New council will steer biotech policy in Ontario

Dale Patterson, executive VP of the Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund, will chair the steering committee of the Biotechnology Council of Ontario, a new organization that will advise the Ontario government on public policy issues facing the biotechnology industry. Administered by the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, the council is open to all biotech stakeholders, and will be organized into regional councils across regional (functional) groups and an advisory council. Its policy platform will be based on the recently published OnTRAC benchmarking report on Ontario’s biotech sector. The steering committee’s first priority is to develop a long-term operating plan and identify chairs for the sub-councils. A formal launch event is planned for early 2004.