The Ottawa Hospital to become a hub for biotherapeutics research and manufacturing

Unions plea for thousands of healthcare workers and more paramedics as hospital staffing shortages continue to plague the medical sector. (Tyler Fleming / CTV News Ottawa)

A world-class biomanufacturing facility will be built at the new Ottawa Hospital, as Ottawa's largest hospital is set to become a hub for the research and manufacturing of vaccines, gene therapies and cell therapies in Canada.

The federal government announced $59 million in funding for the Ottawa Hospital to develop and manufacture lifesaving biotherapeutics on Monday, with the majority of the funding supporting the construction and operation of a facility at the new Ottawa Hospital campus on Carling Avenue.

"This funding will ensure that The Ottawa Hospital continues to be a leader in developing and manufacturing life-saving biotherapeutics," Dr. Duncan Stewart, executive vice-president of research at the Ottawa Hospital, said in a statement. "Biotherapeutics represent the future of medicine, and will be critical in responding to future pandemics and other health threats."

Researchers at the Ottawa Hospital have led more than 20 world-first clinical trials over the last 15 years, using a variety of biotherapeutics such as stem sells and cancer-fighting viruses. The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute says the trials are possible because of its Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre, a specialized "clean-room facility that can develop and manufacture novel therapeutic products incorporating cells, genes, viruses and other biological materials."

The Ottawa Hospital says $47 million of the $59 million in funding will support the new biomanufacturing facility at the Ottawa Hospital, with the remainder enabling the "harmonization and cooperation across six Canadian biomanufacturing facilities."

The expanded Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre will be part of the larger ambulatory care and research building at the new Ottawa Hospital campus, scheduled to open in 2028.

"This investment will enable a much-needed expansion of our Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre, as well as the creation of a biomanufacturing collective with partners across the country," Dr. John Bell, senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital, said in a statement.

More than 40 full-time staff are based at the Ottawa Hospital's Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre, which is currently located at the General Campus.