Did you hear the big news out of Mount Saint Joseph’s Hospital recently? No? It was significant for a couple of reasons but it wouldn’t surprise me if it escaped your notice.
Firstly, MSJ’s new unit is the first unit in BC to run non-cancer/oncology phase 1 clinical trials, opening the doors for researchers to move into a local home for this important first stage of any ground-breaking therapeutic work. This represents a monumental step forward for medical research in British Columbia, a province which is, sadly, lagging behind Ontario and Quebec when it comes to advances in medical procedures and treatments. But I digress.
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The other big thing about this first clinical trial is the subject: hot flashes in menopausal women, specifically the use of an antibody to address something which plagues over half the population. Some women report the occasional “power surge”, others are still changing the bedsheets at 2 a.m. for decades. An article in "Nature"refers to the level of research funding into menopause as “scandalous”.
Before we get excited about the research project, and go down a menopause rabbit hole I must remind you that stage 1 clinical trials determine ONLY if a medication or therapy does no harm. Stage 2 asks if it works and Stage 3 looks at the effectiveness against other products already on the market. It’s at that point that industry/pharmaceutical funders of the research can monetize.
It’s this evolving partnership between industry and medical science that shows the most promise, as government research funds lag far behind the demand.
Dr. Darryl Knight is the Vice President of Research for Providence Health Care, which includes MSJ Hospital and this new clinical trial wing. While he’s excited about the potential for research which can quickly benefit patients, he’s also a realist about how far this country, and this province, have yet to go.
While the world saw COVID vaccines rushed into use, in a never-before-seen timeframe, this country largely sat on its hands.
Natural Canadian reticence to be a show-off, perhaps? Or the constant friction that comes with interprovincial barriers that discourage collaboration and truly national endeavours?
Knight says we have a national success rate of under 20% which means that 80% of all research applications submitted are not funded. Governments are tapped out and so we must turn to philanthropy, and to industry, with the inevitable monetization of research results, and tissue itself.
You might think Canada stands to benefit from the US brain drain, where a decidedly anti-science administration is prompting an exodus of exactly the people who make medical breakthroughs. Unfortunately, the existing infrastructure, to say nothing of available funding, does not allow us to take full advantage. Unless the scientists come with their own bag of money.
As Knight says, in his highly imitable Aussie style, “We have to clean up the backyard before we invite people over for a barbie”.
Until next time, support your local biometric library.
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