BIOTECanada study claims 420,000 lives saved by vaccines

BIOTECanada, the Canadian biotechnology association, has released the first of a series of papers examining the impact of immunization in the  country, claiming 420,000 lives saved. Christian Blouin, who chairs the  group's vaccine industry committee, said: "vaccine research is one of  the fastest-growing areas of health innovation in Canada and globally.  Within the next few years, diverse new technologies will require Canada  to adopt innovative approaches to funding and delivering immunization  programs for all Canadians."

Randall Chase, president and chief executive of ImmunoVaccine  Technologies, argued that "Canadian firms are leaders" in the new  advances being made in the immunization field.

The first four reports in the BIOTECanada series can be found on-line  at: www.biotech.ca/vaccines.