Charlottetown drug manufacturer BioVectra Inc. announced Thursday it has signed a manufacturing agreement with Boston-based Keryx Biopharmaceuticals.

BioVectra will supply Keryx with a key ingredient for its Auryxia tablets, a medicine that treats people with chronic kidney disease.

BioVectra plans to manufacture and supply Ferric Citrate, the active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, in Auryxia for Keryx, which develops medicines for people suffering from renal disease.

“BioVectra has been manufacturing the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Auryxia since 2003 and we believe they will be a great partner as we continue to expand the supply chain for Auryxia,” said Melissa Bradford-Klug, the Chief Business Officer of Keryx.

BioVectra will prepare for the anticipated growth in the Ferric Citrate API supply needs by expanding production at their headquarters facility in Charlottetown. In September, BioVectra opened its flagship 21,000-square-foot warehouse to accommodate the growing global demand for its services. 

“We are very pleased to bring an agreement of this magnitude, creating highly skilled jobs, to Charlottetown,” BioVectra President Oliver Technow said in a statement.

“This partnership is a pivotal step in our journey as BioVectra. It is a shining example of the innovation, talent and determination we have cultivated in the Atlantic Canada region.”

BioVectra has over 45 years of experience in its field and was founded in 1970 by J. Regis Duffy, the then Dean of Science at the University of Prince Edward Island.

In 2013, BioVectra’s founders sold the company for $100 million to Questcor Pharmaceuticals of Anaheim, Calif.