Feds won’t buy tobacco company’s stake in Medicago to free up COVID vaccines: minister

Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the government is "working on a solution" after the WHO rejected the vaccine because of its tobacco ties.

The federal government isn’t considering putting up money to help buy shares in the only domestic manufacturer of COVID-19 vaccines, but it is “working on a solution” with Medicago’s parent company.

Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has been in Japan for the past week, pitching Canada as a good location for production of electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.

While meeting with the presidents of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma and Mitsubishi Chemical, which owns a 79 per cent stake in Medicago, Champagne says there were discussions about the company’s future as a global vaccine manufacturer.

Its biopharmaceutical vaccine has been rejected by the WHO because tobacco company Philip Morris is a minority shareholder, and the UN agency has a strict policy about engagement with the tobacco industry.

The Covifenz vaccine was licensed by Health Canada in February for adults aged 18 to 64, and the federal government has signed a contract to buy up to 76 million doses with plans to donate vaccines to low-income countries.

But the donations are not allowed without WHO approval.

Champagne says the government is working with the company to make Medicago “a global leader when it comes to global health.”

But that doesn’t include buying shares at this point.