Nova Scotia’s life sciences sector is one of the province’s largest opportunity areas for economic growth, according to a new report into the potential of Canada’s biotech economy.
The labour market report by BioTalent Canada is the first of its kind, bringing together provincial and national views of Canada’s bio-economy with the input of experts.
It reveals that more than 80 percent of Canada’s biotech companies are small- or medium-sized enterprises, and the majority are concentrating on biotech R&D.
The Nova Scotia section of the report, provided by BioNova, provides a fascinating ‘snapshot’ of the state of the life sciences sector here.
It says there are more than 100 companies and 26 research organizations with more than 1,500 full-time employees, generating an annual revenue of $300 million.
In the life sciences industry we continue to punch well above our weight class as we have generated over $300 million in annual sales, resulting in over $1 billion in financial exits over the past six years,” it states.
“The sector shows no signs of stopping with continued federal and provincial investments into world-leading research and innovation in the region.”
Scott Moffitt, Managing Director of BioNova, is quoted as saying that by 2030 it is estimated that the number of jobs in the life sciences sector in Nova Scotia will grow by 200 percent.
Even more promisingly, the report says BioNova has completed a sector growth strategy for Nova Scotia, which it will begin implementing in the coming months to further expand the impact of the sector.
It describes the economic potential within life sciences in Nova Scotia as “considerable” and says we will see “unprecedented growth over the coming years”.
As CEO and president of a fast-growing, innovative and ambitious life science company that is proud to call Nova Scotia its home, this is exactly the sort of language I want to hear.
I have written before about the incredible potential of Nova Scotia’s life science sector and the need for its business and science communities to work more closely together to see that potential fulfilled.
BioNova is perfectly positioned to be the catalyst that will make that a reality, both in terms of accelerating the growth of Nova Scotia-based life sciences companies and attracting national and international investment.
I look forward to seeing the details of its sector growth strategy and learning how it will be implemented.