A $50 million funding package to create a new BioAccelerator life sciences hub on Prince Edward Island, announced Friday, is set to become the largest single investment in economic development infrastructure in the province’s history.

Spearheaded by industry group the PEI BioAlliance, the BioAccelerator will include 75,000 square feet of space for biomanufacturing research and manufacturing scaleup activities. The “centre of expertise,” as the BioAlliance describes it, will be an expansion of the existing BioCommons Research Park in Charlottetown.

The money is coming jointly from the provincial and federal governments, and is part of a broader push to scale up bioeconomy infrastructure in P.E.I. to keep pace with the fast-growing sector.

“The BioAccelerator will provide essential biomanufacturing facilities and services for businesses across the region and beyond, that are critical to business growth and biomanufacturing self-sufficiency for Canada,” said BioAlliance CEO Rory Francis in a statement.

The BioAccelerator’s intended tenants include startups, small and medium-sized enterprises and larger, international businesses. The project will include facilities and equipment for fermentation and downstream processing of various biologics, probiotics, animal and fish health supplements and other biologically derived products.

The P.E.I. bioeconomy has enjoyed a gangbusters few years, with companies in the sector — one of the top three largest industries in the province — now raking in more than $600 million annually.

Charlottetown’s BioVentra, which is owned by Miami-based private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, was last year recognized by Waterloo incubator Communitech as being one of 35 Canadian businesses on track to reach $1 billion in annual revenue.

The year prior, the company also announced a $76.9 million funding package with the provincial and federal governments to build one of the country’s first mRNA vaccine manufacturing facilities.

And the broader bioeconomy has already surpassed its 2025 growth targets, posting $575 million in revenue in 2021, exceeding 2020’s figure by about $200 million.

Survey data from industry group the PEI BioAlliance of more than 65 companies of varying ages in December showed the sector now employs more than 2,300 people, having added 400 new jobs since the beginning of the pandemic.

A statement from the BioAlliance at the time did not clarify exactly which growth targets the sector has beaten, but did say life sciences companies attracted almost twice as much investment in 2021 as in the prior year, at more than $110 million. Business-led research and development spend was also up $8 million to $28.2 million.

Two knock-on effects of that growth, though, have been a skilled labour shortage similar to the one in information technology, as well as a dearth of manufacturing space for both startups and established players.

A new suite of training programs from the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences, a national organization based in Charlottetown, aims to address the talent crunch.

The new BioAccelerator, along with the already-operational BioCommons Research Park and associated, 20,000 square-foot BioManufacturing Incubator, are all intended to help address the physical infrastructure deficit, allowing for still-faster expansion by the region's companies.