Ottawa, Ontario
Ottawa's life sciences sector is home to world-class research institutions, renowned hospitals and a growing tech industry. It is important that businesses and organizations in this critical sector are able to access the support they need to continue to find innovative solutions to better the lives of Canadians.
Today, Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, visited Virica Biotech Inc. (Virica), an Ottawa-based biotechnology company, which pioneered a new viral sensitizer that boosts the efficacy of using viruses to help treat cancer, removing the barriers to manufacturing effective viral medicines at scale. Virica Biotech is receiving a $1.5-million investment to support new advanced manufacturing of its viral sensitizers at its expanded facility at Carleton University. This investment will help the company to scale to meet the increasing demand for its products.
While at Virica, Parliamentary Secretary Naqvi also met with the teams from Genvira Biosciences Inc. and Capital BioVentures to learn about their growth in the sector. Genvira builds innovative biotherapeutics, examining how human cells change and mutate to help create vaccines, supporting advancements in gene therapy and cancer immunotherapy. The company is enhancing biomaterials manufacturing capabilities, with support from an investment of $1.75 million, to better serve clinicians as they undertake clinical trials and continue their important work developing tools to help create vital medicines and treatments.
Capital BioVentures, is a not-for-profit wet-lab accelerator that provides Canadian biotech companies with early-stage funding and access to dedicated drug and corporate development biotech professionals, and access to high-quality equipment and lab space. The organization is addressing the critical need for wet lab space in the region, by establishing and launching an Ottawa-based wet-lab accelerator program. With a $5.5-million investment, this program will allow small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to utilize wet lab space in locations across the city, as well as access support services including training and mentorship as they develop their products and grow their businesses.
Canadian life sciences companies and the organizations that support them have the potential to address complex health challenges impacting people around the globe. The Government of Canada is committed to working together with organizations and businesses to support the health of Canadians and a strong and thriving life sciences ecosystem into the future.
