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 $3.2 million to
support these expansions. Such funding has been applied to
improving Microbix’s capabilities to support error-free infectious
disease diagnostic testing in Ontario, across Canada, and
internationally.
The Honorable Nina Tangri,
Ontario’s Associate Minister of Small Business, commented,
“Microbix is a great example of a locally founded and led life
sciences business creating innovative and clinically important
products, manufacturing them here in Ontario, and exporting them
around the globe. The Government of Ontario is pleased to support
Microbix’s mission to make next-generation diagnostic tests for
infectious diseases more widely available and to help ensure their
accuracy.”
Cameron Groome, CEO of Microbix
also commented, “Our company now counts many world-leading makers
of diagnostic tests, clinical labs, and lab accreditation agencies
among its customers and is providing skilled full-time careers to
120 Ontarians. Microbix is also proud to be achieving record
revenues and to have advanced its operations to the point that they
are now self-sustaining and profitable.”
About Microbix Biosystems
Inc.Microbix Biosystems Inc. creates proprietary
biological products for human health, with over 100 skilled
employees and annualized sales now targeting C$ 2.0 million per
month. It makes and exports a wide range of critical ingredients
and devices for the global diagnostics industry, notably antigens
for immunoassays and its laboratory quality assessment products
(QAPs™) that support clinical lab proficiency testing, enable assay
development and validation, or help ensure the quality of clinical
diagnostic workflows. Its antigens drive the antibody tests of
approximately 100 diagnostics makers, while QAPs are sold to
clinical lab accreditation organizations, diagnostics companies,
and clinical labs. Microbix QAPs are now available in over 30
countries, supported by a network of international distributors.
Microbix is ISO 9001 & 13485 accredited, U.S. FDA registered,
Australian TGA registered, Health Canada establishment licensed,
and provides CE marked products.
Microbix also applies its biological expertise
and infrastructure to develop other proprietary products and
technologies, most notably Kinlytic® urokinase, a biologic
thrombolytic drug used to treat blood clots, and reagents or media
to support molecular diagnostic testing (e.g., its DxTM™ for
patient-sample collection). Microbix is traded on the TSX and
OTCQX, and headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Forward-Looking InformationThis
news release includes “forward-looking information,” as such term
is defined in applicable securities laws. Forward-looking
information includes, without limitation, discussion of the Lab and
the Line, their funding, usage, benefits, or relevance, Microbix’s
products or services, business and business results, goals or
outlook, risks associated with financial results and stability,
development projects such as those referenced in its presentations,
regulatory compliance and approvals, sales to foreign
jurisdictions, engineering and construction, production (including
control over costs, quality, quantity or timeliness of delivery),
currency exchange rates, maintaining adequate working capital or
raising new capital on acceptable terms or at all, and other
similar statements about anticipated future events, conditions or
results that are not historical facts. These statements reflect
management’s current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and
expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance.
Microbix cautions that all forward-looking information is
inherently uncertain and actual performance may be affected by many
material factors, some of which are beyond its control.
Accordingly, actual future events, conditions and results may
differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and
expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking
information. All statements are made as of the date of this news
release and represent Microbix’s judgement as of the date of this
new release, and it is under no obligation to update or alter any
forward-looking information.
Please visit https://microbix.com or
https://www.sedarplus.ca for recent Microbix news and filings.
For further information, please contact Microbix
at:
Cameron Groome, CEO(905) 361-8910 |
Jim Currie, CFO(905) 361-8910 |
Deborah Honig, Investor RelationsAdelaide Capital Markets(647)
203-8793 ir@microbix.com |
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Copyright © 2024 Microbix Biosystems Inc.
Microbix®, DxTM™, Kinlytic®, and QAPs™ are trademarks of Microbix
Biosystems Inc.
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