The federally-owned National Microbiology Lab will be expanding with the construction of a $267M medical countermeasures lab. This lab will have Level 2 and Level 3-rated facilities and a Level 4-rated microbiology lab. The facility will enable researchers to bridge gaps experienced when testing vaccines and therapeutics. University of Manitoba Professor Dr Keith Fowke explained that researchers at Canadian universities are working to develop vaccines, but face challenges testing them on animals because of limited capacity for products used in testing. “I think this is a fantastic opportunity for industry and academia across Canada to be able to develop products and get them to a point where they can be tested at the highest level,” said Fowke.
