Pat Binns, Premier of Prince Edward Island (PEI) along with George Gunn, President and CEO of Novartis Animal Health Global and Grant Roberts, President and CEO of Novartis Animal Health’s Canadian operations were on site for the official ribbon-cutting ceremonies to celebrate the new state-of-the-art Novartis Animal Health’s Center for Aqua Research and Development facility in Victoria, PEI. The PEI R&D facility will bring new and innovative vaccine solutions for preventing and controlling disease-causing pathogens in farmed fish. Novartis recently completed the R&D facility in its quest to better support vaccine and pharmaceutical development for a variety of farmed fish species, including salmon, carp, marine fish, tilapia and catfish. The Victoria R&D facility currently operates with a staff of sixteen, and the company anticipates that number to increase to 21 at the end of 2006.
“A world renowned global company such as Novartis opening a site in Prince Edward Island very much reflects the caliber of infrastructure, resources, expertise, and capabilities we have been able to establish in this province to date,” said Premier Binns. “The Provincial Government has been an active partner in the development of the PEI bioscience sector with significant investments into the new National Research Council- Institute of Nutrisciences and Health, the Food Technology Centre expansions, our new Research and Development Fund, and our new Innovation and Development Tax Credit. The encouragement of a cluster that enhances research and development, a highly skilled workforce, and business investment opportunities is a cluster we are proud to support.”
The improved area of the Victoria aqua facility is already being utilized. Recipient of a $1.8 million, five-year investment from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Atlantic Innovation Fund, Novartis is developing an immunization strategy to help prevent koi herpes virus (KHV) using platform technologies of proteomics and genomics. KHV is the most significant disease problem facing carp and ornamental koi farmers today. In addition to working to develop a KHV vaccine, Novartis is also using the technologies for the rapid discovery and identification of antigens in other target diseases.
“By expanding our facilities, we are supporting aquaculture through continued in-depth study of health solutions for the challenges that face both currently cultured and emerging species of fish,” says Novartis Canada CEO, Grant Roberts.
According to Novartis Global Head, George Gunn, the company’s aquaculture business – while a small percentage of its total global sales – has ambitious growth objectives calling for a tripling in the size of the global business by 2010. Calling the aquaculture segment of its business one of the most dynamic, Gunn expressed Novartis’ vision of further building on its leadership position in the aqua health vaccine market worldwide.
“Novartis is currently focused on salmon farming in Canada, Chile, the Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom, where we are among the market leaders,” says Gunn. “With the projected growth in fish consumption continuing to rise through the year 2020, we see many untapped opportunities for disease-preventing vaccines in warm water fish species, in addition to our core business in the salmon farming markets.”
Collaborations between business, research organizations and government are working to make bioscience a key economic engine in Prince Edward Island, where there is a strategic intent to build on current strength in bioscience that exists in the province.
Partnerships with Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island, along with Atlantic Canada, and national and international institutions help facilitate an efficient and environmentally sustainable aquaculture industry.
Novartis’ Roberts sees a number of advantages to the company’s investments in Prince Edward Island.
“PEI has quality marine resources and top research institutes that make it attractive for a company like Novartis to maintain one of our five global research and development centers here,” he concludes. “We look forward to continuing the great partnerships in place here.”
Novartis Animal Health researches, develops and commercializes leading animal treatments that meet the needs of pet owners, farmers and veterinarians. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and present in almost 40 countries, Novartis Animal Health employs about 2,300 people worldwide. For more information on aquaculture, please consult www.ah.novartis.com/aqua_health/en/index.shtml.
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and consumer health. In 2005, the Group’s businesses achieved net sales of USD 32.2 billion and net income of USD 6.1 billion. Approximately USD 4.8 billion was invested in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ about 91,000 people and operate in over 140 countries around the world. For further information please consult www.novartis.com.