On March 31, the Government of Canada released its "Response to the Report of the Expert Review Panel on Medical-Isotope Production." The full report is online. 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.
The report stated, "The Government of Canada is looking to transform the way Canada produces medical isotopes, and in particular Tc-99m."
“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.” The report outlines an approach for relicencing the NRU reactor in 2011 for operation until 2016. The report notes, "It is not the intention to have the NRU produce isotopes beyond 2016. Investment in non-reactor-based production is intended to support development of non-federal supply options that will serve well beyond 2016."
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.”
The Government's Response discussed the rationale for investing in non-reactor-based technologies: "A research reactor is only one piece of the linear supply chain that exists today. Replacing one piece of a linear supply chain, such as simply replacing the NRU with another reactor, would do little to develop the diversity and redundancy that the [Expert] Panel believed were critical for ensuring security of supply."
In terms of forward-going steps, the report identified several forthcoming programs.
- "A funding program is being developed and the Government expects to issue a competitive request for proposals in the spring of 2010....[This] $35 million funding program is being developed, which would invest in the research, development and demonstration (RD&D) of non-reactor-based technologies for the production of Tc-99m."
- "The Government of Canada will support increased efficiency in the use of Tc-99m and diversification of imaging modalities, in order to promote resiliency and enable effective health system management. Targeted investments will include $3 million for the development of tools, protocols and standards and $10 million to create a clinical trials network to help move research on isotopes into clinical practice."
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.”
-- Based on TRIUMF press release