I will start. We are going to divide our time in two, but we will not exceed it.
Mr. Chair, we appreciate this opportunity to appear before the committee today on behalf of Rx&D. You have our written submission; we will use our time today to underline four recommendations.
Rx&D comprises more than 50 innovative companies employing 20,000 Canadians in highly skilled jobs. Our goal, and the goal of our member companies, is to develop new medicines and vaccines that can help Canadians live longer, healthier and more productive lives.
Rx&D firms are the largest single funder of health research and development in the business enterprise sector. They have funded more than $1 billion in research and development investments in 2006, a figure exceeded only by the telecommunications sector. We are a proud partner of Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) with whom we have invested more than $320 million in biotechnology research.
We are pleased that your committee is looking at science and technology policy in Canada. Our sector has been supportive of the government's science and technology framework launch, but we also feel that there is a great deal that remains to be done.