Life Sciences & Health Technology Innovation Hub Takes Shape in Montreal

The NEOMED Innovation Centre will be expanded with the construction of a new innovation and commercialization complex specializing in life sciences and health technology

Montreal, Quebec – adMare BioInnovations held today the ground breaking ceremony marking the start of the construction of a major expansion to Montreal’s NEOMED Innovation Centre, specializing in life sciences and health technology (LSHT). The event was attended by representatives of the Government of Quebec, Canada Economic Development, the City of Montreal, and local elected officials, along with senior executive members, employees and partners of the organization.

“This new innovation and commercialization complex is poised to become a thriving focal point for the development of a business ecosystem and innovation networks that will amplify companies’ productivity, and ensure they become more effective and more competitive on the global market,” said Pierre-Yves Desbiens, Venture Partner, NEOMED Innovation Centre, adMare BioInnovations. “This project would never have seen the light without the commitment of visionary partners who, like us, seek to make major contributions to scientific innovation in the Canadian life sciences and health technology sector.”

Along with hundreds of jobs created, scores of resident companies, partnered programs, a spin-off company, and more, NEOMED, located in Technoparc Montréal in the borough of Saint-Laurent, is considered one of the most important initiatives responsible for the renaissance of the life sciences sector in Montreal.

(Last month, the NEOMED Institute, of which the NEOMED Innovation Centre is a part, and The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), another highly-successful leading Canadian life sciences organization, announced the bringing together of their respective capabilities and resources under a new co-founded pan-Canadian enterprise, adMare BioInnovations, thus creating a stronger and more comprehensive national organization, fostering collaboration within Canada and around the world.)

“adMare BioInnovations is proud to be leading the way in opening a new world of opportunities in the life sciences sector in Quebec and the rest of Canada by increasing investments in research and innovation, fostering creation of innovative companies, attracting new private investments, and commercializing Canadian technology globally,” explained Gordon C. McCauley, President and CEO of adMare BioInnovations. “Life sciences is a highly-collaborative endeavour in which no one can be successful all on their own; so it is critical that we bring together our brilliant cutting-edge academic research with commercial know-how and resources. Fostering this kind of alignment and collaboration, and providing companies with the infrastructure they need to succeed on a global scale is exactly what NEOMED and its expansion is all about. What we are really building here is a community.”

The NEOMED Innovation Centre plays a significant role in key parts of adMare’s Mission, those being to deploy a combination of infrastructure, scientific and business expertise, and capital to help existing Canadian life sciences companies scale up, and to train the next generation of highly qualified personnel to drive those companies’ growth and ensure their sustainability – all with a Vision to be catalysts for Canadian life sciences leading the world. As such, this expansion is part of the new Montreal Geared Up for Tomorrow 2018–2022 Economic Development Strategy and its action plans.

“Montreal is a vital hub for life science companies focused on innovation and collaboration. With the continued growth of the LSHT sector in Montreal, the City is proud to invest in this priority sector in order to remain globally competitive. Our investment in this new innovation and commercialization complex will expand Montreal’s LSHT ecosystem by offering additional services for entrepreneurs and researchers in terms of adapted laboratories, shared equipment and support in commercialization. We hope that many other companies will also choose Technoparc Montréal,” said Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal.

In addition to a $1.5 million contribution from the City of Montreal, the NEOMED Innovation Centre will be receiving $1.5 million in funding from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED). The latter funding will enable the organization to implement its project aimed at increasing the innovation capacity of SMEs in the LSHT sector, in particular through the purchase of laboratory equipment.

“adMare BioInnovations is an important player in the life sciences ecosystem in Montreal and across Canada. The expansion of their NEOMED Innovation Centre will ensure that this sector’s SMEs have the tools and knowledge they need to continue to innovate, grow and contribute to the Canadian economy,” said the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.

The Quebec government’s participation in the project will benefit the infrastructure side, as it has provided loan guarantees on the building and land to the benefit of financial institutions, including Desjardins, Caisse d’économie solidaire and other social economy enterprises. Investissement Québec is allocating a loan of $ 8,793,937 from its own funds.

“The life sciences industry is vital to Quebec’s economy, which is why we must ensure that we are competitive and attractive on an international scale. The Quebec government intends to support investments in research and innovation in this sector, foster the creation of innovative businesses and ensure their growth, attract new private investment and further integrate innovation into the health and social services network. By supporting the NEOMED facility expansion project, we are continuing to build a business environment that will allow the life sciences sector to grow in a strong and sustainable way,” said Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy and Innovation for the province of Quebec.

Ms. Marie-Eve Proulx, Minister for Regional Economic Development and Minister Responsible for the Chaudière-Appalaches, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine regions commented “the NEOMED Innovation Centre provides an environment that enables innovators to develop solutions to health problems and make them available to society and it is contributing to the emergence and growth of life sciences companies by providing access to facilities and expertise of exceptional quality. These collaborations, which have significant impacts, have become essential because they allow businesses, especially SMEs, to have state-of-the-art infrastructure, access to highly-qualified scientific expertise and share related costs. ”

Highlights

• With 50,000 square feet of space to house the various facilities, Phase 1 expansion of the NEOMED Innovation Centre will be delivered in 2020.
• The project is valued at $25 million and is benefiting from the financial participation of a number of public and private partners.
• The expanded NEOMED Innovation Centre will be located in Technoparc Montréal and will feature customized labs, shared equipment, and support and guidance services in commercialization, including:
  • Expertise and experimentation centres;
  • Modular spaces and corporate spaces;
  • Incubators/accelerators;
  • Training centres;
  • Specialized services, including access to sources of funding.
• Employees and users of NEOMED Innovation Centre including the new Innovation and commercialization complex will enjoy better access to the site with the building of the Technoparc station of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM). The light-rail network, currently under construction, will shorten travel time between Montreal–Trudeau International Airport and the city’s downtown core.

About adMare BioInnovations

adMare BioInnovations is a pan-Canadian enterprise with global reach, changing the landscape of the Canadian life sciences ecosystem. We do this by sourcing the most therapeutically and commercially promising research from leading academic and biotech partners to create new companies of scale, providing specialized expertise and infrastructure to help existing companies scale up, and driving the growth of those companies into Canadian anchors by training the next generation of highly qualified personnel. The NEOMED Innovation Centre is a key part of adMare, building a business ecosystem and innovation networks at its state-of-the-art Montreal facilities, hosting subcontractor research organizations, biotech companies, and consultants.  www.admarebio.com.

Information:
Viviane Ross
NATIONAL Public Relations
514 843-2318
vross@national.ca

Julia White
Senior Manager, Communications
adMare BioInnovations
604 827-1226
jwhite@admarebio.com