NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Montreal Heart Institute and Génome Québec have formed the Center of Excellence in Personalized Medicine, which will be funded with more than $22 million in investments from government and commercial entities over five years, the partners announced Thursday.
Canada’s Centers of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program will provide $13.8 million of the total funding, with the remainder coming from private and public partners including the ministère du Développement économique, de l'Innovation et de l'Exportation of Québec.
The goal of the new center is to “develop approaches and methods that will optimize treatment and ensure their rapid and productive transition from the research stage to use in clinical practice,” according to a statement issued by the organizations.
The Montreal Heart Institute will house the new center, which was developed in collaboration with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
"We are very proud of this investment that recognizes the power of pharmacogenomics as a tool for improving the health of the population," said Paul L'Archevêque, president and CEO of Génome Québec. "This project is the result of efforts that Génome Québec undertook in 2006, with the recruitment of scientist Michael Phillips and the creation of the Génome Québec and Montreal Heart Institute Pharmacogenomics Centre.”