PEI BioAlliance releases new survey data showing private sector revenue exceeds $600 million

The PEI BioAlliance released the results of a survey with feedback from over 50 bioscience sector companies based on 2022 business performance. In 2022, private sector company revenues reached over $600 million, a nearly $250 million increase over 2020, while investment attraction topped $64 million and capital expenditures exceeded $61 million. Currently, the bioscience sector employs 2,200 people and is one of the top three industry contributors to the provincial economy. The Prince Edward Island Bioscience Cluster is on its way to becoming a billion-dollar industry by 2030. Most Cluster companies are focused on human and animal health products.

“Sustained sector growth year-over-year is a direct result of PEI’s bioscience companies being competitive in the global market, growing and attracting business by continuously innovating and developing products and services that are in demand,” said Oliver Technow, Board Chair, PEI BioAlliance and CEO, BIOVECTRA. “BioAlliance partners  form a cohesive business ecosystem that enables both established industry leaders and emerging companies to grow successful businesses.”  BIOVECTRA  completed one of Canada’s first biomanufacturing centres specialized in mRNA / pDNA vaccines in Charlottetown on November 2023.

The rapid growth of the Cluster has put pressure on two key enablers of continued success: the availability of skilled personnel and the availability of specialized R&D and manufacturing facilities.

To address these challenges, the Governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island announced a $50 million investment in the BioAccelerator in Charlottetown, PE, the largest single investment in economic development infrastructure in PEI history. Located in the BioCommons Research Park, the BioAccelerator will be a unique multi-function facility with 60,000 sq. ft. of laboratory and biomanufacturing space. The BioAccelerator will become a centrepiece for new technology development and biomanufacturing in Atlantic Canada and nationally. Detailed engineering design work is underway, and the project will break ground this summer.

The BioAcclerator will complement the existing BioManufacturing Incubator (BMI) in the BioCommons, a 20,000 sq. ft. facility comprised of six fully serviced, self-contained units to support pilot-scale manufacturing of bio-based products.

“The growing diversification of our bioscience sector as one of the economic powerhouses of our province is a clear signal that PEI is not only open for business, but the place to do business,” said the Honourable Gilles Arsenault, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Trade. “Our goal is to grow a healthy and sustainable Island economy, and the innovation and forward-thinking of emerging and existing businesses of this sector shows we are on the right path.”

The PEI BioAlliance established the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL) to address a regional and national skills and workforce availability shortage in the life sciences sector by creating a national talent pipeline. CASTL opened its headquarters and biopharmaceutical manufacturing training facility in Charlottetown in 2022 with support from federal and provincial partners. Due to its success, CASTL opened a facility in Montreal last fall, with a Richmond, British Columbia centre opening in the fall of 2024.

Rory Francis, CEO of the PEI BioAlliance, shared that these initiatives are key elements in the BioAlliance’s plan to build the province’s capacity and reputation as a national centre of expertise in biomanufacturing.

“Collaboration and cooperation among businesses, academic and research partners, and governments at all levels continues to make PEI a great place to locate bioscience-based businesses,” said Francis. “These investments in infrastructure and skilled people allow us to continue growing our contribution to the province’s economy in health-related products and open the door for new opportunities in the application of biotechnology to other global challenges, including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts.”