genomics remains a technical and disruptive force," he says. "We are in a race and we have to remain competitive and that means investment. We can't sit on our laurels."

At the IMI, Meulien will be in charge of a massive public-private partnership with a €3-billion budget. He says he was attracted by IMI's philosophy of building public-private consortia with end-to-end integration.

"It's complex and difficult to manage but it's also the only way we can get some of this (health research) into use," he says. "Health systems are very conservative and recalcitrant to new technologies and see research as an add-on cost. We have not articulated the value system to a degree the health system understands and will pay for it."

Genome BC's Winter says he has no doubt Meulien will be successful leading the IMI and may provide a valuable conduit between Canada and the EU.

"It will be a testament to Pierre's ability to build relationships ... The EU is a very different environment (and) there will be tough scrutiny," says Winter. "But he knows us well and we're looking forward to building significant and ongoing relationships with the EU."

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