Photo by Chris Hammond (L-R): Dr. Chris Loomis, vice-president (research), Yvon Bastien, President Axel Meisen, Dr. Ian Bowmer and Karen McCallum, regional manager of Sanofi-Synthelabo Canada Inc.

By Sharon Gray
Yvon Bastien, president and general manager of Sanofi-Synthelabo Canada Inc., one of Canada’s fastest-growing research-based pharmaceutical companies, visited Memorial Nov. 20 to familiarize himself with research capabilities at the university and its partner health research institutions. At a luncheon hosted by President Axel Meisen, Mr. Bastien presented a short overview of Sanofi-Synthelabo, a company that employs 32,000 people in more than 100 countries worldwide and invests $1.5 billion annually in research and development.

Sanofi-Sythelabo is a global leader in four key therapeutic areas: cardiovascular disease and thrombosis, the central nervous system, oncology and internal medicine. “We have one of the strongest and most well-balanced research portfolios in the industry.”

Mr. Bastien said that health research is in a period of change and it is up to companies like Sanofi-Synthelabo to redefine themselves and establish new partners.

Dr. Ian Bowmer, dean of medicine, said industry partnerships are very important to the Faculty of Medicine. “In the past five years our research funding has doubled and industry funding has played a very significant role in that growth.”