The Prince Edward Island-based Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences, or CASTL has hired pharma industry veteran Paul-Xavier Etter as its director of technical training.

Etter’s recent experience includes working as a vice-president at Seattle-based vaccine company Inventprise, which manages intellectual property for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as serving as senior director of operations for Quebec’s Medicago — another immunology specialist, which recently began selling Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccines.

CASTL is a partnership between academia, industry and government that aims to address the future skills needs of Canada's fast-growing bioscience sector. CASTL offers multiple applied learning streams to help life sciences workers gain academic knowledge and technical and professional skills.

“With more than 20 years working in biotech and biopharma manufacturing in Canada and internationally, we’re pleased to have Paul-Xavier bring his experience to this important leadership role,” said CASTL Executive Director Penny Walsh-McGuire in a statement.

“Paul-Xavier’s passion for developing individuals to enhance their performance and deliver safe medicines to patients aligns with CASTL’s values and our vision to expand our biopharma manufacturing training programs across Canada.”

Etter will head up operations at CASTL’s in-person training facilities in Montreal and Charlottetown, with the latter slated to open this September. He will also oversee delivery of the organization’s biopharmaceutical manufacturing training programs and new curriculum development.