Canada pays $164 million to add Resilience to pandemic prep effort

by Thursday, May 20, 2021  9:19 am

Canada has called on Resilience Biotechnologies to boost local COVID-19 shot capacity.

The Canadian Government has given contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Resilience Biotechnologies $164 million to modernize its recently acquired Ontario plant as part of a wider pandemic preparedness effort.

The CDMO – which is part of San Diego, US based headquartered firm National Resilience – announced further details this week.

Image: iStock/naruedom

It said the investment will increase manufacturing capacity for vaccines and therapeutics, including those based on mRNA that are being used to fight COVID-19.

The firm already employs 295 people and the expansion will create an additional 205 full time positions.

CEO Rahul Singhvi said “This partnership with the Government of Canada will help prepare Canada for future pandemics and strengthen the country’s biopharmaceutical ecosystem.â€

Reilience acquired the Mississauga, Ontario facility last year when it bought biologics CDMO Therapure Biopharma.

At present the facility provides process and analytical development, scale up, drug substance and drug product fill-finish manufacturing services.

Pandemic preparedness

The grant is part of the Canadian Government’s wider C $401.52-million effort to medical countermeasures to COVID-19 and strengthen emergency preparedness for future pandemics.

According to a Government spokesman “There is currently no CDMO in Canada that is able to produce sufficient vaccines for national and international demands.

“Resilience Biotechnologies will meet these needs with this project,†he said.

The Toronto Star reported the facility should be able to produce up to 640 million doses of mRNA vaccines per year after the expansion is finished in 2024.

US preparedness

Resilience is also helping the US prepare for future pandemics through its recent acquisition of Ology Bioservices.

Last November Ology was awarded a $37 million contract by the US Department of Defense (DOD) to develop an advanced anti-COVID-19 monoclonal antibody cocktail.

The contract also included supporting the DOD with a request for an Emergency Use Authorization and/or Expanded Access (EA) of the monoclonal antibody cocktail for at-risk military personnel.