On Dec. 18, 2020, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) announced it was providing advisory services and over $9 million in research and development funding to support 4 therapeutic firms, including: Bold Therapeutics, JN Nova Pharma, Laurent Pharmaceuticals and Qu Biologics.

• Up to $289,032.00 to Bold Therapeutics (Vancouver, BC) for a project to prepare preclinical efficacy data in live SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), support preparation for clinical trials, and to support manufacturing of its BOLD-100 investigational therapy to treat patients with viral infections, including COVID-19.
• Up to $4,609,000.00 to JN Nova Pharma (Montreal, Que) to assist in the development of a proprietary drug to block coronavirus infection, while reducing the impacts of the disease in patients exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms so they may recover faster.
• Up to $4,166,796.00 to Laurent Pharmaceuticals (Montreal, Que) for the clinical development of their LAU-7b antiviral and inflammation controlling therapy for COVID-19 infections.
• Up to $109,764.00 to Qu Biologics (Vancouver, BC) for a project to provide proof-of-concept evidence for the safety and efficacy of a preventative treatment as well as therapeutic use of a treatment to protect the lungs and prevent serious COVID-19 infection.

These investments helped produce safe and effective treatments for those who contract the COVID-19 virus, while building domestic capabilities to fight future pandemics.