FedDev Ontario invests nearly $1 million for Evik Diagnostic Innovations Inc.
Health technology has the capacity to improve the lives of millions of Canadians. The Government of Canada is investing in the potential of Canadian businesses developing innovative health technologies so they can scale up, create jobs, and seize new economic opportunities to thrive well into the future.
On January 24th, Jenna Sudds, Member of Parliament for Kanata–Carleton, on behalf of the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), announced an investment of nearly $1 million for Kanata medical diagnostics company, Evik Diagnostic Innovations Inc. (EVIK Diagnostics) to upgrade equipment and automate processes to improve efficiency and productivity.
EVIK Diagnostics is a biomanufacturer that works in the research, development and manufacture of rapid medical diagnostic components, in the form of lyophilized beads (shelf-stable freeze-dried pellets), that can be stored and shipped to remote locations.
““Health technology is a growing industry in Canada that is creating some of the most innovative products.
Our government is supporting the development of Canadian-made health technologies, while equipping businesses with the tools they need to remain competitive in a global economy.
This investment for EVIK Diagnostics will create 12 jobs in Kanata and help them grow to continue making new and exciting products that will support the health of all Canadians.””
Funding under the Business Scale Up and Productivity stream helps to accelerate the growth of firms and assist with the adoption of new, innovative technologies that support scale-up, productivity, and the development of and entry into new markets to help companies become globally competitive.
With this nearly $1-million investment through the Business Scale-up and Productivity stream, the company will scale up production by purchasing equipment to automate the sorting and counting of freeze-dried lyophilised reagent (LYO) beads, while also upgrading manufacturing capacity with new high-efficiency freeze-driers.
The modernization of EVIK Diagnostics’ freeze-driers is expected to reduce energy consumption by 165,000 kW per year, which equates to a reduction of 140,000 lbs. of CO2 emissions per year. This is a significant contribution to the greening of our economy.
In addition, EVIK Diagnostics will create 12 new jobs, expand assembly and management teams and contribute to Canada’s resilience with continued development of capacity and expertise in biomanufacturing.
Investments like this one help our cutting-edge manufacturers to remain competitive, meet increased demand and secure our position in the life sciences supply chain.
Established in 2010, Evik Diagnostic Innovations Inc. has 21 employees currently. EVIK Diagnostics produces freeze-dried lyophilised reagent (LYO) beads that can be inserted into point-of-care (POC) diagnostic medical devices for detection and analysis of symptoms and infectious diseases, including COVID-19, HIV and Anthrax.
The company has a global client base that expanded during the pandemic to include the United States, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand and Brazil.
Since 2015, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has invested over $240 million in 47 projects related to health and bioscience, creating over 3,000 jobs and maintaining over 2,500. Since 2015, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has invested near $210 million in more than 200 projects in Ottawa region, estimated to create near 8,000 jobs and maintain over 7,000 jobs.
