“Through the Ontario Together Fund, our government is making targeted investments in domestic businesses with the ideas and solutions to help us through this pandemic, while protecting jobs and the economy,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “Evik Diagnostic’s forward thinking is another example of Ontario innovation at its very best. Ontario manufacturers continue to enhance our resilience to respond to any challenge while strengthening our economy.”
Evik Diagnostic Innovations is an Ontario manufacturer of key medical diagnostic components, including assay reagents in the form of freeze-dried pellets (also called single-assay beads). The assay reagents are laboratory test mixture that allow diagnostic devices to detect and analyse medical symptoms and infectious diseases such as COVID-19, HIV and Anthrax. They play an important role in the lab work required to diagnose, treat and monitor patients. The pellets also enable medical device manufacturers to store and ship their devices at the right temperature to remote locations.
The demand for reagent pellets significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. With Ontario’s support, the company will invest in an automated cartridge assembly line, which will speed up the production of reagent pellets. The company will also purchase robotic arms, set up robotic stations, and build an artificial intelligence driven assembly station.
“To be competitive and resilient in times of pandemic, companies like us must find ways to be innovative and collaborative,” said Vladimir Evtodienko, CEO of Evik Diagnostic Innovations. “We want to thank the Ontario government for their support. Evik is proud to scale up and accelerate our work that contribute to detecting and analysing infectious diseases such as COVID-19.”
“This investment in Kanata’s Evik Diagnostic is a signal of our continuing commitment to supporting Ontario’s innovative companies and to ensuring we have a resilient manufacturing sector,” says Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, MPP for Kanata-Carleton and Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. “Our Government recognizes the expertise and capabilities found within Kanata’s high tech community to provide medical solutions for our country and for the international market. It is remarkable what Evik Diagnostic has developed and I want to commend the leadership and staff for their accomplishments.”
Supporting innovative projects like Evik Diagnostic is why Ontario has invested an additional $50 million in the renewed Ontario Together Fund in 2021–22. The fund will continue to support local innovators and businesses to further enhance Ontario’s domestic supply chain capacity, promote Ontario’s MedTech ecosystem and build up our manufacturing sector to ensure the province is well-prepared for future challenges.
The renewed Ontario Together Fund is focused on supporting homegrown manufacturing and innovation to combat COVID-19 and providing other goods critical to the health, safety, and security of Ontarians beyond this pandemic. It is doing so under the following strategic pillars:
- Strengthening Ontario’s domestic manufacturing capacity
- Supporting homegrown technologies and innovative solutions
- Strengthening Ontario’s MedTech ecosystem.
Healthy people are essential for a healthy economy. With vaccine distribution continuing to increase, hope is on the horizon. Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy provides the resources necessary to finish the battle with COVID-19, building on the government’s record investments to protect health and jobs during the global pandemic.