Mr. Chair, for over 100 years, through innovation, altruism and collaboration, Canada has successfully responded to infectious disease outbreaks. From Dr. John FitzGerald and the University of Toronto preparing a diphtheria and tetanus antitoxin to vaccine researchers developing the freeze-dried smallpox vaccine, Canada's innovation has helped save millions upon millions of lives.
Today, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 15 IMC companies have opened up their libraries of molecular compounds to share with the global scientific community to spur the development of vaccines and treatments for the COVID-19 virus through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation COVID-19 therapeutics accelerator.
In just two weeks, Roche Canada received over 800 submissions from Canada's scientific community through its COVID-19 innovation challenge, a $900,000 funding program created to bring forward innovative ideas to address the pandemic. In Atlantic Canada, BioVectra is manufacturing critical raw materials for COVID-19 diagnostic testing kits and collaborating with multiple Canadian biopharmaceutical companies and researchers on COVID-19 therapeutic products. Quebec's Medicago is rapidly moving forward on clinical trials to assess the safety and efficacy of a candidate vaccine, and scaling up production. In British Columbia, Amgen is building on 20 years of experience in the field of therapeutic antibodies and is actively engaging in anti-COVID-19 therapeutic antibody discovery efforts.
In short, we are witnessing an unprecedented effort in terms of the financial commitment to, and accelerated research and development of, prophylactic and therapeutic treatments for COVID-19, while continuing to produce and supply medications for existing patients. The ingenuity, innovative, creative and collaborative spirit and commitment of our industry are a testament to our values and our sense of responsibility to our country—Canada.