1301 20141007 3 Innovation BUSINESSVANCOUVER NEWS JANUARY 20–26, 2015 3 Medical isotope breakthrough is a B.C. Triumf INNOVATIOn | Researchers at Point Grey facility have pioneered a way to replace Canada’s limited medical isotope supply without a nuclear reactor BY TYLER ORTON for access to the specialized
[email protected] equipment. “That’s a good deal for them be- hen Paul Schaffer cause it means they don’t have to and his team were send their teams to Finland to ir- Wgiven the task four radiate some of their electronics, years ago of finding a cost- and it’s a good deal for us because effective way of replacing Can- they’re coming in here and we’ve ada’s limited supply of medical got a customer,” Hanlon said. isotopes, there was a sense they’d But the economic impact isn’t be cutting it close. limited to major companies, he “We always felt our timeline added. [was that we] had to be done yes- Richmond-based Pavac Indus- terday,” said Schaffer, who was tries has been partnered with the hired as head of nuclear medicine facility for a decade, developing at Triumf, Canada’s national lab- electromagnetic chambers for oratory for particle and nuclear accelerators. physics, in 2009. “The project Kootenay-based D-Pace spun we’re working on now wasn’t off from Triumf after founder even on the radar when I started Morgan Dehnel received his [five years ago].” graduate training at the lab. But on January 5, Triumf an- “He distributes ion sources and nounced a breakthrough.