First vaccine production plant opens in Canada
After the many supply disruptions seen during the pandemic, Canada does not want to depend on other countries.
After more than a year of pandemics, Canada finally opened its first vaccine manufacturing plant. The facility is located in Montreal. The first samples are expected to be ready by the spring of 2022.
"During the crisis we had problems with procurement and delivery times. The idea of moving production home is a safety issue. Whatever happens, we will have better control of the process," said François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.
He recalled that over the past 30 years there has been a gap in Canada because several manufacturing companies have moved overseas. Champagne believes it is important to prepare for anything that may happen in the future.
"The new facility will give us additional capacity to respond quickly to future pandemics and health crises," the minister added.
The National Research Council of Canada is responsible for the new laboratory. Council Chair Mitch Davis shared that the new facility will handle the entire process from research to vaccine clinical trials to mass production. The plant will have a production capacity of 4,000 litres of vaccines per month, which is about 24 million doses per year.
Canada has already contracted Novavax to not only produce but also to develop vaccines at the plant. However, before that, the Ministry of Health has to approve all the equipment and the drug itself, which is expected to take several months.
The facility was launched in a record time of just 10 months. A total of $126 million CAD was spent on it. A further $20 million CAD will be required each year to cover operating costs.
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