Montreal platform aims to accelerate vaccine and treatment production within 100 days

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published August 17, 2026

Latest news on WhatsApp أجدد الأخبار على واتساب

Polytechnique Montréal and the National Research Council of Canada have launched a new phase of the RampUp project this month at the NRC's Royalmount facility in Montreal, creating an integrated Canadian platform designed to move from identifying a new pathogen to producing clinical-scale vaccines and biologics, including sterile fill-finish, within approximately 100 days to strengthen Canada's preparedness for future pandemics.

The project has received $20.5 million in funding and includes shared laboratories equipped with bioreactors, purification systems and advanced analytical tools to develop and scale manufacturing processes more quickly from laboratory research toward production. The initiative is led by Professor Gregory De Crescenzo and brings together researchers from Polytechnique Montréal, the NRC and several Canadian academic and industry partners.

Researchers are using health threats including influenza and avian influenza H5N1 as applications for the platform, which is being designed so its manufacturing processes can be adapted to other emerging pathogens. The initiative forms part of Canada's broader effort to strengthen domestic vaccine and therapeutic production capacity following vulnerabilities exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project also includes workforce training as Canada prepares for a major shortage of specialized biomanufacturing talent. Industry estimates indicate that the country could require more than 15,000 additional biomanufacturing workers by 2029.