Microbix Biosystems Inc. (TSX: MBX, OTCQX: MBXBF, Microbix®), a life sciences innovator, manufacturer, and exporter, announces its hosting of Associate Minister of Small Business of Ontario, the Honourable Nina Tangri, to celebrate the opening of two expansions to its medical devices manufacturing capacity at one of its three adjacent Mississauga sites.
Expansion one is a new 2,000 square foot laboratory (“Lab”) to fulfill growing demand for Microbix’s quality assessment products (“QAPs™”) for diagnostic test-makers and other end-users, as well as for the internal quality control (“QC”) testing required to validate and release commercial production batches. The Lab may also be used for manufacturing swing capacity and for piloting automation processes.
The Lab was entirely constructed from Ontario Made modular and prefab components. This innovative construction is more cost-effective than conventional framing and enables reconfiguration or relocation. Across its three sites, Microbix now has access to 11 distinct lab areas totaling 17,000 square feet, comprising 50% of its overall space. This Lab represents a capacity expansion of no less than 13% and the investment in this new capacity was C$ 0.6 million, being capitalized and amortized at 12.5% per year.
Expansion two comprises a Made-In-Canada manufacturing line for fully-automated filling, capping, labeling, and bagging of vials of in-vitro diagnostics (“IVD”) related reagents (the “Line”). The Line can be used to manufacture Microbix-branded patient-sample collection media and control elution buffers, as well as for custom white-label reagent production, with a targeted capacity of up to 3,000 vials per hour. The full cost of the Line and related renovations was C$ 1.2 million, also being capitalized and amortized.
Microbix is grateful to have received grant support from the Ontario Government’s Ontario Together Fund (OTF) totaling over $2.0 million and a loan from the Government of Canada’s FedDev Ontario (FedDev) program for $3.2 million to support these expansions. Such funding has been applied to improving Microbix’s capabilities to support error-free infectious disease diagnostic testing in Ontario, across Canada, and internationally.
The Honorable Nina Tangri, Ontario’s Associate Minister of Small Business, commented, “Microbix is a great example of a locally founded and led life sciences business creating innovative and clinically important products, manufacturing them here in Ontario, and exporting them around the globe. The Government of Ontario is pleased to support Microbix’s mission to make next-generation diagnostic tests for infectious diseases more widely available and to help ensure their accuracy.”
Cameron Groome, CEO of Microbix also commented, “Our company now counts many world-leading makers of diagnostic tests, clinical labs, and lab accreditation agencies among its customers and is providing skilled full-time careers to 120 Ontarians. Microbix is also proud to be achieving record revenues and to have advanced its operations to the point that they are now self-sustaining and profitable.”
