From an investment perspective, Canada is the 3rd fastest growing pharmaceutical market in the world, with a growth rate of 8.9% per year. Canada is the 8th largest pharmaceutical market in terms of sales. With its 130 pharmaceutical companies, Canada ranks 2nd worldwide in terms of industry size. Canada also has 165 biopharmaceutical companies.

Canadian companies are known for their ability to produce quality medicines that have been rigorously tested and have passed highly regulated trials. Canadian industries have significant expertise in a number of major disease areas, particularly cancer, cardiovascular, central nervous system and arthritis.

Canadian companies have developed world-class therapeutic products for infectious agents such as HIV, Hepatitis and Influenza. They are also at the leading edge of diagnosing life-threatening ailments such as heart disease. Canada has developed significant industrial and institutional research strengths in immunotherapy, molecular biology/protein engineering, new drug delivery systems, genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics.

Canadian pharmaceuticals exports have grown 115.4% from 1998 to 2003. Major clients are found in the United States, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Canadian pharmaceuticals are also making an appearance in countries in Asia and South America.

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