Pumped up since the announcement of the establishment of Moderna in the province, the government yesterday presented its new Quebec Life Sciences Strategy. A strategy which, unlike the previous one, will focus less on attracting new projects than on supporting its existing ecosystem.

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With an envelope of $211 million over three years (2022-2025), more than half of which in the form of new appropriations, this new version replaces the old one for a period of five years (2017-2022). .

According to the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon, the new strategy will allow government “interventions” of $569 million to support “direct investments” estimated in the long term at $2 billion.

New envelope of $37.5 million

Referring to his memories of the closure of a number of research centers over the past 15 years, Minister Fitzgibbon insisted on the importance of stimulating the emergence of innovative start-ups and encouraging the development of new promising niches; from “digital sciences” to “personalized medicine”.

Through this strategy, the funds devoted to attracting new investments will be considerably reduced, from $85.6 million to $5.6 million over three years. On the other hand, an envelope of $37.5 million – which did not exist before – will support the “growth of innovative businesses”.

Of the $569 million in additional "interventions" to which biotechs and others in the life sciences sector (715 companies) will have access, $375 million will come from the Economic Development Fund and $70 million from the BioMed Propulsion and Impulsion PME programs . We also expect the contribution of Investissement Québec, which could reach $200 million.