New Brunswick and Atlantic region's bio-industries fare well in regional investments: Atlantic Innovation Fund invests $51.8 million

January 23, 2009
Fredericton,NB - A series of announcements across Atlantic Canada this week heralded new investments by ACOA's Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF). Investments up to $51.8 million are the results of the sixth competition for funding since the program was launched in 2001, bringing the total investments to date to nearly $575 million. For each public dollar spent, projects are expected to leverage about $1.25 more from other private and public sector sources.

In New Brunswick, with contributions totaling up to $17.1 million the bio-industry sector continued to fare well, with announcements totaling $6.6 million around three projects, for that sector alone:

Envirem Technologies Inc. will receive $2 million over four years for its project to recycle and convert organic residues and composts into soil amendments, organic fertilizers and value-added peat mix products for use in the agriculture, horticulture, peat and lawn and garden industries.
Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre at the University of New Brunswick will receive $1.6 million over five years to research, develop and commercialize novel biotechnologies to reduce energy consumption in wood and pulp refining.
Shippagan's Coastal Zones Research Institute will receive up to $3 million in funding over a five-year period to enable researchers to develop new technologies that will allow for the extraction, isolation and characterization of bioactive ingredients from marine waste to create value-added products for aquaculture as well as microbiology, natural health product and food markets. The project will also help fish processors extract more value from their catch, and reduce the amount of fish waste generated by current practices. The project has an estimated total cost of $5.4 million.

Because of New Brunswick's strong receptor capacity in the aquaculture sector, the province's companies will also be benefiting from other investments in the neighboring provinces, including several investments in aquaculture science, notably: research and development of ways to reduce infection and disease in salmon aquaculture (Atlantic Veterinary College); the development of triploid (reproductively sterile) salmon; and genomic technologies for solving the challenge of early maturation in reared cod (Genome Atlantic).

Other significant investments in Atlantic Canada's bio-industries include:

support for a PEI-based contract research organization devoted to developing and offering services in unique and clinically relevant animal models of seizure disorders, stroke, schizophrenia and cognitive dysfunction;
support for researchers at the Atlantic Veterinary College to focus on the development of a service for new cell-based therapies targeted at accelerating the promotion of tissue regeneration of bone and ligament in injured horses and companion animals;
support for the development of pesticide free lipids from algae at PEI-based Solarvest;
support for the development and commercialization of a daffodil-derived natural product that can be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, at Nova Scotia's Keata Pharma Inc.

To find out more about these investments, please visit:

www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/mediaroom
http://www.genomeatlantic.ca/popupNews.php?news_id=28
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/545276
http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/546796

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