By Dean Regier
This editorial originally appeared in The Vancouver Sun.
Here’s the stark reality — the next pandemic is not a question of if, but when.
Zoonotic pathogens (viruses that jump from animals to humans) continue to emerge at a quickening pace, driven by globalization, habitat destruction and climate change. These viruses can trigger widespread outbreaks, especially when they evolve to spread among people.
At a time when global coordination against health threats is critical, recent policy shifts in the U.S. have created a leadership vacuum. As the world recalibrates, Canada has an opportunity — and an obligation — to step up as the global leader in pandemic preparedness and health policy.
Consider the current outbreak of H5N1 bird flu.
Initially confined to birds, H5N1 has spread to cattle, cats, deer and humans. In the U.S., more than 70 human infections are reported, including cases with no clear source of transmission. And recently in B.C., a teenager was hospitalized carrying a mutated strain with genetic changes that could enhance human-to-human transmission.
Are we prepared to manage another health crisis?
Let’s consider the response to COVID-19. Within one month of the first cases in Wuhan, scientists had sequenced the SARS-CoV-2 genome, enabling researchers to characterize the spike protein for vaccine design.
By day 77, the first mRNA vaccines entered clinical trials, leveraging lipid nanoparticle drug delivery technology pioneered by scientists at the University of B.C. In Canada, AbCellera — a company spun-out of UBC research — partnered with the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical manufacturer to develop the first antibody therapy by day 153.
Certainly, these therapeutic advances did not have perfect results. They did show, however, that a rapid health threat response was possible.
And this speed was no accident. It was built on decades of science funded by government, private investment and industry partnerships.
While the U.S. led the world in manufacturing and distributing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, the Canadian research ecosystem played a pivotal role. From sequencing SARS-CoV-1 in 2003, to single-cell analysis for immunotherapy, to pioneering lipid nanoparticles for mRNA delivery — Canadian science set the foundation for diagnostics, antibodies and mRNA vaccines.
Now, the Trump administration has withdrawn the U.S. from the World Health Organization and dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development. The rise of vaccine skepticism and spread of disinformation have helped reignite endemic disease such as measles, which recently resulted in the tragic death of an unvaccinated child in Texas.
Again, the U.S. retreat from public health creates an urgent gap, and Canada must fill it. Canada already has the expertise — world-class research academic institutions, an advanced biotechnology sector, and a history of scientific contributions to global health. But our response mechanisms are only reactive, and Canada’s current level of funding for critical translational medicine (where laboratory discoveries are transformed into approved treatments) and health policy infrastructure remains insufficient.
So, what must Canada do to become a global health leader?
Simply put, we must significantly strengthen our ability to develop and produce vaccines and treatments at home. A domestic and multi-use biomanufacturing pipeline will reduce our reliance on foreign supply chains, diversifying our economy in the face of economic threats.
Crucially, biomanufacturing will help build a supply chain that can ensure equitable access to vaccines worldwide. We also need better early-warning data infrastructure, with real-time privacy-preserving shared health data to not only detect outbreaks quickly, but to understand the safety and effectiveness of rapidly implemented health products, including vaccines.
Finally, science alone is not enough. We need better teamwork. Scientists must work together instead of competing. Centres of excellence in translational medicine — which remove discovery, regulatory, funding and societal roadblocks — are sorely needed. Otherwise, scientific breakthroughs risk gathering dust instead of saving lives.
With a federal election looming, health leadership must be a national priority — not an afterthought. As the political parties release their platforms, Canadians should demand a clear plan on how our next government will invest in our ability to lead translational medicine and health policy, both at home and abroad.
Canada has the tools, the talent and the responsibility to lead. But without decisive action and investment, our scientific breakthroughs will remain just that — breakthroughs, not solutions.
Dr. Dean Regier is Director of the Faculty of Medicine’s Academy of Translational Medicine and an Associate Professor at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of B.C.