The CP₂H, co-led by uOttawa (in partnership with The Ottawa Hospital) and McMaster University, is one of the five research hubs selected following the Stage 1 of the integrated Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF) and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF) funding opportunity totalling $10 million. The hub will be a strategic partner to enable Canada to become internationally competitive in the translation of novel biotherapeutic discoveries from academic laboratories and industry settings into clinical testing and commercialization. This unique collaboration between industry, academia, government, and healthcare institutions will allow Canada to pivot quickly and protect the health of Canadians should another epidemic or pandemic emerge.

The Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub is a network that will ensure that Canadian discoveries are turned into the medicines of tomorrow in a cost-effective, timely fashion. The new hub brings together highly collaborative investigators from across Canada with complementary research interests and a demonstrated track record of working together.

CP₂H will link the private sector with intellectual capital, physical infrastructure, experiential training programs, GMP facilities and manufacturing capacity across five leading Canadian universities and their affiliated research centres: 

Leveraging collaborations across the entire Canadian biomanufacturing ecosystem, CP₂H will:  

• Expand existing research, GMP manufacturing infrastructure and talent investments to develop therapeutic and diagnostic platforms and technologies including viral vectors, vaccines (protein subunit, mucosal, VLP), small molecules, antivirals and antimicrobials, antibodies, and immunomodulators.
• Accelerate the translation of our novel platforms and technologies into commercially viable products, and partner to rapidly conduct early phase clinical trials.
• Coordinate, develop and support experiential training programs to address biomanufacturing talent gaps in good laboratory, manufacturing, clinical, regulatory practices, bioprocessing and facilities management.
• Support small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) by providing access to research expertise, collaborative research spaces, product development, GMP manufacturing and clinical development networks.
• Embed equity, diversity, and inclusion best practices throughout our program

The results of the CBRF|BRIF competition have been publicly released. The announcement was made on May 6, 2024, at Polytechnique Montréal by the Honourable Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health.

CP₂H received over $115M in federal funding for biomanufacturing infrastructure and coordination of biomanufacturing facilities across Canada. The funding will be used to expand The Ottawa Hospital’s Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre into a new building at The Ottawa Hospital’s new campus, to update and expand the Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory at McMaster University, to renovate existing space at Dalhousie University into a new biomanufacturing facility, and to provide equipment for the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan. The funding will also help establish a biomanufacturing network that harmonizes the infrastructure, technology, and quality systems of these facilities and others in Canada in order to standardize product quality and increase efficiency.

Congratulations to our researchers, partners, and network of CP₂H scientists for all their hard work!