Medicago to build C$245 million production facility in Quebec City

Canadian biotech firm Medicago, an international leader in the development and production of plant-based vaccines and therapeutics, has said that Quebec City will be home to its new production complex.

The C$245 million ($204 million) project will create 200 new high-skilled jobs by 2019, adding to the team of 180 employees already working at Medicago's Quebec City office and laboratories. The project is expected to generate more than C$461 million in direct and indirect economic benefits over the next five years. Medicago is 60% owned by Japanese drug major Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma (TYO: 4508), which paid around $172 million for the majority stake two years ago (The Pharma Letter July 12, 2013), and 40% by Philip Morris International.

Medicago's new 44 000 m2 facility will be located on a 90 000 m2 site. It will have the capacity to deliver up to 40 to 50 million doses of quadrivalent seasonal flu vaccines. In addition, work towards developing new products will take place over the upcoming years.