The Pulse: Feb. 3, 2021

A made-in-Edmonton drug that can treat lupus nephritis received the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval as an oral therapy for the disease, Victoria-based Aurinia Pharmaceuticals announced in a statement on Jan. 22.

Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation CEO Andrew MacIsaac said the FDA approval is a huge success story for pharmaceutical companies in the region. 

"I'd liken it to the same level as getting a Nobel Prize," MacIsaac told Taproot Edmonton. "This is a strong validation of the work we do and a huge potential opportunity for the future out of Edmonton."

According to MacIsaac, it is very rare for novel drugs to get FDA approval.

"Within the lifespan of the FDA, there's been about 2,000 drugs approved. We are talking about drugs that have never been in humans before going on to the market," he said. "Within Edmonton, only a few drugs have ever ended up on the market out of all our commercialization efforts."

• Alberta's NDP said Premier Kenney and the UCP are heeding to political pressure as opposed to scientific evidence as the province prepares to start lifting public health measures. “We must reconsider if now is actually the best time to be loosening public health restrictions, as so many provinces and the federal government are actually moving to tighten them,” said NDP leader Rachel Notley. Dr. Deena Hinshaw said on Feb. 1 that there is an "emergency brake" factored into the reopening plans.
• Dr. Deena Hinshaw said she can't intervene in enforcing public health measures, when it comes to the Edmonton-area church that defied restrictions last weekend. "It’s critical that the enforcement of laws in the province is done in an independent way by those bodies who have the authority under legal frameworks to create orders or penalties,” Hinshaw said.
• "Alberta Health Services is now following up with all Albertans who test positive for COVID-19, following a recruitment drive for contact tracers this winter," reports CBC News.
• CTV News writes that a reality television writer has discovered The Bachelorette may not be filmed at Jasper Park Lodge after all, following new federal travel restrictions.
• Coun. Andrew Knack talked to Global News about whether Edmonton’s drive to move beyond the car is realistic as the city plans for two million people.

The city will not provide funds to a volunteer group aiming to build a park connecting downtown Edmonton and Old Strathcona. The urban planning committee pointed to COVID-19-related financial struggles on Feb. 2 as the reason it could not give the High Level Line Society the $85,000 it was hoping to receive.

"We’re just not in a position right now to put dollars on the table,” said Mayor Don Iveson.

The society would have used the money hire staff and complete a design study for a 4.3-kilometre linear park stretching from MacEwan University across the High Level Bridge to Whyte Avenue. Early plans include plazas, green spaces, a pedestrian-oriented redesign of the High Level Bridge's upper deck, and an extension of the High Level Bridge Streetcar line on either end.

"This is a really exciting and compelling project that would really help Edmonton in terms of economic development, tourism, and activation of our downtown," said deputy city manager Stephanie McCabe.

Council endorsed the project in December 2019, and said it would consider providing the $85,000 to get it off the ground. A decision was supposed to be made on March 14, 2020, but council suspended meetings to focus on dealing with COVID-19 the day before.

Close to a year later, the committee agreed there isn't room in the budget.

"We're in worse shape financially than we were when we first discussed this," said Coun. Ben Henderson.

Despite their inability to give the project money, committee members were unanimous in wanting the project to move forward, and passed a motion directing the city's administration to continue working with the society. Administration will help with looking into other means of funding the project, and will provide council with updated reports in the future.

A new report from real estate company Morguard shows the region's economy shrunk by 10.8% last year, the largest decrease among the country's 13 metropolitan areas. 

The pandemic and low oil production cost the area more than 123,000 jobs in the first two quarters. The report's author, Keith Reading, told Postmedia the rollout of vaccines will play a role in recovery.

“It’s kind of a waiting game,” he said. “A vaccine is going to be a big driver of any improvements so that Edmontonians can get back to work along with the rest of the country.”

This week's word is "nohkom" which means "my grandmother" in Cree. Here's how to pronounce it.

The Cree word of the week was featured by local strategic communications agency Naheyawin in 2018. Republished with permission!

Interested in learning more? The Centre for Race and Culture is offering online ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ (nêhiyaw or Plains Cree) language lessons for beginners from Feb. 8 to April 19.