Toronto has its MaRS district; Boston has its Greentown Labs; Montreal will in turn have its life sciences innovation hub.

The former Montreal Chest Institute, abandoned since 2015, is becoming Inspire Bio Innovations. According to its developer, the site at 3650-3655 Saint-Urbain Street will play a central role in the development of new drugs.

The campus will be built in 4 phases for a total of 42,000 square meters and a private investment of 350 million over 5 years.

Owner of the site since May 2019, the developer Jadco will host the headquarters of CellCarta (formerly Caprion) in the first phase of the project which consists of renovating the existing 8-story building and its 9,000 square meters.

The announcement was made by Jadco and CellCarta late Thursday afternoon during the “Effervescence – the future of life sciences” conference held at Marché Bonsecours in Old Montreal.

Founded in 2000, CellCarta is a biomarker specialist with annual revenues exceeding US$200 million and 1,000 employees across 11 laboratories worldwide. The contract research company offers precision medicine services in clinical trials conducted by biotechs working on the development of new drugs.

“We help developers of innovative products better target their drugs to patients who respond best, which is called precision medicine,” explains Martin Leblanc, co-founder of CellCarta and vice-chairman of its board, in a telephone interview.

Currently, the majority of CellCarta’s labs are located in the UQAM Science Building. The head office is housed in the KPMG Tower at 600 De Maisonneuve Boulevard West.

By mid-2024…