A major drug company has given the University of Manitoba $750,000 to help establish a research chair in pediatric asthma and allergies.

Representatives of Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. announced their contribution to the endowment at a press conference in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

In accepting the donation, Dr. Estelle Simons, the university's head of allergy and clinical immunology at Winnipeg's Children's Hospital, outlined the severity of what she calls an asthma "epidemic."

Aaron, 8, gets ready to inhale his asthma medicine. (CP photo)
Aaron, 8, gets ready to inhale his asthma medicine. (CP photo)

"At present, out there in the community at large, one in 10 children suffers from asthma," said Simons. "If you consider all the allergic diseases, that number actually rises to one child in four, and soon is likely to reach one child in three."

Asthma is a chronic lung disease resulting in recurrent attacks of breathlessness, generally accompanied by wheezing, chest tightness or coughing.

In Canada, asthma is among the most frequent causes of emergency room visits, hospitalizations and unscheduled doctor visits. It is also the most common reason that children miss school.

Dr. Joanne Kesselman, the university's vice-president of research, said the new money will help attract the best scientists to the university's National Training Program in Allergy and Asthma Research.

Simons said university researchers are trying to learn how to "turn off" the triggers of asthma, which can include illnesses, exercise and allergens such as pets, smoke, and pollution.

Kesselman said the donation does not mean Merck Frosst has exclusive rights to any research.

"Donation agreements, gift agreements – typically how we receive these kinds of funds around things such as the establishment of research chairs are simply that: gifts."

Kesselman said the challenge now is to raise the rest of the $3 million required to establish the endowment.

In 2002, drug maker GlaxoSmithKline announced a $1-million investment to establish a McMaster University Research Chair in pediatric asthma in Hamilton. The company said it was aiming to help fight Canada's brain drain by providing opportunities for leading medical researchers and scientists.