Province Invests in State-of-the-Art Cell and Gene Therapy Facility in Hamilton to Take Life Sciences Sector to the Next Level

HAMILTON – A new cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility being built in Hamilton will anchor the future of life sciences jobs and innovation in Ontario while advancing pioneering medicine with the potential to cure many forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.

Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, welcomed the $580 million investment in the OmniaBio Inc. facility as he unveiled the government’s new innovative life sciences strategy. Through Invest Ontario, the province’s investment attraction agency, subject to reaching a definitive agreement, the province will invest up to $40 million to help create the OmniaBio manufacturing facility, which will be spun out of Toronto’s Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM).

Located at McMaster Innovation Park, OmniaBio will be a commercial-scale cell and gene therapy facility operating as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO). A CDMO works with other life sciences companies, large and small, to commercialize and manufacture their products. This arrangement allows life sciences companies to focus on research for new therapies and medical breakthroughs – and on growing their business.