London lands $120M, 145-job medical-supply manufacturing plant
London’s newest manufacturing plant will put the city on the front lines in any future battle against a pandemic.
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London’s newest manufacturing plant will put the city on the front lines in any future battle against a pandemic.
Medicom, a Quebec-based health-care manufacturer, will open a $120-million plant in London, adding 145 workers to the local advanced-manufacturing sector when it’s expected to begin production late in 2023 or early 2024, the company announced Tuesday.
Medicom makes protective equipment used in health care including surgical gloves, N95 respirators, surgical masks, gowns and protective clothing, disinfectants and several other products.
The London plant will produce 500,000 surgical gloves a year with capacity for up to one million, after landing a contract with the Ontario government to supply protective equipment.
The London plant will be the first outside of Asia to make surgical gloves, said Ross Romano, Ontario minister of government and consumer services.
“This is incredible for the province of Ontario and for the community of London . . . we will never again rely on foreign suppliers for our critical needs,” he said Tuesday at a news conference on the future plant site.
Medicom will open at 2555 Bonder Rd. in the city’s Innovation Park at Bradley Avenue and Veterans Memorial Parkway along London’s eastern edge. It has bought 10 hectares to build a 18,500-square-metre plant. Globally, it employs more than 2,000 people
“The Ontario government chose us to produce gloves to be used by caregivers across the country,” said Ronald Reuben, Medicom’s chief executive and founder.
“COVID-19 and now geopolitical tensions have emphasized the importance of having a strong and resilient” supply chain, he said.
“This is a perfect example of how to build this medical sector.”
Medicom officials and Romano declined comment on the value of the surgical glove contract between the province and the business.
Josh Morgan, London’s deputy mayor, said the new industry will add to London’s status as one of the fastest-growing economies in the country.
“It is a great announcement for London. It ensures there is a reliable source of PPE (personal protective equipment) and we have been very reliant on other countries for protection,” he said.
“Medicom could have located anywhere and they chose London. London is a city that is growing, a city on the move.”
The fact London had a serviced, shovel-ready site with access to major markets worked in its favour after Medicom won the Ontario contract, said Kapil Lakhotia chief executive of the London Economic Development Corp.
“This puts London at the forefront of national efforts to manufacture medical and health-care products” when battling future viruses, he said.
It joins other local industries such as Anvo Pharma, Trudell Medical and Jones Healthcare Group in strengthening the city’s medical supply sector, Lakhotia said. “The life sciences sector in London is taking off.
“This is advanced manufacturing and it adds to our cluster of high-tech, attracting talent and putting London on the map for economic development in the area of science and technology.”
The LEDC was in talks with Medicom for more than a year, Lakhotia said. Medicom will create a London subsidiary called Manikheir Canada Inc. that will produce the nitrile gloves.
Medicom was founded in 1988 in response to the need for medical gloves for health-care professionals during the HIV crisis. Since then, the company has manufactured medical supplies during multiple epidemics, including avian flu, SARS, H1N1 and ebola, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement on its website.
It has manufacturing facilities in the United States, China, Taiwan, France, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the Netherlands and Canada.
On its website, the company also announced it has donated $250,000 in medical products to Ukraine. Medicom has operated a distribution centre in Kyiv for more than a decade.
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