CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
-
Drug companies appear to have been listening when researchers began complaining about their lack of participation in the MRC/PMAC Health Program, for the 30-month-old project appears to have taken on new life. It is designed to increase collaboration between university and pharmaceutical industry researchers by directing more of the industry's growing investment in Canada through the MRC's peer-review process. By mid-May, program commitments stood at $60 million.
-
Public funding for medical and health-related research in Canada is declining. At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry is directing increasing amounts of money to publicly funded agencies such as universities and the Medical Research Council of Canada. ⋯ Mechanisms need to be found to ensure an appropriate balance between the research that is most valuable to the public interest and to the long-term advancement of knowledge, and the research that is likely to lead to marketable products. One such mechanism is the direction of a proportion of the money from drug companies to a "no-strings-attached" fund specifically to support types of research that are in the public interest but not likely to lead to marketable products.