Released on: April 24, 2008, 8:30 am

Press Release Author: Iris Conseil

Industry: Healthcare

Press Release Summary: TORONTO - Ontario, Canada is joining forces with global
pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur to fight life-threatening diseases like
whooping cough and colorectal cancer.


Press Release Body:

ONTARIO INVESTING IN NEW LIFE-SAVING VACCINES
JOINS FORCES WITH SANOFI PASTEUR TO FIGHT
LIFE-THREATENING DISEASES

TORONTO - Ontario, Canada is joining forces with global pharmaceutical company
Sanofi Pasteur to fight life-threatening diseases like whooping cough and colorectal
cancer.

The province is investing $13.9 million from its Next Generation of Jobs Fund to
support research on new vaccines. The investment is part of Sanofi Pasteur\'s
$101.5-million expansion that includes a new research centre. The centre will
improve existing vaccines and bring new products to market. Construction is slated
to begin this year.

Sanofi Pasteur\'s investment means 900 existing research and manufacturing jobs will
be retained and 30 new permanent high-skill research jobs will be created. About 300
new construction jobs will also be created while the expansion is being built.

Discovering new vaccines for illnesses often takes years of study. Investing in
health research means companies can hire more scientists and fuel new discoveries
that could eventually save lives around the world.

Ontario is home to one of the world\'s leading biopharmaceutical industries. The
biopharmaceutical sector employs over 15,000 Ontarians in high-value jobs, including
researchers and scientists.

The announcement comes from the government\'s Biopharmaceutical Investment Program
(BIP), which helps advance research and investment in Ontario\'s biotech sector.

BIP is aimed at attracting new or enhanced biopharmaceutical investments in Ontario.
$150 million will be available over the next 5 years. BIP is the first component
of the Government of Ontario's $1.15 billion Next Generation of Jobs Fund strategy
and will fund up to 20% of total eligible project costs.

\"This new research in Ontario will not only create jobs, it will bring hope to
people affected by disease,\" said Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

\"Companies like Sanofi Pasteur choose to do business with Ontario because we attract
many of the best scientists and medical researchers in the world,\" said John
Wilkinson, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation.

Diseases like whooping cough kill about 279,000 people worldwide each year.
The first whooping cough vaccine was created at Sanofi Pasteur\'s Connaught
Laboratories in Toronto in 1926.


Ray Lancashire, Media Relations, Invest Ontario
Ministry of Economic Development and Trade
Tel: (416) 326-1608
E-mail: ray.lancashire@ontario.ca

Contact Presse : IRIS Conseil
Christine Arnal
44, Rue de Varenne - 75007 - Paris
Tel : 01 45 44 04 21 & Fax : 01 45 44 18 14
E-mail : c.arnal@iris-conseil.net & Site : http://www.iris-conseil.net





Web Site: http://www.iris-conseil.net/htm/ontario123.asp

Contact Details: Contact Presse : IRIS Conseil
Christine Arnal
44, Rue de Varenne - 75007 - Paris
Tel : 01 45 44 04 21 & Fax : 01 45 44 18 14
E-mail : c.arnal@iris-conseil.net & Site : http://www.iris-conseil.net