Five laboratories are under construction in Laval, in the premises of the Center québécois d’innovation en biotechnologie (CQIB). This incubator thus intends to respond to the influx of requests for scientific equipment. With the pandemic, needs have experienced an unprecedented acceleration, due to the proliferation of medical projects.
Posted at 2:00 p.m.
Five laboratories in 2023
In the summer of 2023, the CQIB will have five additional laboratories. Due to a lack of space, the organization expanded its facilities by 3,000 square feet by transforming offices into small laboratories. A total of $3.3 million has been invested in the project, with funding from the three levels of government and the CQIB itself. A third of this sum will be used to finance additional scientific equipment, and to create a clean room allowing the development of products in a controlled area. “There is a strong demand for this type of installation,” observes Perry Niro, general manager of the CQIB.
A shortage of laboratories
While the CQIB had unoccupied premises in 2018, it now maintains a waiting list of companies wishing to access its laboratories. “For two years, we have had a very strong demand for small laboratories, due to the tensions in the global supply chains for laboratory analysis services and for the production of products that go into the development of vaccines”, observes Perry Niro.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Perry Niro, Director General of the Quebec Center for Biotechnology Innovation (CQIB)
Some companies already present would like to double the areas they occupy. The pandemic has accelerated the demand for laboratories, due to the development of vaccines, but also because university laboratories have temporarily closed due to sanitary measures, which has created a strong demand for private laboratories, explains Perry Niro.
Turnkey support
The provision of laboratories and state-of-the-art equipment by the CQIB is unique. The organization also helps businesses seek financing. “Investors are happy that we exist because their money is not used to pay rent or buy equipment,” summarizes Perry Niro. The CQIB relies on the effect of size to negotiate prices with suppliers of laboratory products. But he takes risks, since sometimes a company closes because of unsatisfactory clinical trials. “We are not a business hotel. Our role is to support entrepreneurs: if it doesn’t work, we assume,” he explains.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The provision of laboratories and state-of-the-art equipment by the CQIB is unique.
Impact on the economy
The CQIB has supported a hundred companies since its creation a quarter of a century ago by the City of Laval and the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS). More than 1,000 scientific jobs have been created by these companies, says Perry Niro, who specifies that half a billion dollars have been generated in venture capital. On the territory of Laval, these companies have built a total of 50,000 square feet of new laboratories. And it’s not over: the companies currently housed at the CQIB have activities as diverse as the creation of artificial skin, the development of a vaccine for animals, or the treatment of heart problems in children.