Archive for 2021

BIOVECTRA today announced plans for the development of a state-of-the-art facility specializing in the production and manufacturing of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics – one of the first of its kind in Canada. This exciting new capability will result from a joint private-public investment made by BIOVECTRA and the federal and provincial governments who are contributing $39.8 million and $10 million respectively to the total project cost of $79.6 million in support of the BIOVECTRA mRNA Vaccine and Bio-manufacturing facility.

BIOVECTRA CEO Oliver Technow, was joined earlier today at the company’s Charlottetown headquarters by the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Honourable Dennis King, Premier of Prince Edward Island to announce support for this new domestic capability.

“BIOVECTRA is well poised to make the production of mRNA therapeutics in our country a reality. As a leading Canadian CDMO, with more than 50 years of expertise, we have a proven record of pushing the boundaries of our capabilities to meet our global customers’ challenges. This expansion is a significant yet natural evolution for us,” said Oliver Technow, CEO, BIOVECTRA.

“Vaccines save lives, and COVID-19 vaccines are helping us start getting back to normal. BIOVECTRA’s plan to establish a state-of-the-art vaccine facility here in Prince Edward Island, and upgrade their existing facilities in Nova Scotia, is a key move that supports our strategy to grow a strong, competitive domestic life sciences sector with cutting-edge biomanufacturing capabilities. This will make sure Canada is prepared for future pandemics and other health emergencies, strengthen our economy and create good jobs here in Atlantic Canada,” said the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

“BIOVECTRA is a true leader in bioscience, with strong relationships in the pharmaceutical industry, and we’re proud they call the East Coast home. A new state-of-the-art facility right here in Prince Edward Island means so many great things for our province. It means good jobs for Islanders, readiness for future health emergencies and an enhanced reputation for our province as a leader in bioscience research and innovation. Investing in this new facility is a step in the right direction as we move forward in strengthening our provincial economy and growing our sectors,” said the Honourable Dennis King, Premier of Prince Edward Island.

Project Recap:

• capability to develop and manufacture nucleic acids, recombinant proteins, and other therapeutics expressed via microbial fermentation
• production of up to 160 million doses of a mRNA vaccine per year
• capacity to prepare and package 70 million fill finish doses per year for commercial distribution
• creation of research partnerships and new development opportunities for professionals in the Life Sciences and bio-manufacturing sector, including the addition of 125 new positions in PEI and NS and up to 225 co-op terms.

Over the past several years, BIOVECTRA has expanded its business to develop and produce commercial scale biotherapeutics, at its accredited facility in Windsor, Nova Scotia.  It is one of five BIOVECTRA sites, located in Atlantic Canada. As part of this most recent investment, the Windsor site will also see an expansion to support the development and production of plasmid DNA, the key ingredient to manufacture mRNA therapeutics and vaccines. The PEI bio-manufacturing facility will include fill finish capabilities.

“At BIOVECTRA, we aim to be a global leader, bringing Canadian innovation to the center stage of biopharmaceutical manufacturing,” said Technow. “We understand our obligation to not just manufacture mRNA, pDNA, and provide an end-to-end manufacturing solution domestically, but to also demonstrate to the world that innovation and talent lives here in Atlantic Canada.”

Click here for more details on the BIOVECTRA mRNA Vaccine and Bio-manufacturing Facility

BIOVECTRA is proud to be selected as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2022 and considered amongst some of the country’s leading workplaces.

As one of four Atlantic Canadian companies selected, BIOVECTRA is a fast growing, forward-thinking, global pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) solving complex challenges to meet patient needs. From modest beginnings as a Startup company designed to give local science talent opportunities, BIOVECTRA has grown into a diverse workplace of more than 550 employees with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

Read full story here

Vancouver, BC and Charlottetown, PE (November 9th, 2021) – adMare BioInnovations and the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL) are pleased to announce their new partnership to train industry-ready talent for Canada’s biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector.

Headquartered in Prince Edward Island, CASTL is a first-of-its-kind Canadian skills and training initiative established to increase talent for Canada’s bioeconomy. Specializing in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, CASTL has brought to Canada world-class technical training curriculum from the globally recognized National institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT). Working with industry, academia and government, CASTL will offer multiple applied learning streams and pathways for individuals to acquire hands-on technical training and theoretical knowledge.

Under this new collaboration, the adMare Academy will become the Lead National Partner for CASTL; and the two organizations will work together to facilitate the development, delivery, and growth of CASTL’s training programs across the country.

“Building talent is a key piece of the adMare mission,” said Gordon C. McCauley, President and CEO of adMare. “We know that the greatest competitive advantage and most valuable resource of the Canadian life sciences industry is our people. We also know however, that the enormous growth our industry is experiencing has created significant skills gaps – so we are very excited to partner with CASTL to help address these gaps to facilitate continued growth.”

Penny Walsh-McGuire, CASTL’s Executive Director added, “By working together under the auspices of the adMare Academy, we will accelerate the building and implementation of CASTL’s pre-eminent biopharma manufacturing training, and amplify our impact on the sector from coast to coast to coast.”

Private industry and public policy makers across the country are aggressively adding the biomanufacturing capacity that the pandemic showed is critical to Canadian self-reliance. With this partnership, adMare and CASTL will build the domestic talent to enable effective scale-up of biomanufacturing facilities. Together, CASTL and adMare are offering gold-standard training programs that provide the theoretical, hands-on, and professional competencies to ensure graduates are work-ready. These personnel will power the growth and success of Canada’s biomanufacturing and broader life sciences sectors.

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About adMare BioInnovations
With a wealth of scientific discovery, Canada is primed to be a global leader in life sciences. To make this a reality, adMare uses its scientific and commercial expertise, specialized infrastructure, and investment capital to build new companies, robust ecosystems and industry-ready talent – and re-invests its returns back into the Canadian industry to ensure it is sustained and thrives for the long-term. Our 25+ portfolio companies have attracted more than $1.4 billion of investment, have a combined value of over $3 billion, and employ more than 900 Canadians. The adMare Academy has trained more than 300 alumni – 95% of whom are employed in the life sciences industry.

About CASTL
The Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL) provides world-class technical training in life sciences specializing in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Established to address the future skills needs of the fast-growing bioscience sector, CASTL is a first-of-its-kind Canadian partnership among industry, academia, and government. As the exclusive Canadian provider of the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) licensed training programs, CASTL will offer multiple applied learning streams and pathways for individuals to acquire the industry informed hands-on technical training and theoretical knowledge, to have a successful career in Canada’s bioeconomy.

Contacts:

Barry Gee
Senior Director, Communications and External Affairs
adMare BioInnovations
604-619-4805
bgee@admarebio.com

Chelsey Rogerson
Director of Marketing and Communications
CASTL/Prince Edward Island BioAlliance
902-213-7351
chelsey@peibioalliance.com

VetHealth Global Pitch & Partner is a dynamic event showcasing the latest innovative and emerging animal health and nutrition companies! Join us from November 22 – 24 for interactive virtual pitch presentations, as well as a robust one-to-one partnering program that will allow attendees to connect and network with investors, early-stage companies, animal health and nutrition business executives and supply chain partners.

VetHealth Global Pitch & Partner was established to provide a platform for innovative early-stage companies to connect with key investors and strategic partners.

Register Now
View Program

Since 2007, VetHealth Global, North America’s premier animal health and nutrition industry conference has been recognized for its outstanding list of presenters, innovative emerging company sessions, professional business partnering programming, and top-rated networking events. The in-person conference that is held every two years, will be hosted in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, June 28-30, 2022.

For questions, please contact jennifer@peibioalliance.com.

Charlottetown, PE – The Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Patrick Daoust as Director of Technical Training, effective October 25, 2021.

CASTL provides world-class technical skills development and training in life sciences specializing in biopharmaceutical manufacturing for Canada.​ It is a first-of-its-kind partnership between academia, industry, and government to address the future skills needs of Canada’s fast-growing bioscience sector. CASTL is the exclusive provider of National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) licensed training programs in Canada. Based in Ireland, NIBRT develops and delivers state-of-the-art training and education programs for the world’s leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing companies and partner academic institutions.

As Director of Technical Training, Patrick will be responsible for leading and directing the various innovative training programs through CASTL’s exclusive partnership with NIBRT. He will also take a leadership role in CASTL’s training facility design, and management, engage with industry on training needs and lead training program implementation. Working with a team of trainers, Patrick will ensure that CASTL offers a best-in-class training experience to both academic and industry partners.

“We are thrilled to have Patrick join the CASTL team, bringing his extensive industry experience and knowledge as our lead on technical training,” said Penny Walsh-McGuire, Executive Director, CASTL. “This is an important step forward as CASTL further develops our national skills and training network for Canada’s biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector.”

A seasoned industry professional, Patrick has 20 years of experience in life sciences process development and manufacturing. He has led multidisciplinary teams in both manufacturing process development and production of clinical material. His technical experience covers Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) process development and clinical manufacturing for monoclonal antibodies, fusion proteins and all aspects of antibody drug conjugate development and manufacturing as well as process re-development for Phase 3/Commercial readiness. He has also overseen aseptic drug product fills for multiple clinical lots.

After acquiring expertise in the development of biosimilars, Patrick founded and ran a company dedicated to the development and out-licensing of cell lines and manufacturing processes for various biotherapeutics. He later provided consulting services and then managed various aspects of development and manufacturing for a successful biotech company. Most recently as the Director of Manufacturing at Immune Biosolutions, Patrick led the set-up and successful first production of a clinical lot of a novel antibody treatment for COVID-19. In these roles, Patrick was responsible for developing highly skilled teams by providing complex training to colleagues and employees to ensure success.

Patrick grew up in the Maritimes and completed a BSc in Biotechnology from Sherbrooke University as well as an MSc from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at University of Montreal.

New Brunswick-based Pivotal Health Sciences (Pivotal) is a biotechnology company with disruptive proprietary clean technologies for the extraction, encapsulation and formulation of bioactive compounds.

Operating out of Moncton, NB, Pivotal’s two patent pending technologies extract bioactives from any plant, fungi and marine source and selectively encapsulates compounds for the food, nutraceutical, cosmetics and agro-chemical sectors. Additionally, Pivotal’s sustainable green process technology will increase the effectiveness and absorption of high-value molecules for human and animal health without the addition of chemical emulsifiers, surfactants and carrier oils.

Pivotal is the latest company to join Emergence, a bioscience incubator that accelerates the growth of Atlantic Canadian startups and early-stage companies moving from ideation to commercialization. Emergence will be helping Pivotal to develop their North American regulatory and intellectual property strategy and assisting the experienced Pivotal team with protocol design for their future studies.

“The Emergence incubator, its mentors and the partner organizations that support member companies have been foundational to Pivotal’s rapid growth during our first year of operation,” said Craig Jackson, CEO, Pivotal Health Sciences. “Our organization is grateful for the opportunity to continue to receive guidance and support that will continue to accelerate our technology and products towards commercialization.”

As a client of Emergence, Pivotal will have access to business incubation services including mentorship and advisory services, team mentorship program as well as access to networks and resources.

For more information on Emergence, visit emergencebioincubator.com.

In celebration of bioscience, innovation and solutions, Premier Dennis King signs official declaration of Global Biotech Week in the province

Charlottetown, PE – As Canada celebrates Global Biotech Week, Prince Edward Island continues to make strides locally in bioscience and biotechnology innovation. A key component of the Island’s economy, the bioscience industry is among the fastest growing sectors in PEI. Now with 60 companies, seven research organizations, and employing 2,200 highly skilled individuals, the PEI BioAlliance has created an innovation ecosystem that has doubled its economic impact since 2016. In 2020, private sector companies added an unprecedented $100 million to business revenues, bringing the total to $365 million annually. Additionally in 2020, the sector invested $85 million on new equipment and facilities and attracted $60 million in private sector investment.

“Global Biotech Week is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the bioscience industry’s accomplishments and contributions to our province. Prince Edward Island’s thriving biotech sector has been a key economic driver in our province and was one of our most resilient sectors throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Premier Dennis King. “The tremendous growth that we have seen here on PEI is only the beginning as the sector embarks on an ambitious plan to continue to grow the cluster model locally and continue to be a leader nationally and globally in this space.”

Dedicated to celebrating science, innovation and solutions, this year’s Global Biotech Week will be held from Sept. 27 – Oct. 3, 2021. The purpose of Global Biotech Week is to raise awareness of the industry and its global potential among policymakers, policy influencers and the general public more broadly. On Sept. 27, Premier Dennis King signed an official declaration of the observance in PEI.

The PEI bioscience sector has been nationally and internationally recognized for the collaborative economic cluster model that has advanced and grown the sector. Coordinated by the PEI BioAlliance, the bioscience cluster includes bioscience companies, federal and provincial government partners, as well as research and development organizations such as the National Research Council, University of Prince Edward Island, the Atlantic Veterinary College, Holland College, Agriculture and AgriFood Canada, and BioFoodTech. Through the Emergence Bioscience Business Incubator, the cluster has excelled in helping startups and early-stage companies move from research and technology development to commercial success.

Most recently, the PEI BioAlliance announced the launch of their 2021-25 Strategic Plan, that will guide the work and planning needed to achieve the PEI Cluster’s vision to be a leading force in Canada’s bio-revolution. BioAlliance goals for 2021-25 are to aggressively increase private sector revenue, employment, investment attraction, capital expenditures as well as spending on research and development, with the vision of cluster companies achieving $500 million in revenue by 2025 and $1 billion by 2030.

Oliver Technow, Board Chair of the PEI BioAlliance and CEO of BIOVECTRA, one of the leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations in North America, suggested that since COVID-19, Canada and the world is re-awakening to the importance of having the knowhow and infrastructure to be more self-reliant in manufacturing vital drugs and vaccines to protect population health.

“Governments, academic researchers, and private sector partners must work together to ensure all the elements are in place for success. Prince Edward Island has done an excellent job of implementing an ecosystem approach that has created significant competitive advantage for manufacturing businesses, and facilitated a ‘can do’ culture,” said Technow.

This rapid growth of the sector has meant finding innovative solutions to address constraints to future growth, including expanding and growing a skilled workforce, as well as increasing incubation, scale-up, and manufacturing infrastructure.

Launched in 2020, the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL) provides world-class technical skills development and training in life sciences specializing in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. It is a unique partnership between industry and academic partners across Canada to address the significant future skills needs of the Canadian life sciences sector.

Additionally, to provide the necessary infrastructure for growth, the new Bioscience Manufacturing Incubator (BMI) is a 20,000 sq-ft facility comprised of six fully serviced, self-contained units to support pilot-scale manufacturing of bio-based products. Located in the BioCommons Research Park, this project is nearly complete, with industry tenants expected to move in this fall.

For more information on the PEI BioAlliance and the local bioscience cluster, visit peibioalliance.com.

Media Contact
Clara Deacon
Director of Communications and Marketing
PEI BioAlliance
C: 403.701.2815
E: clara@peibioalliance.com

Emergence is pleased to announce the appointment of Bernadette Fernandes as Lead Mentor, Market Access and Exporting, effective August 30, 2021.

In this role, Bernadette will be responsible for mentoring Emergence bioscience business incubator clients in going to market and developing their export readiness strategies. Operating out of New Brunswick, Bernadette will also support companies in the scale up and preparatory work required to develop international sales, as well as the implementation of successful marketing approaches to develop an international brand and to convert target audiences into customers.

Bernadette is a seasoned professional with extensive international experience in marketing, sales, business development, operations, human resources, risk management, and corporate leadership. As the CEO and founder of The Varanda Network, a ten-year-old economic development organization, Bernadette provides business services globally for start-ups, immigrant entrepreneurs, SMEs and multi-nationals across various sectors.

A dynamic, energetic and passionate leader, Bernadette has worked in the area of international market access since 2006, with a specific focus on exporting since 2013. Having worked closely alongside BioNB, government, industry partners, and most recently academia, Bernadette is familiar with the nuances of the innovation ecosystem that allows bioscience companies to grow and thrive.

Emergence is Atlantic Canada’s bioscience business incubator dedicated to assisting start-ups and growth-stage companies in efficiently bringing their products and services to market. Emergence provides companies with business incubation services including mentorship and advisory services, team mentorship program as well as access to networks and resources.

Please join us in welcoming Bernadette to the Emergence team.

Emergence client RPS Biologiques Inc. is pleased to announce that its latest Veterinary Health Product (VHP), Puralyze™, recently received two notification numbers from Health Canada’s Veterinary Drugs Directorate (VDD). Puralyze™ received approval in both liquid and powdered forms allowing this novel natural product to be marketed and sold in Canada.

As part of Global Biotech Week: Sept. 27 – Oct. 3, please join us for a Bio Networking Session, presented by Emergence. This session will be hosted in person and virtually and will feature a presentation by Keiretsu Forum Canada: Lessons from a thousand pitches – How to make the investment short list. This presentation will be followed by a short Q&A and networking.

Recently, Emergence became an official Network Partner of Keiretsu. Under this agreement, Keiretsu will provide access and support from their global investor network as well as a range of education and training opportunities to Emergence companies.

Speakers:

• Kevin Sterling: President – Toronto, Keiretsu Forum Canada
• Jason Cleaversmith: Executive Director, Incubation, PEI BioAlliance

RSVP: Register for the event
Date: Tuesday, September 28
Time: 10 – 11:30 a.m. ADT
In Person Location: Bedeque Ballroom, Delta Prince Edward