Fact Sheet

Montreal InVivo, a non-profit organization is the Life Sciences and Health Technologies cluster of Greater Montreal.  Combined with the two other economic engines, Aerospace, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT), the trio account for over 200,000 jobs.  With more than 43,000 jobs alone, the creative Life Sciences cluster (LSHT), includes the following sectors: Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnologies, Contract Research Organizations (CROs), Health technologies, Public research, as well as Science and Technology platforms.

Greater Montreal is among a handful cities in the world where a company can perform every phase of product development, from initial research to final product launch and commercialization, including the mandatory pre-clinical and clinical trials.

Blockbuster drugs discovered in Montreal include: Singulair(®) (Asthma), Arcoxia (Pain) and 222 ® Analgesic by Merck Frosst; 3TC® (HIV-AIDS) by Shire BioChem; Fluvarix® by GSK Biologics; and PREMARIN® by Wyeth.

Key facts in the LSHT success story to date:

1. 43,000 jobs in 620 organizations and 150 research centres in 2009
2. 11 institutions of higher learning, including 4 universities
3. Largest number of university students per capita in North America
4. World-class leader in contract research and drug and medical device manufacturing
5. Almost half of Canada’s biopharmaceutical industry located in Greater Montreal
6. 20 global Pharma firms headquartered in Montreal, including Pfizer, Merck, Novartis, Astra Zeneca, Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim
7. Montreal ranks #1 in Canada in university-based researchers
8. 3 technological parks in Greater Montreal: Canada’s R&D capital
9. 4 of the 5 largest Canadian pharmaceutical research centres
10. #1 in Canada in number of scientific papers produced
11. Over 80 subsidiaries of international companies
12. Largest concentration of Canadian head offices of multinationals