$22M funding to advance new sources of medical isotopes

Ottawa, ON – The federal government has signed agreements with three organizations to develop new sources of supply of the key medical isotope, technetium-99m (Tc-99m). Tc-99m is the most widely used isotope for medical imaging, which is used in approximately 80 percent of nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures.

The signing was announced today by Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver, who was speaking at the Canadian Nuclear Association Conference and Trade Show.

Projects led by the University of Alberta, TRIUMF in British Columbia and Prairie Isotope Production Enterprise in Manitoba all received funding, which will support the development and application of cyclotron and linear accelerator production technologies.

University of Alberta in Edmonton will receive $7 million for its work on cyclotron technology, BC’s TRIUMF will receive $7 million for its work on cyclotron techology, and the Prairie Isotope Production Enterprise in Manitoba will receive $7.46 million for its work with linear accelerator technology. The funding program is over a four-year period.