Biomanufacturing: Projects underway

Government of Canada investments of more than $2.2B in 38 projects in the biomanufacturing, vaccine and therapeutics ecosystem, strengthening domestic pandemic response capabilities and life science innovation

 

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National

The Government of Canada has invested in research projects across Canada through important granting partners like the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. For the complete list of investments in research initiatives please consult the Government of Canada investments in the biomanufacturing, vaccine and therapeutics ecosystem.


Alberta

Total investments

$111,414,000

Numbers of projects

4

Number of investments

5

Description of projects

Canadian Critical Drug Initiative (Edmonton, AB)

Canadian Critical Drug Initiative (Edmonton, AB)

March 17, 2023:  $80.5 million over five years from Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) to increase and support the initiative's integrated research, development, and manufacturing activities in Edmonton that will strengthen Alberta's biomedical sector and increase the domestic production of critical medicines.

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Entos Pharmaceuticals (Edmonton, Alberta)

Entos Pharmaceuticals

  • October 23, 2020: $5.0 million through NRC‑IRAP for phase 1 clinical trials of its Covigenix VAX-001 vaccine candidate

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Northern RNA (Calgary, AB)

December 20, 2023: $15 million over three years through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to expand Northern RNA's biomanufacturing capacity, including by establishing a facility compliant with good manufacturing practice (GMP) to produce lipids that are a critical component for mRNA vaccines and therapies.

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Providence Therapeutics and Northern RNA Inc. (Calgary, Alberta)

Providence Therapeutics and Northern RNA Inc.

  • January 21, 2021: Up to $5 million through the Next Generation Manufacturing Canada supercluster, to expand their operations in Calgary to design and manufacture COVID-19 vaccines and build a pipeline of mRNA vaccines
  • October 23, 2020: $4.9 million through NRC-IRAP for phase 1 clinical trials of its PTX-COVID19-B mRNA vaccine candidate

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Atlantic Canada

Total investments

$73,700,000

Numbers of projects

3

Number of investments

5

Description of projects

BIOVECTRA (Charlottetown, PEI)

BIOVECTRA

  • November 18, 2021: $39.8 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to build a state-of-the-art facility in Prince Edward Island and reconfigure their facilities in Nova Scotia.
IMV Inc. (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia)

IMV Inc.

  • October 23, 2020: $5.4 million through NRC-IRAP for phase 2/3 clinical trials of its DPX-COVID19 vaccine candidate
  • August 5, 2020: $2.5 million through the Next Generation Manufacturing Canada supercluster to advance clinical development of its vaccine candidate for the prevention of COVID-19 infection.
  • July 22, 2020: $1 million from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to support the pre-clinical activities necessary to meet the requirements for a clinical trial application to Health Canada

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PEI BioAlliance (Charlottetown, PEI)

PEI BioAlliance

  • February 10, 2023: $25M from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency toward the design and construction of the PEI BioAlliance BioAccelerator, a new biomanufacturing facility on Prince-Edouard-Island

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British Columbia

Total investments

$539,000,764

Numbers of projects

6

Number of investments

8

Description of projects

AbCellera Biologics (Vancouver, British Columbia)

AbCellera Biologics

  • May 3, 2020: $175.6 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) toward its antibody therapy research and the construction of an antibody production facility
  • May 24, 2023: $225 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to create a state-of-the-art biotech campus equipped with a new preclinical antibody development facility and make significant upgrades to its existing facilities in Vancouver

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adMare BioInnovations (Vancouver, British Columbia)

adMare BioInnovations

  • March 30, 2022: Up to $92 million provided in the 2021 Federal Budget to prepare Canada for future pandemics and health emergencies by supporting research and development (R&D), company creation, scale-up, and training activities in the biomanufacturing and life sciences sector.
Bold Therapeutics (Vancouver, British Columbia)

Bold Therapeutics

  • December 18, 2020: Up to $289,032 through NRC-IRAP for a project to prepare preclinical efficacy data in live SARS-CoV-2 (COVID‑19) and support preparation for clinical trials and manufacturing of its BOLD-100 investigational therapy to treat patients with viral infections, including COVID‑19

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Precision NanoSystems Inc. (Vancouver, British Columbia)

Precision NanoSystems Inc.

  • February 2, 2021: $25.1 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to support a $50.2 million project to expand Canada's capabilities in the production of ribonucleic acid (RNA) vaccines and future genetic medicines, while enhancing Canada's biomanufacturing capacity
  • October 23, 2020: Up to $18.2 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to help advance the development of a COVID‑19 vaccine candidate through preclinical studies and clinical trials

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Symvivo (Burnaby, British Columbia)

Symvivo

  • October 23, 2020: $2.8 million through NRC‑IRAP to advance its bacTRL-Spike oral DNA vaccine candidate in preclinical and phase 1 clinical trials
Qu Biologics (Vancouver, British Columbia)

Qu Biologics

  • December 18, 2020: Up to $109,764 through NRC‑IRAP for a project to provide proof-of-concept evidence for the safety and efficacy of a preventive treatment, as well as therapeutic use of a treatment, to protect the lungs and prevent serious COVID-19 infection

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Ontario

Total investments

$797,035,000

Numbers of projects

10

Numbers of investments

12

Description of projects

Arch Biopartners (Toronto, Ontario)

Arch Biopartners

  • December 15, 2020: Up to $6.7 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to advance its lead drug candidate as a treatment for organ inflammation in severe cases of COVID-19

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Edesa Biotech (Markham, Ontario)

Edesa Biotech

  • February 2, 2021: Up to $14 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) which is developing a monoclonal antibody therapy (EB05) as a treatment for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, the leading cause of death among COVID‑19 patients
  • October 12, 2023: Up to $23 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to advance Phase III clinical trials for its monoclonal antibody therapy (EB05), for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients.

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Hypermabs Inc. (Toronto, Ontario)

Hypermabs Inc.

  • December 18, 2020: Up to $1.9 million through NRC‑IRAP to support the development of their FB100 therapeutic, a novel treatment for COVID-19 survivors with lung fibrosis
Mannin Research Inc. (Toronto, Ontario)

Mannin Research Inc.

  • December 18, 2020: Up to $1.7 million through NRC‑IRAP to support the development of methodology for purification and pre-clinical testing of a therapeutic to prevent vascular leakage in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Novocol Pharmaceutical of Canada (Cambridge, Ontario)

Novocol Pharmaceutical of Canada

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Resilience Biotechnologies Inc. (RBI) (Mississauga, Ontario)

Resilience Biotechnologies Inc. (RBI) 

  • May 18, 2021: Up to $199.16 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to increase its manufacturing and fill-finish capacity for a number of vaccines and therapeutics, including for those that use novel technology such as mRNA and that are now being deployed to fight COVID-19.

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Sanofi Pasteur Limited (Sanofi) (Toronto, ON)

Sanofi

  • March 31, 2021: Up to $415 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to support building an end-to-end influenza vaccine manufacturing facility.

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Stem Cell Network (Ottawa, Ontario)

Stem Cell Network

  • May 12, 2022: Over $19.5 million through the Stem Cell Network for 32 research projects and clinical trials across Canada focused on rare and chronic diseases. This funding is part of the $45 million federal investment over three years for the Stem Cell Network to support stem cell and regenerative medicine research.
  • April 23, 2020: Over $675,000 through the Stem Cell Network to support two new research projects and one clinical trial. The clinical trial will evaluate the safety of a potential cell therapy to reduce the impacts and severity of acute respiratory distress associated with COVID‑19, and the two projects will generate critical information about how cells in the airway and brain are affected by the virus

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Variation Biotechnologies Inc. (VBI) (Ottawa, Ontario)

Variation Biotechnologies Inc. (VBI)

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Vasomune Therapeutics Inc. (Toronto, Ontario)

Vasomune Therapeutics Inc.

  • December 18, 2020: Up to $1.2 million through NRC‑IRAP to support phase 1 clinical trials of its AV-001 drug candidate which will be used to treat patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome resulting from COVID‑19.

Quebec

Total investments

$506,276,796

Numbers of projects

13

Number of investments

13

Description of projects

Biodextris Inc. (Laval, Quebec)

Biodextris Inc.

  • October 23, 2020: $1.3 million through NRC‑IRAP for preclinical development of its nasal COVID‑19 vaccine candidate

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Glycovax Pharma (Montréal, Quebec)

Glycovax Pharma

  • October 23, 2020: $4.0 million through NRC‑IRAP for phase 1 clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate

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Immune Biosolutions (Sherbrooke, Quebec)

Immune Biosolutions

  • March 16, 2021: Up to $13.44 million to help through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to develop and advance its therapeutic candidate from pre-clinical studies up to Phase II clinical trials

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JN Nova Pharma (Montréal, Quebec)

JN Nova Pharma

  • December 18, 2020: Up to $4,609,000 through NRC‑IRAP to assist in the development of a proprietary drug to block coronavirus infection, while reducing the impacts of the disease in patients exhibiting COVID‑19 symptoms so they may recover faster

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Jubilant HollisterStier (Kirkland, Quebec)

Jubilant HollisterStier

  • March 16, 2023: $23.8 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund to increase its capacity for a variety of vaccines, including mRNA and its annual fill and finish capacity.

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  • The Government of Canada continues to invest in domestic vaccine production
KABS Laboratories Inc. (Saint-Hubert, Quebec)

KABS Laboratories Inc.

  • March 16, 2021: Up to $54.2 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), for the expansion of its Saint‑Hubert facility and establishing a new facility in Val-des-Sources, both in Quebec

Related link:

Laurent Pharmaceuticals (Montréal, Quebec)

Laurent Pharmaceuticals

  • December 18, 2020: Up to $4,166,796 through NRC-IRAP for the clinical development of its LAU-7b antiviral and inflammation controlling therapy for COVID-19 infections

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Medicago (Québec, Quebec)

Medicago

  • October 23, 2020: Up to $173 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to advance its virus-like particle vaccine candidate and establish a large-scale biomanufacturing facility

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Moderna (Quebec)

Moderna

  • April 29, 2022: Leading COVID-19 vaccine developer Moderna will build and operate a state-of-the-art mRNA vaccine production facility in Quebec. Once completed in 2025, the facility will have the capacity to produce up to 100 million mRNA vaccine doses per year.
Novavax (Montréal, Quebec)

Novavax

  • February 2, 2021: Signing a memorandum of understanding with Novavax to pursue production of its COVID‑19 vaccine at the NRC's Biologics Manufacturing Centre, once both the vaccine candidate and the facility receive the required Health Canada approvals

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NRC Royalmount (BMC) (Montréal, Quebec)

NRC Royalmount (BMC)

  • August 31, 2020: $126 million to build a new Biologics Manufacturing Centre at its Royalmount site in Montréal. Once built, the new centre will be capable of large-quantity, end-to-end production of vaccines—approximately 2 million doses per month, depending on the vaccine candidate
NRC Royalmount - Clinical Trial Material Facility (CTMF) (Montréal, Quebec)

NRC Royalmount - Clinical Trial Material Facility (CTMF)

  • April 23, 2020: $44 million to establish a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliant clinical trial material facility at its Royalmount site in Montréal. Once complete, this permanent facility will be able to produce small-batch clinical trial materials from cell-based biologics production, including platforms such as viral vector, protein subunit, virus-like particles and other recombinant proteins
Pharmascience (Candiac, Quebec)

Pharmascience

  • October 27, 2023: Up to $29.77 million investment through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to allow Pharmascience to update and expand its facility in Candiac, Quebec, increasing its capacity to produce sterile injectables

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Saskatchewan

Total investments

$106,500,000

Numbers of projects

1

Number of investments

5

Description of projects

Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)

Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO)

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Planning for the future

In addition to biomanufacturing capacity, our investments will ensure that, in the long term, Canada has the talent, a research and development pipeline, robust SMEs and security across the supply chain to support a dynamic and growing biologics manufacturing and innovation ecosystem.

Work is under way to assess current and ongoing needs in the biomanufacturing sector and to find ways to complement recent government investments—such as those made through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) and the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).

Complete list of Government of Canada investments in COVID-19 vaccines and biomanufacturing capacity:

Related links