Date: 2015-05-19
Type of information: Construction of new premises
Compound:
Company: Medicago (Canada)
Therapeutic area: Allergic diseases
Type agreement: construction of new premises
Action mechanism:
Disease:
Details: * On May 19, 2015, Medicago, a major Canadian biotech company and an international leader in the development and production of plant-based vaccines and therapeutics, announced that Quebec City will be home to its new production complex. The $245 million project will create 200 new high-skilled jobs by 2019, adding to the team of 180 employees already working at Medicago’s Quebec City office and laboratories. The project is expected to generate more than $461 million in direct and indirect economic benefits over the next five years. Medicago chose Quebec City because of its qualified employees and the access to an experienced workforce, world-class research infrastructure, a dynamic business culture and support from the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Medicago’s major expansion project received support from all three levels of government in the form of loans or discounted land purchase costs. The governments of Canada and Quebec provided loans of $8 million and $60 million, respectively. The municipal government contributed to a value of $6.5 million.
Medicago’s new complex will be built in Quebec City’s Espace d’innovation D’Estimauville (Estimauville innovation park) and completed by 2019. It will regroup Medicago’s head office, research and development activities, and commercial production plant.
Medicago’s new 44 000 m2 facility will be located on a 90 000 m2 site. It will have the capacity to deliver up to 40 to 50 million doses of quadrivalent seasonal flu vaccines. In addition, work towards developing new products will take place over the upcoming years. Using plants to fight seasonal and pandemic influenza, Ebola and other health threats Medicago’s innovative technology uses plants like miniature factories that can quickly produce large quantities of vaccines or treatments. This technology demonstrated its potential for responding to global pandemics when it produced candidate vaccines for H1N1 in 2009 and H7N9 in 2013 in just
19 days, compared to the several months required to produce vaccines using eggs.
Financial terms:
Latest news:
