Mike Currie, Minister of Development and Technology toured Atlantis BioActives Corporation at the Charlottetown Airport Business Park today. The tour of the company’s manufacturing facility was conducted by Colin Marr, Atlantis’s director of business development.
Incorporated in 2002, Atlantis BioActives is a privately-owned corporation and is leading the Canadian initiative in product development and commercial-scale manufacturing of one of the world’s most successful cancer treatments. The company currently employs 32 people in order to meet the growing demands of pharmaceutical goods and services.
“The province has made the bioscience industry a cornerstone of our economic development strategy,” said Minister Currie. “We are supportive of a company that is working on the development and research of products that can be produced right here at home and that are used to fight against different kinds of cancer. The company is an excellent example of the capabilities of Island workers and the great potential for this industry.”
The company’s main product is a semi-purified extract of paclitaxel, used in the manufacture of generic treatments indicated for an increasing number of cancers. The primary taxane components are extracted from locally-harvested Ground Hemlock (Taxus canadensis), an evergreen shrub that grows abundantly in the woodlands of Eastern Canada.
“Atlantis combines extensive commercial-scale manufacturing expertise with process technologies to deliver quality ingredients to the standards of the pharmaceutical industry,” said Marr. “PEI’s close proximity to secured biomass, technical, and research and development support enable a dependable flow of purified ingredients to pharmaceutical manufacturers.”
The Department of Development and Technology, through Prince Edward Island Business Development, provided the company with a $982,000 performance based
contribution to assist with equipment costs and leasehold improvements.
For more information about Atlantis BioActives, please visit the company's Web site at www.atlantisbioactives.com.