Typically, it can take 10 - 12 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to take a drug from discovery to market. Although billions of dollars have been invested in academic research, relatively few new medicines and therapies have been commercialized in Canada. This "commercialization gap" exists due to the high risk and costs associated with developing new therapeutics and the incomplete nature of the data package that is usually available in academia to support the potential commercialization of early-stage discoveries. Centre for Drug Research and Development addresses this gap by providing facilities and expertise to develop drug discoveries to a more advanced stage that readies them for commercialization.
CDRD has received funding from the Canadian government, the Province of British Columbia, universities, and health research institutions, as well as biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Please visit our Funding Partners to find out more about our funders.
CDRD was founded in 2006. The founding members played catalytic roles in establishing numerous companies in the local life sciences industry.