The EMC2 competition resulted in an investment of nearly $12 million, supporting seven federative oncology projects in Quebec. This investment was made possible by an unprecedented collaboration with leading funders, including the Cancer Research Society, CQDM, IRICoR and Génome Québec. The partners made it possible to double the budget initially planned by Oncopole, an initiative supported by Merck Canada Inc.

An initial investment of $1.5 million by the Cancer Research Society was announced in February. CQDM has invested $760,704 in a project via SynergiQc, its program designed to stimulate industrial research in academia in the biopharmaceutical field. CQDM’s contribution was made possible by funding from the Quebec government’s Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation (MESI) through the PSVT 2c program. Finally, IRICoR supported two drug development projects to the tune of $600,000, while Génome Québec invested $2 million in projects with an “omics” component.

“The EMC2 competition is an innovative and winning formula for the discovery of cancer treatments. The completion of these seven promising projects will lead to major breakthroughs in oncology, providing additional tools for healthcare professionals and, above all, for patients and their families,” emphasized Gaétan Barrette, Minister of Health and Social Services.

Oncopole’s EMC2 competition brought together expertise and strengths in oncology in Quebec, and fostered collaboration between disciplines and institutions. Through this initiative, Oncopole and its partners have accelerated the mobilization of key players in Quebec to tackle the public health challenge of cancer.

Following a competitive process and rigorous evaluation of the 36 applications by an independent international peer review panel, seven projects were selected. The teams, comprising 61 researchers from 12 Quebec institutions, received considerable financial support to pursue their cutting-edge oncology research.