Montreal, June 16, 2021 – The Consortium for Industrial Research and Innovation in Medical Technologies, MEDTEQ+, is proud to announce a strong partnership to accelerate the development, adoption and impact of new health technologies. They plan to team up with the Digital Health and Discovery Platform (DHDP) to optimize the interplay between their activities and maximize the leverage across their respective networks. 

MEDTEQ+ supports the development of innovative healthcare technologies from idea to market as well as their adoption and integration in care settings in Canada and abroad. Its mentoring and investment activities accelerate the growth and commercialization agendas of Canadian start-ups and small to mid-size enterprises (SME). The Terry Fox Research Institute and Imagia, the lead DHDP institutions, have anchored the DHDP with Canadian expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) and precision medicine. The aim of the DHDP is to unlock data–driven discoveries in cancer and neurodegenerative disease, like Alzheimer’s, to stimulate the commercialization of home-grown research discoveries and improve patient outcomes. 

By working together, MEDTEQ+ and the DHDP will focus on the following key building blocks: 

• the development and support of collaborative AI projects as well as joint funding of projects through their respective tools and services; the partners will also endeavour to launch joint calls for projects to address specific care priorities related to their missions and portfolios; 
• interconnections between their two networks to leverage the support of both partners and broaden multi-site initiatives; 
• the deployment of an acceleration strategy for start-ups and SMEs in the health AI space including regulatory, reimbursement and investment preparedness; 

The partners have already ensured cross presence on their governance committees to enhance dialogue and implementation scenarios. 

“This handshaking commitment is designed to provide maximum support to our members as they take on the challenges of delivering new solutions for today’s priority care needs. The DHDP and MEDTEQ+ both value the unique leverage to be gained from collaboration strategies, in the field and between catalysts. It’s all about accelerating impact and we look forward to next steps!” said Diane Côté, CEO of MEDTEQ+ and a member of the DHDP Executive Committee. 

“With its Pan-Canadian mission to support innovators who are strengthening the future of healthcare, MEDTEQ+ has been an active supporter of the DHDP and its potential to accelerate digital health innovation since day one. We are thrilled to see this collaboration taking shape with their 200+ industrial and academic members and over $75M of projects total value created” say DHDP co-chair Alexandre Le Bouthillier, co-founder and CCO of Imagia and Bryce Pickard, Executive director of the DHDP. 

 

About MEDTEQ+   

The mission of the Pan-Canadian Consortium for Industrial Research and Innovation in Medical Technologies (MEDTEQ+) is to accelerate the development of innovative technological solutions to improve the health status and quality of life of patients. MEDTEQ+ supports the validation of these technologies, their integration into the healthcare network, and their local and international outreach by bringing together the complementary skills of industrial and institutional partners and healthcare providers. MEDTEQ+ relies on the financial support of the Government of Quebec, the Government of Canada (through the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program), the private sector, and complementary partners to foster research-industry relationships. https://www.medteq.ca/  

About the DHDP 

The DHDP takes a pan-Canadian approach, leveraging a collaborative network of key experts and partners, to deliver a cutting-edge technological infrastructure coupled with a world-leading policy framework. The DHDP creates a ‘network effect’ to accelerate innovation and commercialize new products and services that contribute to Canada’s knowledge economy. Ultimately, the DHDP will improve health outcomes for Canadians through the advancement of precision medicine. Established in August 2020, the Digital Health and Discovery Platform (DHDP) is supported by the Government of Canada through a Strategic Innovation Fund investment of $49-million. https://www.dhdp.ca   

About Imagia 

Imagia, an AI healthcare company, develops digital medical innovations that improve the health of cancer patients and those afflicted with other high-burden diseases. Through its collaborative ecosystem, Imagia EVIDENSTM enables hospitals, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and diagnostic companies around the world to access and utilize healthcare data while preserving data privacy. Headquartered in Montreal, Imagia’s mission is to unlock the potential of data across all organizations to achieve collaborative, medical breakthroughs. https://imagia.com/   

About the Terry Fox Research Institute 

The Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI), established in 2007, invests in world-class, collaborative cancer research teams and partnerships. Together with its research and funding partners, TFRI is working to inspire the transformation of cancer research in this country by bringing together leading cancer research and treatment organizations in Canada and empowering them under the framework of the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network. https://www.tfri.ca