Expanding the Bioprocessing Centre of Expertise in Prince Edward Island

OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, PEI BIOALLIANCE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERS HAVE MADE a series of strategic investments to take a leadership position in providing bioprocessing infrastructure, expertise, and services to Canadian and international businesses.

These initiatives have included major investments in bioprocessing equipment, construction of the first

Bioscience Manufacturing Incubator, expansion of private sector manufacturing facilities and expertise, establishment of the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL), and the expansion of Emergence, the Atlantic Bioscience Business Incubator.

Most recently, the Governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island announced a $50 million investment in the BioAccelerator, the largest single investment in economic development infrastructure in PEI history. The BioAccelerator is a key element in the PEI BioAlliance’s plan to build out the province’s capacity and reputation as a national centre of expertise in bioprocessing.

Spearheaded by the PEI BioAlliance, this new 75,000 sq. ft. facility is unique in Canada in its design and service delivery components. It will enable Canadian bioscience companies to carry out research and new product development, process development, manufacturing scale up, as well as provide access to biopharmaceutical manufacturing skills and training.

Situated in Charlottetown, PEI, the BioAccelerator builds upon recent public and private sector investments such as BIOVECTRA’s construction of mRNA-Vaccines and biomanufacturing facilities, the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL), and the Bioscience Manufacturing Incubator. Other companies that have made significant investments in infrastructure and expertise include Somru Bioscience, Elanco, Island Abbey Foods, Pegasus Biotech and Sekisui Diagnostics.

The BioAccelerator will provide much needed biomanufacturing infrastructure to advance the bioscience and life sciences ecosystem at both the regional and national level. It will also provide capacity and expertise to support fermentation and downstream bioprocessing in areas of biologics, probiotics, natural product chemistry-derived products, and animal and fish health products. These are areas where capacity is extremely limited in North America and especially so in Canada.

“The BioAccelerator announcement was an exceptional endorsement of the hard work and vision of leaders from our cluster’s business, research, and government organizations and their commitment to sustainable economic growth,” said Rory Francis, CEO, PEI BioAlliance. “The BioAccelerator will provide essential biomanufacturing facilities and services for businesses across the region and beyond, that are critical to business growth and biomanufacturing self-sufficiency for Canada.”

PEI’s bioscience community is recognized across Canada for the success of its collaborative economic cluster model in advancing and growing the sector. With the guidance of PEI BioAlliance partners from business, academia, research, and governments at all levels, the sector has quadrupled in size since 2012 to include over 60 bioscience companies earning over $600 million per year in sales. The sector is now one of the top three industry contributors to the provincial economy. The PEI bioscience cluster has surpassed 2025 growth targets and is well on its way to becoming a billion-dollar industry by 2030.

Tenants in the BioAccelerator will include early-stage companies, small, and medium size enterprises from Atlantic Canada, across Canada, and from international locations. It will also include the facilities and expertise of the National Research Council of Canada’s atypical fermentation labs as well as CASTL, providing hands-on biopharmaceutical manufacturing training for the talent pipeline that will be essential to Canada’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy. The BioAccelerator will be CASTL’s national headquarters and lead training facility.

The bioeconomy is an important economic driver for Atlantic Canada, and critical to the region’s economic diversification. The Atlantic sector consists of approximately 900 organizations, including commercial businesses, university research institutions, and employed 10,800 people in 2019. The private sector alone employs approximately 5,500 people in a diverse range of companies, from start-ups to multinationals.

The BioAccelerator is expected to be completed in fall 2025.

For more information on the PEI BioAlliance, visit peibioalliance.com