Microbix Secures Third Ontario Manufacturing Site
Leasing and Equipping 10,000 Square Foot Building Adjacent to Current Sites
MISSISSAUGA, June 3, 2021 – Microbix Biosystems Inc. (TSX: MBX, OTCQB: MBXBF, Microbix®), a life sciences innovator and exporter, announces that it has secured a third manufacturing site in Mississauga, Ontario, by way of a long-term lease agreement for a property adjacent to its two current sites.
Specifically, Microbix has secured a multi-year lease to a 10,000 square foot industrial building located at 275 Watline Avenue – Immediately next to its owned biologicals facility that is used for antigens production located at 265 Watline, and closely adjacent to its leased administrative and QAPs manufacturing facility at 235 Watline. As an aside, while Microbix now controls three adjacent properties, management commits not to begin putting-up houses or hotels, regardless of what the rules of the iconic board-game Monopoly® may suggest.
It is intended that this third site will be reconfigured and equipped to support additional business activities, including, but not necessarily limited to, the following:
Implementation of further scale-up and full automation of production processes for its DxTM™ branded viral transport medium (generically known as “VTM”) can support molecular (e.g., RT-PCR) and antigen testing for various diseases, and is presently focused upon COVID-19.
Commissioning of additional space for other fully-automated production processes, including vial-formatted or FLOQSwab®-formatted quality assessment products (QAPs™).
Building-out further spaces for product development laboratories, quality control laboratories, warehousing and logistics staging areas, office spaces, and enhanced amenities for staff.
This third site takes Microbix’s total available industrial space to approximately 35,000 square feet across its three adjacent buildings, which should prove sufficient to support of near and medium-term corporate growth objectives. Management believes that the multi-year duration of this new lease justifies the leasehold improvement investments that will be required, that the location of the property is ideal, and that the rental terms are favorable.
Microbix will be taking possession of this third site as of July 1, 2021 and will immediately begin the design and approval processes for the necessary renovations. The funds required to renovate and equip this third site were secured by way of the public offering and concurrent private placement that were completed in May, 2021, and the amounts to be invested at this third site are currently expected to be in accordance with the disclosures in Microbix’s short-form prospectus dated May 12, 2021.
AI
