PEI·NewThe P.E.I. government is investing $3.9 million in the Sekisui Diagnostics facility in Charlottetown, allowing the Massachusetts-based company to hire new employees and expand its operations on the Island.$16-million project will give the facility another 22,000 square feet of spaceRyan McKellop · CBC News · Posted: Jun 18, 2025 12:39 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoHere it grows again: P.E.I. location of biotech company Sekisui Diagnostics is expanding yet againSekisui Diagnostic is in the midst of a 22,000-square-foot expansion at its plant in Charlottetown’s industrial park. The $16-million project will allow it to hire another 25 people to bring its P.E.I. workforce to more than 220. CBC’s Wayne Thibodeau has the details. The P.E.I. government is investing $3.9 million in the Sekisui Diagnostics facility in Charlottetown, allowing it to hire new employees and expand its operations.The facility located at the West Royalty Industrial Park will expand by 22,000 square feet and hire 25 new full-time employees, which will bring the total number of full-time workers at the location to around 220. The $16-million project will be the seventh expansion for the company in the past decade.Sekisui Diagnostics will pay the provincial government back for its $3.9-million investment in the building through a leaseback arrangement.Eugene Howatt, the vice president and general manager at the Massachusetts-based company, said the provincial government’s investment is critical for the expansion.Eugene Howatt is the vice president and general manager at Sekisui Diagnostics, which is expanding its P.E.I. facility by 22,000 square feet to make room for 25 new employees. The company will receive $3.9 million from the provincial government to expand the building. (Zoom)”We’re able to reduce what’s coming out of Sekisui’s financials, and then … work with our partner to get a competitive price,” he said.Sekisui Diagnostics is a company that manufactures raw materials for diagnostic and pharmaceutical products, as well as diagnostic tests, and systems. It also manufactures reagents, which are used to test for substances, or for viruses, like a COVID-19 antibody test.The investment was announced Monday at the BIO International 2025 Conference and Exhibition held in Boston. Nearly 1,000 Canadian delegates were in attendance, including members of the P.E.I. government that included Premier Rob Lantz.Darlene Compton, the minister of economic development, innovation and trade, says P.E.I.’s aerospace and bioscience industries are taking their place among the province’s primary industries. (Zoom)Investment a sign of success for provinceHowatt said P.E.I.’s post-secondary institutions have provided enough skilled workers for this expansion.”We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to find the workforce we need,” he said. “I think it speaks volumes to our colleges, and of course UPEI and the workforce that we have.”Darlene Compton, P.E.I.’s minister of economic development, innovation and trade, said the investment is a sign of success for the province.”We’re really, I think, proving to the world that P.E.I. matters when it comes to bioscience, and that we really provide a great place for companies that are starting up,” she said.P.E.I. BioAlliance CEO Rory Francis says the bio conference, which was held in Boston this year, allows Island businesses to make national and international connections. (Zoom)In addition, Compton said this expansion will greatly expand Sekisui’s capacity to grow in the future, as well as triple its ability to process and provide storage space — “all the things you need to keep growing.”Bioscience, aerospace growing sectorsCompton said aerospace and bioscience are taking their place among the Island’s primary industries, alongside farming, fishing and tourism.”As the primary industries are still chugging along, bioscience and aerospace are really showing that we can punch well above our weight.”Rory Francis, the CEO of the P.E.I. BioAlliance, said the bio conference is important for Island companies to make connections and reflect commitments that governments are making to the sector.”It’s a global industry,” he said. “The sources of capital, the sources of new technology, the partnerships, the distribution, the market for these products are global. So you really need to be somewhere where you’re connecting to that much larger ecosystem that’s important for business.”ABOUT THE AUTHORRyan McKellop is a graduate of the Holland College Journalism program and a web writer at CBC P.E.I.With files from Wayne Thibodeau
Sekisui Diagnostics facility in P.E.I. expanding, hiring 25 new staff with $3.9M from province
