Provincial funding boosts Hamilton biomanufacturing facility

HAMILTON, ONT.—The Ontario government through Invest Ontario has announced $40 million in funding to support construction of a new $580-million biomanufacturing facility at McMaster Innovation Park in Hamilton.

OmniaBio, a Canadian cell and gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organization, will be the anchor tenant in the biomanufacturing campus, stated a recent release.

Invest Ontario will also be providing non-financial support to OmniaBio, including helping the company meet its future talent needs and promoting opportunities to enhance local skills development partnerships.

OmniaBio is being spun out of the Toronto-based Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine, a firm active in developing and commercializing regenerative medicine-based technologies and cell and gene therapies.

Ontario’s life sciences sector is the largest in Canada and comprises about 1,900 firms employing around 66,000 people.

“OmniaBio will be a game-changer for Ontario and Canada,” stated Michael May, chair of OmniaBio, in a statement. “It will provide missing infrastructure to allow Ontario and Canadian cell and gene companies to remain here, while also attracting foreign companies. Cell and gene therapy is Canada’s opportunity to be global leaders in life sciences.”