How did a farm boy from Prince Edward Island become a successful businessman, mentor and community philanthropist? In 1970, Regis Duffy, then dean of science at UPEI — started a small chemical reagent company to create summer jobs for his students. Diagnostic Chemicals and its offspring, BioVectra, soon grew into global competitors in the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industry, employed hundreds of Islanders, and provided a model for entrepreneurship and economic development in Canada’s smallest province. The key to his success? As Regis once said, “Innovate or die; the alternative is not that appealing.”
The Chemistry of Innovation tells the behind the scenes story of DCL: the growing pains and leaps of faith of a community-minded business. To Regis, his team was everything. They were the creators, the innovators, the researchers who spent hot summers in the lab, the sales reps who found markets and won the business. This people-centred approach allowed DCL to grow from a makeshift basement lab into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and planted the seed for a thriving biotech industry.
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