Launch of Genome Canada program signals new phase of genomics research

All projects to include users

After more than a year in the planning stages, Genome Canada has launched its most applied R&D program to date in an attempt to pull mature research out of the lab and boost industry financing of targeted genomics research. The funding agency is also making new investments in five existing Science and Technology Innovation Centres (STICs) situated across the country and extending support to two international genomics consortia.

The initiatives account for the full $60 million Genome Canada was provided in the 2012 Budget. More importantly, they signal a maturation of Canada's genomics research enterprise as well as an adherence to the Conservative government's overarching emphasis on funding targeted research with economic and social applicability. Both are reflected in Genome Canada‘s most recent strategic plan which emphasizes industry engagement (R$, January 20/12).

The Genomics Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) is a so-called rolling in-take program which will assess and fund project proposals as they are made, providing between $300,000 to $6 million per project. For the first time, Genome Canada will require a 2:1 leverage of its funding for projects, expected to last between six months and three years. Each project must include an end user.

"We've invested a lot of money in new tools and creating new knowledge in genomics and a lot still remains in academia. Our goal is to put more of the stuff into use and see how pervasive that use will be. Then we will fuel the pipeline with the appropriate research," says Dr Pierre Meulien, Genome Canada's president and CEO. "It's a competitive but open process so we've set up a core evaluation team which will stay with the program until we run out of money."

Co-funding can be in the form of cash or in-kind but Meulien says Genome Canada's definition of in-kind is "pretty severe" and applies to contributions such as people and consumables which are often categorized as cash.

In another first, GAPP will require that applicants provide term sheets to ensure that intellectual property issues between academics and users have been finalized. These must address:

• ownership of foreground IP generated by the project;

• rights to use background IP required by the project;

• licences to use foreground and background IP to the different project participants;

• management issues relating to foreground IP (patent expenses, patenting decisions, dividing fields, scopes of use); and,

• risk management issues specifying potential risks and on which participants they may fall.

"We do not want to get into situations where a project comes in and then negotiations between the parties start. We want a signed-off term sheet before the applications are submitted," says Meulien. "People have known GAPP was coming down the pipeline so we expect quite a few projects are ready to go … We've spoken to sector specific companies but how the competition will translate into real engagement, we'll have to see what comes in.

The first expressions of interest are due August 1st with the first round of appraisals expected by year's end.

The direct conduits for coordinating projects under GAPP are the six regional genome centres.

"They have a huge role to play building teams with academics and users," says Meulien, adding that their areas of specialization closely correspond with regional strengths and provincial government priorities which are critical for securing co-funding. "All have developed extensive ties with industry."

Projects are expected to range from pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to forestry, mining, agriculture, fisheries, water and energy.

Science & Technology Innovation Centres

In addition to GAPP, Genome Canada also announced investments totalling $29 million in five STICs (see chart). The centres collectively received $25 million two years ago but their workloads have exploded in the wake of the awarding of 17 projects under the Large-Scale Applied Research Project competition in genomics and personalized medicine, a joint initiative by Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

"They are existing centres. We weren't able to launch a competition for new centres due to the flows of funding," says Meulien. "The centres are currently submerged with demand from the personalized medicine competition and the $29 million will go mostly for people, with a bit for equipment."

international consortia

The final investment stemming from the 2012 Budget is a $5-million investment in two international consortia —the International Bar Code of Life Consortium and the Structural Genomics Consortium. Each receives approximately $2.5 million for one year. The two consortia have received ongoing support from Genome Canada and Meulien says cash flow constraints prevented it from making a longer-term contribution.

That could change in the coming months as Genome Canada negotiates with the government over how it will spend the $165 million over two years it received in the 2013 Budget, with the potential for more (R$, April 3/13).

"This gives us a lot more breathing space. It's in the ball park for our strategic plan," says Meulien. "GAPP is one in a series of programs. Genome Canada needs to balance translation and applied with the cutting edge stuff. We need to keep a balanced approach in mind as we move forward."

In announcing the GAPP program, Dr Gary Goodyear, minister of state for science and technology, said genomics is a foundational piece of Canada's growing bioeconomy and is expected to account for $38 billion of Canadian GDP by 2017 — the year Genome Canada's strategic plan is renewed.

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