The very short answer is yes.
It has a major impact. If we look at the investment stages of large companies, for example, we see that investments tend to occur after a phase 1 clinical trial.
If, in the end, we remain at the publication stage, or even the patent stage, and are unable to develop the necessary regulatory dossier required to knock on Health Canada's door, then there will most certainly be no clinical trials. This is what we observed while we were waiting for our funding from the strategic science fund. We had run out of money and were funded through the networks of centres of excellence program.
We asked that other funding sources be considered for our projects, and this was a resounding success. All three of our projects were funded at 100%. We weren't surprised, because these are excellent, well-developed projects. However, what those projects obtained was funding for clinical trials. We weren't able to submit an application to Health Canada for a clinical trial because there wasn't enough money to complete the studies required to meet Health Canada's expectations.
What happens as a result is that these funds remain frozen in the system, the clinical trial never gets off the ground, and patients don't receive treatment.
For example, one of these three projects is currently in a clinical trial. We're treating children and adults, very ill patients who have undergone multiple treatments. This is their last-line treatment.
When we talk about translational research, in our case, and especially in the field of cancer, we're talking about patients, we're talking about lives.