NEOMED, a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization whose mission is to foster the development of promising therapeutic approaches emerging from academia and biotechnology companies, this week announced the launch of the Biologics and Vaccine Centre of Excellence in Laval, Quebec under a proposed partnership with GSK.
This Centre will be unique in Canada and GSK has committed $47 million towards its establishment.
“We are extremely happy to announce the creation of NEOMED’s biologics and vaccines division, a Centre of Excellence that will build on the scientific heritage of GSK and the successful business model of the NEOMED Institute research hub in Technoparc Montréal’s Saint-Laurent Campus,” said NEOMED President and CEO Max Fehlmann. “This Centre will allow Quebec to generate significant economic benefits and offer many companies in Quebec, Canada, and abroad access to state-of-the-art facilities and to an expertise of exceptional quality.”
The GSK proposed partnership will ensure that the expertise remains in Montreal. It will allow both the preservation of 50 jobs and the eventual creation of new positions. It will also increase opportunities for new discoveries to make the necessary step toward commercialization.
The new NEOMED biologics and vaccines division will include creation of a specialized contract research organization (CRO) that will market its biology and clinical immunology services to the business community and to GSK; and the creation of an exclusive partnership between GSK and NEOMED in order to share risks and benefits on existing biologic and vaccine projects.
“We are very pleased to partner with NEOMED to create a unique Biologics and Vaccine Centre of Excellence,” said Paul Lirette, President, GSK Canada Pharmaceuticals. “It enables GSK to look externally and develop collaborative partnerships to optimize R&D, and represents the dawn of a new and promising era for pharmaceutical research in the Montreal region.”
NEOMED is jointly funded by the pharmaceutical industry, the Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et des Exportations du Québec, and the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) of Canada.
