Canada’s Source of R&D Intelligence
Toronto - June 25, 2003 -Sixteen British Columbia companies made Canada's Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders List 2003, released today by Research Infosource Inc. Together these companies invested $813.8 million in R&D activities in fiscal 2002, an increase of 13.1% from 2001. This is the highest R&D growth among all the provinces.
- Ballard Power Systems Inc. moves up four places from 15th to 11th in rank. From 2001 to 2002, R&D spending went up by 39.5% to $178.6 million while revenue increased by 154.7%.
- Creo Inc. drops three spots from 12th to 15th with a 5.3% decrease in R&D spending to $138.9 million and a 16.6% decrease in revenue.
- PMC Sierra Ltd. slips from 10th position in 2001 to 16th place. R&D spending drops by 16.4% to $131.3 million in the face of a 44.6% decrease in revenue.
- QLT Inc. moves up from 38th to 32nd with a 33.9% jump in R&D expenditures keeping pace with a 34% increase in revenue.
- Westport Innovations Inc. leaps from 77th to 44th posting an impressive 90.5% increase in R&D spending to $40.1 million.
- TELUS Corporation, new to the list this year, comes in at 45th position with $40 million in R&D expenditures on revenue of $7 billion.
- Inex Pharmaceuticals Corporation climbs 23 spots from 76th to 53rd - a dramatic 60.7% growth in R&D spending to $34.1 million on $8 million in revenue.
- Stressgen Biotechnologies Corporation remains in 54th position despite a 6.2% drop in R&D spending to $33.7 million.
- Sierra Wireless Inc. drops from 61st to 65th, posting a 13.2% decrease in R&D expenditures to $26.8 million, while showing a 31% increase in revenue to $121.1 million
- Pivotal Corporation slips from 64th to 68th position, an 8.2% drop in R&D spending to $26.6 million in the face of a steep 25.9% decline in revenue.
- Teck Cominco Limited moves up 3 places from 87th to 84th, posting R&D expenditures of $19 million, an increase of 11.8% in the face of an 8.1% decline in revenue.
- Micrologix Biotech Inc. moves up 30 spots to 92nd with an impressive R&D growth of 46.5%.
- Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. moves up 2 spots to 93rd with a modest 7.9% increase in R&D spending to $16.3 million.
- AnorMED Inc. jumps from 125th position to 95th with $ 15.3 million in R&D spending, a 49% increase.
- ID Biomedical Corporation moves to 97th position from 160th with a whopping 102.2% jump in R&D expenditures
- Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Ltd. spent $14.8 million on R&D activities, a jump of 111.9%.
"B.C. companies continue to rise to the challenge of their government's innovation agenda", says Ron Freedman, CEO, Research Infosource Inc. "Last year's list included 11 B.C. headquartered companies, for 2002 there are 16 firms."
Overall, Canada's Top R&D companies invested $10.9 billion on research and development activities in fiscal 2002, down 8.7% from last year's figure of $11.9 billion. A closer look at the numbers reveals a healthier picture. Nortel Networks' size and depressed results mask a positive underlying trend. With Nortel's figures included, total spending declined by 8.7%. Removing Nortel's results from the mix, R&D spending actually grew by 6.5% in 2002.
Looking at the regional breakdown, 50 of the Top 100 companies are headquartered in Ontario. Together they spent $7.7 billion on R&D in 2002, down 14.2% from last year. Quebec's 24 companies invested $2.1 billion, a 7% increase from 2001. The Prairie provinces (9 Alberta and 1 Manitoba firm) spent $356.8 million, a slight 2.1% drop from 2001.
The complete Canada's Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders List is available on the Research Infosource website, www.researchinfosource.com. An in-depth Corporate R&D Spenders Report 2003, based on over 600 companies, is slated for publication in July 2003. Research Infosource Inc., a division of The Impact Group, is Canada's source of R&D intelligence. Drawing from an extensive database, Research Infosource Inc. publishes Canada's Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders List, Canada's Top 50 Research Universities List, and specialized reports.
Information: Ron Freedman, CEO, Research Infosource Inc. (416) 481-7070 ext. 31
Janet Sandor, Director of Communications (416) 481-7070 ext. 25