Hoping to find a niche where it can be a pacesetter in biopharma development, the Canadian government is investing CA$49 million (US$36 million) in the new Conscience Open Science Drug Discovery Network. The investment will be used to accelerate drug R&D “by leveraging Canadian strengths in artificial intelligence and employing open science principles to drive efficiencies in building Canadian innovation capacity and delivering the medicines that Canadians need,” François-Philippe Champagne, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said in announcing the funding Oct. 5.