Members of The Ottawa Hospital’s Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre were delighted to attend the grand opening of McMaster University’s state-of-the-art bioprocessing automation lab. This new lab is part of the Canadian Biomanufacturing Cooperative, which includes The Ottawa Hospital/University of Ottawa, McMaster and other partners.
“Together, we are leading the way in boosting Canada’s capacity to manufacture life-saving biotherapeutics,” said Dr. Duncan Stewart, Principal Investigator of the Canadian Biomanufacturing Cooperative, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa.
Biotherapeutics incorporate biological materials like cells, genes and viruses to treat and prevent disease. Examples include CAR-T therapy to treat cancer, stem cell therapy to regenerate damaged tissues and vaccines to prevent infectious diseases.
“We have been collaborating with McMaster for more than 15 years to increase the accessibility of biotherapeutics or ‘living drugs’ to people in Ontario, Canada and globally,” said Dr. Jennifer Quizi, Director of the virus manufacturing facility at The Ottawa Hospital’s Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre. “This bioprocessing lab will provide the specialized capacity and expertise needed to accelerate our combined biomanufacturing efforts now and in the future.”
The new facility at McMaster is the first biomanufacturing infrastructure project to be completed thanks to funding from the Government of Canada’s Bioscience and Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF). The Ottawa Hospital’s Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre was also awarded BRIF funding to support a major redevelopment of its facilities. Both projects are part of the Canadian Biomanufacturing Cooperative, which is associated with the Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub.
Learn more about the new bioprocessing automation lab at McMaster, which is a partnership with biotech company Sartorius.
The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
