Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (left) and Guido Skudlarek, head of Evonik’s Health Care business line (right) announced the investment on August 27 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
German chemical company Evonik is investing more than CAD 150 million (EUR 93 million) to establish a new GMP drug product manufacturing facility for lipid-based drug delivery in Vancouver, Canada.
The company said the facility will increase its development and manufacturing capacity, enabling pharmaceutical and biotech companies to advance lipid-based pharmaceutical products — including vaccines, therapeutics and other advanced medicines — from development through commercial scale.
The project is supported by up to CAD 68 million (approximately EUR 42 million) from the Canadian federal government’s Strategic Response Fund. Drug product production at the new facility is expected to begin by the end of 2029.
Lauren Kjeldsen, member of Evonik’s Executive Board and COO for the Custom Solutions segment at Evonik, said, “Lipid-based drug delivery technologies are already enabling the next generation of medicines. With the support of the Canadian federal government, this investment builds on our long-standing expertise in the field, enabling the development and commercialisation of more life-changing therapies.”
The new facility will expand Evonik’s existing manufacturing capabilities in Vancouver, providing more than three times the manufacturing capacity of its current facility for advanced pharmaceutical products. It is also expected to significantly enhance quality control and microbiological testing capabilities, improving operational efficiency and supporting the timely release of products for clinical use.
“This investment strengthens both our regional presence and our global network for lipid-based drug delivery,” said Guido Skudlarek, head of Evonik’s Health Care business line.
Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, said the investment would support advances in lipid-based drug delivery, create highly skilled jobs and strengthen British Columbia’s growing biotechnology ecosystem.
“The Government of Canada is proud to support Evonik’s goals, which will help position Canada at the forefront of next-generation vaccines and medicines,” she said.
Evonik Vancouver Laboratories, formerly known as Transferra Nanosciences and Northern Lipids, has been active in lipid-based drug delivery since the 1990s. The site currently provides contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) services for advanced lipid nanoparticle (LNP) and liposomal delivery systems, covering formulation research, GMP clinical trial manufacturing and commercial process scale-up.
Lipids play a critical role in the encapsulation and delivery of nucleic acid-based medicines, including mRNA therapies, as well as other pharmaceutical payloads. LNPs have emerged as a leading drug-delivery system, particularly following their use in COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Demand for LNP technologies is expected to continue growing as nucleic acid therapeutics expand across the parenteral drugs market.
The LNP market alone is estimated to reach US$2.7 billion by 2034.
