I guess from VIDO's perspective we're in a somewhat enviable position of having interacted with companies for approximately 35 years. That's created a reputation for us with these companies. I mentioned we had 80 patents. Patents by themselves are nothing but a money sink. When you license those patents that's when it becomes valuable. So the enviable position we're in is that when I work with companies now, especially the big pharmaceutical companies, most of the applied research VIDO does--because we tend to be very applied--is already licensed before a discovery is made. As we move that forward, not only are the pharmaceutical companies paying for the research or granting them an option to take over that research at the same time, but we're passing the patent cost to them. So that's one strategy VIDO has used.
We've also remained very focused. I think that's key. VIDO knows what it's good at, and tends not to drift from that strategy or strategic focus.
From a company perspective I think one of the things I mentioned was that the new NCE, or the Networks of Centres of Excellence, has changed its approach somewhat in recognizing that there seems to be this funding gap and the whole purpose of the Pan-Provincial Vaccine Enterprise is to take the later-stage vaccine research and add value to that. By adding value we're moving it along the value chain and reducing the risk to pharmaceutical companies. Vaccines are a little bit different from traditional drugs because the only population you're concerned with is healthy. At this point there is no therapeutic vaccine. It's all prophylactic or disease-preventing vaccine.
So that's very challenging for a pharmaceutical company to look at. Until recently it's been a relatively unattractive market because the only purchasers are governments, which, especially in Canada, have been very effective in reducing their costs. Until recently Prevnar and the HPV vaccine have come forward, and they tend to be at a much higher cost. I think the HPV vaccine from Merck is about $380.
The other thing Canada could do to potentially enhance that commercialization for vaccines that are of public health importance is something New Zealand did. Again, I think Canada sits back too much and says we're not big enough. Why not? New Zealand had a problem with meningococcal infections in their children, and the government did an advance market commitment with Novartis. They had a vaccine developed for that specific population relatively rapidly.
With respect to commercialization, I think that can happen if the government's willing to support initiatives for new vaccines with some sort of advance market commitment that would encourage the companies to come in a little bit earlier.