Feds announce $200M for biomanufacturing plant
The federal government has announced an investment of more than $119 million to support the development of a new biomanufacturing facility in Mississauga.
The funding is part of a project valued at more than $401 million that will help develop Canada’s medical countermeasures to COVID-19 and strengthen its preparedness for future pandemics.
The money is being provided to California-based manufacturer Resilience Biotechnologies Inc., which specializes in the development and manufacture of clinical and commercial complex biologics, vaccines and aseptic fill-finish as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).
The company will use the funding to increase its capacity for a number of vaccines and therapeutics. Those include vaccines that use novel technology such as mRNA which is being deployed to fight COVID-19.
Once completed, the building is expected to allow for the manufacturing of between 112 million and 640 million doses of mRNA vaccines per year.
“Resilience is honoured to partner with the ISED Strategic Innovation Fund to expand our infrastructure, talent and overall capacity, allowing us to improve Canada’s pandemic preparedness and further strengthen the Canadian biopharmaceutical ecosystem,” said Rahul Singhvi, the chief executive officer of National Resilience, which owns Resilience Biotechnologies.
Resilience Biotechnologies Inc.’s project will include two components to expand its capacity: modernizing existing space at the site (approximately 10,000 square feet) and building an extension to the site (approximately 45,000 square feet).
This expansion will further grow Resilience Biotechnologies Inc.’s presence in Canada, and enable the company to create and maintain 500 full-time jobs and 50 co-op positions.
Since there is currently no CDMO in Canada that is able to produce sufficient vaccines for national and international demands, the investment met an important public-policy goal for the federal government.
“Today’s contribution to Resilience Biotechnologies Inc. is another important step to support Canada’s leadership in the life sciences sector and to build its pandemic preparedness,” said Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne. “These investments are also creating well-paying jobs and helping to grow Canada’s life sciences ecosystem as an engine for our economic recovery.”
The funding was supported by recommendations from the Joint Biomanufacturing Subcommittee of the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force and the COVID-19 Therapeutics Task Force.