Success Stories - Strategic Research Alliance with MDS Nordion

November 30, 2008 — Chalk River, Ontario

The treatment of disease can involve surgery and therapies such as radiation, chemo, hormonal and biological treatments. In the course of these treatments, healthy tissues can be damaged, resulting in unwanted side effects. However, the use of drugs specifically targeted to a disease can minimize the toxic side effects associated with many conventional therapies (e.g., chemotherapy). Extensive collaborative research between NRC and institutes in the USA, Europe and Asia has resulted in the development of novel, self-assembled, lipid-based nanoparticles with the potential to simultaneously target, image and treat disease.

Starting with these nanoparticles, CNBC and the NRC's Institute for Biological Sciences (IBS) have collaborated to develop targeted nanoparticles that promise to revolutionize imaging techniques and further Canada's competitiveness in health technologies. Specifically, these nanoparticles are being tailored to enhance the efficacy of various medical imaging techniques (i.e., MRI and PET) and drug treatments (e.g., cancers and diseases of the brain).

These self-assembled nanoparticles have attractive features that make them ideal for commercialization as pharmaceuticals: (1) they are inexpensive as they are made up exclusively of low-cost phospholipids; (2) they are highly stable, providing long shelf-life and integrity when inserted into the body; and (3) they are easily adaptable to industrial scale production. The latter two features are distinct advantages over lipid-based nanoparticles produced by traditional extrusion and sonication methods.

NRC President Dr. Pierre Coulombe and MDS Nordion President Steve West

The collaborators from CNBC and IBS successfully tested the nanoparticles in vivo, demonstrating their promise to target specific disease. As a result, a provisional patent was submitted in the fall of 2008. This success led NRC to partner with MDS Nordion - a leading global life sciences company with US$1.1 billion in net revenues, employing 5,500 highly skilled personnel in 29 countries. MDS is a global provider of analytical instruments, medical isotopes for molecular imaging, radiotherapeutics and sterilization technologies. Their products and services reach people in more than 62 countries worldwide with 95 percent of revenues from global markets.

NRC and MDS Nordion have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form a strategic research alliance. The agreement was signed by NRC President Dr. Pierre Coulombe and MDS Nordion President Steve West on Friday, November 7, 2008.

Under the long-term agreement, NRC and MDS Nordion will conduct joint research collaboration projects with a view to the global commercialization of novel products arising from such research. The research alliance will focus on the discovery of innovative products in molecular imaging. This will advance personalized medicine by helping medical practitioners detect diseases earlier, determine the most appropriate treatment for each patient, and monitor the progress of the therapy.

The first project under the alliance would combine NRC's and MDS Nordion's knowledge and resources - through the formation of a multidisciplinary team of neuroscientists, biologists, chemists and physicists - to create novel delivery systems for imaging and therapeutic agents based on the use of targeted nanoparticles.

In time, additional collaborative projects would require the involvement of other NRC institutes, depending on what skills are needed to bring the projects to a successful, market-ready conclusion.

"We have already enjoyed a dynamic 30 year relationship with MDS Nordion and we are pleased to take this to a new level through the signing of this MOU," says Dr. Coulombe. "NRC is also very excited at the prospect of contributing to the global success of MDS Nordion and we look forward to many opportunities in the development of personalized medicine," he adds. "Our alliance could help reduce the economic challenge facing Canada's health care system by making health care more affordable and more effective."

"This is not just about commercialization," adds West. "This relationship is a good fit for us at MDS Nordion. We anticipate that working jointly with NRC will lead to the development of novel technologies that can help reduce health care costs."