Bioscience company in Charlottetown completes expansion, announces another

Sekisui Diagnostics multi-million dollar expansion funded in part by province

Image | Sekisui

Caption: A Sekisui employee demonstrates equipment to government officials earlier this year. The company has completed a $6-million expansion, and is now constructing a new building in Charlottetown. (Government of P.E.I.)

Sekisui Diagnostics in Charlottetown's West Royalty Business Park is announcing an expansion of its facility Tuesday, even as it cuts the ribbon on a just-completed expansion.
The international bioscience company has completed a $6-million expansion and will now invest in another, the provincial government said in a news release.
The province spent $3.5 million on the first expansion, which it plans to recoup through its lease arrangement with Sekisui, and will invest in the new one as well. A news release sent by the province's Department of Economic Development did not attach a dollar amount to the new expansion.
The recently completed expansion and renovation included two new automated packaging lines, a cold storage building and a retrofit of their manufacturing and office areas, the province said.

34 full-time jobs

Sekisui provides in-vitro diagnostic kits and supporting chemicals for hospitals and clinics worldwide.
"Since 2011 their workforce has grown by 34 full-time positions and we expect that number to grow even further with the expansion announced here today," Economic Development Minister Heath MacDonald said in a statement.
The new expansion includes a new building that the provincial government will pay for, again recouping the costs through a lease with Sekisui.
The province says the number of people working in bioscience on P.E.I. has tripled since 2005 to 1,500 employees.