News Release | For Immediate Release | October 15th, 2010
(Vancouver, BC) – The Government of Canada today announced the next steps in developing non-reactor-based
technologies for meeting national needs for critical medical isotopes. A team led by TRIUMF that included Advanced
Applied Physics Solutions, BC Cancer Agency, Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC),
Lawson Health Research Institute, and the University of British Columbia prepared a cyclotron-technology proposal.
The project has been selected by Natural Resources Canada to receive a substantial award of federal funding to
advance the technology.
The team is led by Dr. Thomas J. Ruth, senior research scientist at TRIUMF and the BC Cancer Agency. The team
proposed to study, develop, and prepare for commercialization a technology suited for producing Tc-99m isotopes
using existing medical cyclotrons in select regions of Canada; To achieve this, a broad-based collaboration amongst
diverse experts is required in order to generate the scientific, clinical and economic data needed to assess the feasibility
and cost of a cyclotron-based program to secure the long term of supply of Tc-99m radiopharmaceuticals.
Nigel S. Lockyer, director of TRIUMF, said, “It is part of our responsibility as a laboratory, as scientists, and as
citizens, to address matters of national importance where possible. I salute Tom Ruth and his colleagues for stepping
forward. The Government of Canada is making a bold statement about innovation, ingenuity, and Canadian
leadership with this program. I look forward to working with all our partners in making these efforts a success.”
John Valliant, scientific director and CEO of CPDC, said, “This could be the start of the long-sought network for
nuclear-medicine imaging in Canada.”
Specific details concerning the proposed program of work will be subject to negotiations and planning in consultation
with the project partners and Natural Resources Canada’s NISP-PPIN program. It is expected that these discussions
will complete in December.
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TRIUMF
Tim Meyer
+1 604 222 7674
TRIUMF is Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics. Located on the south campus of the University of British Columbia, TRIUMF is owned and operated as a joint venture by a consortium of the following Canadian universities, via a contribution through the National Research Council Canada: University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, Carleton University, University of Guelph, University of Manitoba, McMaster University, Université de Montréal, Queen’s University, University of Regina, Simon Fraser University, Saint Mary’s University, University of Toronto, University of Victoria, and York University.