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Dr. Arthur T. Porter, Director General and CEO of the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Health Centre (MUHC), announced the creation of a task force to develop a comprehensive vision and business plan for a Life Sciences Technopole that would build on the medical research achievements of the MUHC. The task force will be co-chaired by Senators Céline Hervieux-Payette and David Angus.

"Montreal is already an important player in the biotech and medical sectors," says Hervieux-Payette. "But success depends on strong strategic alliances between the private and public sectors. The MUHC's commitment to a dynamic relationship with private life sciences stakeholders will be a major axis for economic development."

The technopole would host complementary activities, such as incubation, and cultivate fruitful business relationships with the mission of supporting the goal of making Montreal a world-class technology and life sciences hub.

"The MUHC has one of the most important hospital-based research institutes in the country," says Angus, who is also a member of the MUHC Board of Directors. "We need to ensure that our basic science discoveries are translated into commercial products. This in turn will generate new revenues for the hospital and for its Research Institute. A technopole is the logical complement to our redevelopment project."

The task force will include representatives of the biotech, business and financial sectors, McGill and other Montreal universities, the Research Institute of the MUHC, representatives from the City of Montreal and the Government of Quebec. Hervieux-Payette and Angus say they will announce the task force's membership within the next month. The task force will provide its development strategy to the MUHC Board of Directors within four months.

"Research-intensive hospitals like the MUHC represent the future of health care. We are committed to working with the biotech and medical sectors and with government to move research from the 'bench to bedside' for the benefit of our patients and for those in need around the world," says Porter. "The redevelopment of the MUHC is about more than new facilities. It's about a modern vision that aligns our traditional clinical and research activities with a business approach that maximizes social and economic benefits for all Quebecers."

Porter, who recently participated in Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay's mission to Paris to explore innovative approaches for commercializing biotechnology, noted that he shares the mayor's view. "Expanding the biotech sector is key to achieving Montreal's potential as a global leader in the knowledge economy, and I firmly believe the MUHC Life Sciences Technopole can make a solid contribution to that goal," concluded Porter.

About the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Health Centre (MUHC)
The Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Health Centre (MUHC) is a comprehensive academic health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical programs, research and teaching. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ — the Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal Victoria, and Montreal Neurological Hospitals, as well as the Montreal Chest Institute. Building on the tradition of medical leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the MUHC is to provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the health care field, and to contribute to the development of new knowledge.