While the details over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) may have captured the attention of so many in Canada’s tech startup community, Paul Drohan admits the 12-country trade agreement didn’t have that same effect on the life sciences sector.
“I don’t think there’s pick up on TPP or discussions about TPP because it’s really not focused on the core markets for the life sciences, as of yet,” said the CEO of LifeSciences B.C., whose organization promotes the province’s biotech industry.
“The biggest market for life sciences first and foremost is the U.S. and we already have NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)…China is not included in this agreement and if you’re looking to Asia that would be one of the primary markets that you’d want to enter into.”
Drohan said he expects interest in the biotech community to only pick up after the agreement is signed.
Although negotiations concluded in early October and the full text of the agreement was released to the public in November, no member countries have ratified the TPP.
Former BlackBerry CEO Jim Balsillie criticized the former Conservative government for not properly consulting with the tech community during negotiations.
And after negotiations were concluded, Toronto-based OMERS Ventures announced it would launch the Canadian Council of Innovators, co-chaired by Balsillie, to lobby for tech startups’ interests in Ottawa.
Highline CEO Marcus Daniels, whose accelerator invests capital in startups, told Business In Vancouver in November the TPP would likely benefit traditional Canadian industries but the agreement is also potentially dangerous for the countries innovation-driven sectors.
“Superficially, having premium access to the world’s largest trade zone should help growth, but the devil is always in the details,” he said.
“There [are] several deal items that need deeper analysis to ensure we’re not at a disadvantage. In particular, how IP standards are set.”
Although Life Sciences BC was not consulted about TPP during negotiations, Drohan said the outcome would likely have been the same even if his organization had spoken to the government about the deal.
Much of the feedback LifeSciences B.C. gave the government during the 2014 negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union would apply to TPP, according to Drohan.
“(Ex-international trade minister Ed Fast) did a good job with the CETA piece. Would you want him to spend that same money (on consulting) and do it for TPP when a lot of the same issues are being covered? I guess that’s a question for the Canadian taxpayer but my inkling is no,” he said.
Drohan said after the U.S. market, Europe is where most B.C. biotech companies are looking. Negotiations for CETA concluded in August 2014, but like TPP, that agreement has not yet been ratified.
