Canadian contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) BioVectra, unveiled plans for a five-year, nearly $110 million (CAD 144.6mn) expansion project to enhance its biopharmaceutical capabilities in both Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and Windsor, Nova Scotia.
 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited BioVectra in Charlottetown to announce a $28 million (CAD 37.5mn) contribution from the Government of Canada through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). The contribution represents the single largest SIF Project ever awarded in Atlantic Canada.
 
More specifically, the project is intended to support BioVectra’s on-going active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) production capacity expansion in Charlottetown, as well as an expansion of its biologics capabilities in Windsor, including a mammalian cell culture facility.
 
Over the project’s five-year lifespan, 150 jobs are expected to be created on Prince Edward Island and in Nova Scotia.
 
“We are pleased to announce plans to create 150 additional jobs, 110 to be located at our Windsor site and 40 in Charlottetown,” said Oliver Technow, president, BioVectra. “This is an extremely proud day for BioVectra, and we are deeply appreciative of the government’s support. Since 2015, we have invested approximately $25 million per year in expansions and technologies that have vastly enhanced our capabilities.”
 
BioVectra says its global client base includes many of the top 20 biopharmaceutical companies in the world. “Our clients develop important, life-saving medicines for people all around the globe,” said Heather Delage, general manager, Windsor, BioVectra. “This exciting expansion project is designed to help propel us toward being a top-tier player in the biologics field, where many therapies are advancing rapidly, and changing the way healthcare is delivered.”