Montreal’s Neomed Innovation Centre is poised to start construction on a new $25 million innovation and commercialization complex specializing in life sciences and health technology.

The ground-breaking ceremony was held Thursday morning in St. Laurent, at Technoparc Montréal, a major contrutor to the rebirth of the life sciences sector in Montreal. Montreal mayor Valerie Plante was on hand, as was federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains.

“This new innovation and commercialization complex is poised to become a thriving focal point for the development of a business ecosystem and innovation networks that will amplify companies’ productivity, and ensure they become more effective and more competitive on the global market,” said Pierre-Yves Desbiens a venture partner with the NEOMED Innovation Centre and adMare BioInnovations. “This project would never have seen the light without the commitment of visionary partners who, like us, seek to make major contributions to scientific innovation in the Canadian life sciences and health technology sector.”

The first phase of the 50,000 square feet addition will complete in 2020. It will feature customized labs, shared equipment and support and guidance services in commercialization, including expertise and experimentation centres, modular spaces and corporate spaces, incubators/accelerators, training centres and specialized services like access to sources of funding.

adMare BioInnovations says the new innovation centre will add hundreds of jobs to the area, several resident companies, partnered programs and a spin-off company.

In addition to a $1.5 million contribution from the City of Montreal, the NEOMED Innovation Centre will be receiving $1.5 million in funding from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED). The latter funding will enable the organization to implement its project aimed at increasing the innovation capacity of SMEs in the LSHT sector, in particular through the purchase of laboratory equipment.

“adMare BioInnovations is an important player in the life sciences ecosystem in Montreal and across Canada. The expansion of their NEOMED Innovation Centre will ensure that this sector’s SMEs have the tools and knowledge they need to continue to innovate, grow and contribute to the Canadian economy,” said Bains.

“Montreal is a vital hub for life science companies focussed on innovation and collaboration. With the continued growth of the LSHT sector in Montreal, the City is proud to invest in this priority sector in order to remain globally competitive,” said Montreal’s mayor, Plante.

The Neomed Innovation Centre is a part of adMare, a pan-Canadian life sciences organization. Neomed’s mission is to deploy a combination of infrastructure, scientific and business expertise, and capital to help existing Canadian life sciences companies scale up. The expansion is part of the new Montreal Geared Up for Tomorrow 2018–2022 Economic Development Strategy and its action plans.