October 14, 2009, Ottawa, Ontario
The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), today announced an investment to Patient Care Automation Services Inc. (PCAS) from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).
PCAS is the developer of the PharmaTrustTM MedCentre a telepharmacy dispensing and primary care system. The system is designed for applications in hospitals, pharmacies, medical clinics, workplaces and other locations, providing patients with convenient and safe access to prescription drugs. The funding supports an innovative research and development project that will assist PharmaTrust in the development of its telepharmacy/primary care system and network.
"Our government is investing in science and technology to create jobs, strengthen the economy and improve Canadians' quality of life," said Minister Goodyear. "These two projects will put Canada at the forefront of pharmacy technology and benefit people around the world."
This $1,529,563 contribution will support the Oakville-based company in hiring product development, engineering staff for two projects. The first is furthering the development of company's telepharmacy and primary-care platform technologies. The second supports the development of advanced manufacturing techniques and technologies that will help the company meet market demand in Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.
"Investing in science and technology is critical for developing highly skilled people and improving the long-term competitiveness of Canadian firms," said NRC President Dr. Pierre Coulombe. "That's why NRC-IRAP is helping innovative Canadian businesses like PharmaTrust grow stronger, faster and bigger."
To use this system, customers insert a prescription or pick up a phone, and via a video conferencing system, speak to a pharmacist or physician. To dispense a medication, pending the pharmacist's authorization, the machine verifies a medication's barcode label, an RFID (radio-frequency identification) tag, the medication's DIN (drug identification number), lot number, expiry date, storage profile, photographs, video and weight. The MedCentre then presents the results of all tests to the pharmacist who reviews them and finishes by consulting with the patient before deciding whether or not to dispense the medication. Patients can pay with their drug plan card, cash, credit or debit.
Patients benefit from the convenience and enhanced safety of PharmaTrust, while it translates into cost savings for the health care system. Currently, trials are taking place at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, under the supervision of the hospital's pharmacy; there are production sites at the Albany Clinic and Cambridge Hospital. The system is under evaluation as a pandemic response platform by researchers at the University Health Network and the company has also just recently received approval to deploy its system in select locations in the UK.
"We think that our dispensing system is the way of the future. It's going to take some time to get there, but with the help of NRC-IRAP, we hope to revolutionize the dispensing and management of prescription drugs in Canada and around the world," explained Peter Suma, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of PharmaTrust.
The NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) provides a range of both technical and business-oriented advisory services along with necessary financial support to qualified innovative Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The program is delivered by a field staff of 240 professionals in more than 100 communities across Canada. NRC-IRAP is committed to working with small- and medium-sized enterprises while they realize their full potential, turning knowledge and innovation into strategic opportunities, jobs and prosperity for all Canadians.
The Government of Canada's Economic Action Plan has provided new resources of $200 million over the next two years to bolster NRC-IRAP support for innovative Canadian firms. To learn more about Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.
Backgrounder
Government of Canada supports innovation for small- and medium-sized enterprises, youth employment
National Research Council Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP)
NRC's main outreach to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is through its Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) which provides support to innovative companies in Canada undertaking research and technology development projects for commercial purposes.
NRC-IRAP provides a range of both technical and business-oriented advisory services along with necessary financial support to qualified innovative Canadian SMEs. The program is delivered by a field staff of 240 business and technology experts in more than 100 communities across Canada. Working directly with SMEs, NRC-IRAP supports innovative research and development (R&D) and helps companies become commercialization-ready with their new products and services.
While the program operates three separate contribution programs - contribution to firms, contribution to organizations and a Youth Employment Program - NRC-IRAP's main contribution component is in the form of a non-repayable contribution that reimburses the labour costs of a research and development project directly to firms.
Science at work for Canada
NRC-IRAP received an investment in Budget 2009, Canada's Economic Action Plan, of $200 million over the next two years. NRC-IRAP is committed to using this new funding to help the Government build a competitive advantage for Canada based on excellence in science and technology (S&T).
The funding includes $170 million to double NRC-IRAP's contributions to firms and $30 million to help hire more than 1,000 new post-secondary graduates via its Youth Employment Program.
The budget commitment reinforces NRC-IRAP's mandate to help SMEs take knowledge from the lab to the marketplace. The budget commitment also broadens NRC-IRAP's ability to provide S&T expertise to SMEs. NRC-IRAP estimates that this new money will allow it to support approximately 1,400 additional SMEs beyond its existing base over the next two years.
Patient Care Automation Services Inc. (PCAS)
Headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, PCAS is the developer of the PharmaTrustTM MedCentre a telepharmacy dispensing and primary care system. The system is designed for applications in hospitals, pharmacies, medical clinics, workplaces and other locations, providing patients with convenient and safe access to prescription drugs.
To use this system, customers insert a prescription or pick up a phone, and via a video conferencing system, speak to a pharmacist or physician. To dispense a medication, pending the pharmacist's authorization, the machine verifies a medication's barcode label, an RFID (radio-frequency identification) tag, the medication's DIN (drug identification number), lot number, expiry date, storage profile, photographs, video and weight. The MedCentre then presents the results of all tests to the pharmacist who reviews them and finishes by consulting with the patient before deciding whether or not to dispense the medication. Patients can pay with their drug plan card, cash, credit or debit.
The PharmaTrust MedCentre, network and services provide a scalable and affordable platform for pharmacists and physicians to deliver patient counselling and medication dispensing anywhere their patients require it. The PharmaTrust platform helps bridge distances and allows for pharmaceutical care to be delivered 24 hours a day anywhere, including remote communities.
Patients benefit from the convenience and enhanced safety of PharmaTrust, while it translates into cost savings for the health care system. Currently, tests are taking place at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, under the supervision of the hospital's pharmacy and there are production sites at the Albany Clinic and Cambridge Hospital. The system is under evaluation as a pandemic response platform by researchers at the University Health Network and the company has also just recently received approval to deploy its system in the UK in select locations.
PharmaTrust's website is www.pharmatrust.com.
