Date Closed

November 24, 2023

Lead Office

Québec City

On December 8, 2023, Aramis Biotechnologies ("Aramis") acquired the assets needed to maintain, improve and expand Medicago’s plant-based technology platform in Canada that will enhance pandemic preparedness capabilities. This agreement delivers an opportunity for Canada to retain a promising technology platform, made in Canada, that proved effective in developing an authorized vaccine for COVID-19. It also helps establish a new Canadian company to continue the work of improving on this technology in Canada in order to address future health emergencies. 

Aramis is a newly formed Canadian company based in the city of Québec under the leadership of former Medicago employees. A separate agreement has been reached between the two companies to secure Aramis’s ownership of the assets. The Government of Canada reached an agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation (“MCG”), regarding Medicago’s obligations to the Strategic Innovation Fund. This includes the transfer of key Medicago research and development assets, intellectual property and equipment from Medicago to Aramis 

McCarthy Tétrault assisted Aramis with a team led by Philippe Leclerc that included Véronique Wattiez-Larose (Intellectual Properties), Cindy Vaillancourt (Environmental) and Philippe Côté (Real Estate).