Oliver Technow, the CEO of Charlottetown drug manufacturer BIOVECTRA, has been named the new chair of industry group BIOTECanada.

Technow, who leads a company that is among the largest and fastest-growing players in the Prince Edward Island bioeconomy, as well as being Chair of the P.E.I. BioAlliance, has spent more than three decades working in the life sciences. That time has included four years as BIOVECTRA’s President, followed by nearly five so far as its Chief Executive.

“Oliver brings unique expertise and leadership to BIOTECanada’s board of directors,” said BIOTECanada Chief Executive Andrew Casey in a statement. “His deep industry knowledge and strategic insight will greatly benefit the organization as we continue to call for investment in the sector, the modernization of regulatory decision-making, and support for a healthy biotech ecosystem leading to increased research, development, and company growth.”

Founded in 1987, BIOTECanada is headquartered in Ottawa and has more than 200 member companies from across Canada and internationally.

BIOVECTRA, meanwhile, was sold to Miami-based private equity firm H.I.G. Capital for US$250 million in 2019 and provides contract drug development and production services to other businesses. The company last fall opened a new manufacturing facility in Charlottetown — a mammoth, $77 million plant designed to produce up to 70 million doses per year of mRNA vaccines, such as those used to prevent COVID-19. It is the first such factory in Canada.

The company also recently inked a deal with pharma startup Acuitas to use the Vancouver-based company’s system for delivering vaccines and other medications via minuscule particles of lipids, which are a class of organic compounds that includes substances like fats and waxes.

“We have invested over the last four years a little more than US$160 million (C$218 million),” Technow said during Entrevestor Live last year. “Our business is extremely investment heavy. We need to continue to grow facilities and capacity in order to stay competitive.”