[News-releases] Canada to Transform Technology for Medical-Isotope Production

[Tim Meyer]

News Release | For Immediate Release | March 31, 2010

CANADA TO TRANSFORM TECHNOLOGY FOR MEDICAL-ISOTOPE PRODUCTION
National Accelerator Laboratory Pushing Forward on Alternatives

(Vancouver, BC) -- TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and
nuclear physics, welcomed this morning’s Government of Canada Response to
the Report of the Expert Review Panel on Medical-Isotope Production (the
Government’s Response).  The Government’s Response identifies a clear
strategy for developing accelerator-based technologies for medical-isotope
production and bringing them to market.  TRIUMF has global expertise in the
two proposed thrust areas, cyclotrons and linear accelerators, and looks
forward to contributing its time, talent, and leadership to seeing these
efforts bear fruit and make a real difference for Canadians. 

“We are delighted to see the Government’s Response acknowledge and endorse
accelerators as a central part of the answer to a stable supply of medical
isotopes for Canada,” said Dr. Nigel S. Lockyer, director of TRIUMF.  “As
Canada’s accelerator laboratory, we are committed to working with the
healthcare industry, institutional partners, and the private sector to
provide innovative solutions for medical isotopes.”  TRIUMF, in partnership
with MDS Nordion, already produces 15% of Canada’s medical isotopes using
cyclotron accelerators in Vancouver.  

The recently announced federal investment of 2010-2015 core operating funds
for TRIUMF builds on the laboratory’s core capabilities in the study of
isotopes for physics and medicine.  The funding will enhance TRIUMF’s
nuclear-medicine program, which spans the physics, chemistry, and biology of
medical isotopes.

The Government’s Response indicated, “The cyclotron and accelerator
technologies advocated by the Panel are ones in which Canada is already an
established leader, including for the production of PET isotopes and for
scientific research.”  

TRIUMF is already working with the federal government and the BC provincial
government on several approaches.  TRIUMF is co-leading a team that was
awarded $1.3 million by NSERC and CIHR in October 2009 to investigate
cyclotron technologies for producing Technetium-99m and several alternative
isotopes.  TRIUMF’s commercial spin-off Advanced Applied Physics Solution,
Inc. is working on isotope purification technologies.  And TRIUMF’s flagship
project for the next decade, led by the University of Victoria with CFI
support, will benchmark isotope production using linear accelerators
operating at high power.

Dr François Bénard, who leads the Tc-99m cyclotron initiative with TRIUMF’s
Dr. Thomas J. Ruth, is a Professor of Radiology at the University of British
Columbia and holds the BC Leadership Chair in Functional Cancer Imaging.  He
said, “The Government’s response clearly emphasized the great potential of a
cyclotron-based solution to the isotope supply concerns.  Technetium-99m can
be produced by cyclotrons in a decentralized model.  Our research is
exploring new approaches to bring cyclotron-produced technetium to the
bedside of patients who need it for critical diagnostic tests for
cardiovascular diseases and cancer.”

Lockyer added, “This is a powerful step forward for Canada.  The
Government’s Response will ensure Canada a leadership role in the growing
field of nuclear medicine.”

To learn more about TRIUMF’s linear-accelerator and cyclotron-based
initiatives please contact Tim Meyer. 

********************************************************
Timothy I. Meyer, Ph.D.
Head, Strategic Planning & Communications
TRIUMF
4004 Wesbrook Mall
Vancouver, BC  V6T 2A3  CANADA
Tel: 604-222-7674
Fax: 604-222-3791
Cell: 650-464-8955
E-mail: tmeyer at triumf.ca
WWW: http://www.triumf.ca
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