Emerging Technology, Government Business
Globenewswire | July 04, 2023
The Government of Canada has announced its intent to lead the fight against cancer at home and around the world with funding announced today that will support the development of a medical isotope ecosystem in Canada. The partnership includes Indigenous communities, Ontario’s nuclear industry, and leading research facilities, academics, and firms working to commercialize novel therapies.
As part of the funding announced today at the Bruce Power Visitors’ Centre, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) will take the next step in their partnership with Bruce Power to jointly produce, advance and market new isotopes in support of the global fight against cancer, while also working together to create new economic opportunities within the SON territory.
This funding will ultimately enable a pan-Canadian consortium – the Canadian Medical Isotope Ecosystem (CMIE) – to advance and accelerate the development of the next generation of novel medical isotopes and technologies. The CMIE will position Canada as a leader across all stages of the isotope production cycle, most importantly to ensure cancer patients and health care professionals have access to the critical isotopes they need, when they need them.
“Canada is a world leader in medical isotope research and production, and Bruce Power is proud to be among the innovative companies that places Canada at the forefront of nuclear medicine,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s President and CEO. “We are honoured to partner with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation to market isotope production and thank the federal government for its support in leveraging this historic opportunity, while creating sustainable economic benefits within the SON territory.”
The Hon. François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, advanced the funding to support projects that strengthen Canada’s leadership position in research, development and production of medical isotopes and pharmaceuticals.
“Our government is proud to partner in the creation of the Canadian Medical Isotope Ecosystem, which includes support for the SON First Nations communities’ partnership with Bruce Power to innovate in the fight against cancer,” said Minister Champagne. “The pandemic has shown us how important it is to have strong domestic production of pharmaceuticals, and we are delivering on our commitment to providing Canadians with the best therapies they need to care for their health. With this investment, we are making our country a major player in the global biomanufacturing and life sciences industry while creating good jobs for Canadians and stimulating the local economy.”
Pam Damoff, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and the Member of Parliament for Oakville North-Burlington, has been a strong advocate for Canada’s medical isotope sector, and announced the funding on behalf of Minister Champagne at today’s event.
“With this investment in the creation of the Canadian Medical Isotope Ecosystem, the Government of Canada is taking another major step towards building resiliency in our domestic medical production capabilities, which will help to ensure the health and safety of Canadians in the event of any potential future global supply chain disruptions,” said Damoff. “This investment will not only grow the economy, as the Ecosystem is expected to attract over $75 million in investment, and create or maintain over 600 highly skilled, well-paying jobs, but also contribute to economic reconciliation with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.”
Bruce Power partnered with the SON in 2019 in an historic collaboration for the marketing of current and new isotopes produced through the first-of-a-kind Isotope Production System (IPS) that was installed at Bruce Power in 2022. The partnership, named Gamzook’aamin aakoziwin, which translates to ‘We are Teaming Up to Fight the Sickness,’ includes a revenue-sharing program that provides a direct benefit to the community.
“Today marks another important milestone in the Gamzook’aamin Aakoziwin partnership between Bruce Power and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation,” said Chief Veronica Smith, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. “By working together, patients around the world have access to cancer-fighting treatments made possible through medical isotope production.”
“We are proud to be part of this innovative project, which will deliver benefits beyond the local community, to people across the world in the global fight against cancer,” said Chief Conrad Ritchie, Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation.
The Made-in-Ontario IPS, designed and installed by Isogen (a joint venture between Framatome and Kinectrics) at Bruce Power, irradiates ytterbium-176 to produce lutetium-177, which is then transported to ITM’s manufacturing facility in Germany for processing of pharmaceutical-grade, non-carrier-added lutetium-177 (n.c.a. lutetium-177) and used in various clinical and commercial radiopharmaceutical cancer treatments.
“With commercial production of lutetium-177 well underway at Bruce Power, physicians and their patients worldwide now have access to a new, dependable, large-scale supply of lutetium-177 for their cancer treatments,” said John D’Angelo, Chair, Isogen Corp.
The funding announcement was made possible through Innovation, Science and Economic Development’s Strategic Innovation Fund, which provides major investments in innovative projects that will help grow Canada’s economy for the well-being of all Canadians. The investment will help develop Canadian technologies and support advancements in Canada’s medical isotope industry, supporting projects at Bruce Power, TRIUMF, Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization, McMaster Nuclear Reactor, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and BWXT Medical.
About Bruce Power
Bruce Power is an electricity company based in Bruce County, Ontario. We are powered by our people. Our 4,200 employees are the foundation of our accomplishments and are proud of the role they play in safely delivering clean, reliable nuclear power to families and businesses across the province and life-saving medical isotopes around the world. Bruce Power has worked hard to build strong roots in Ontario and is committed to protecting the environment and supporting the communities in which we live. Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is a Canadian-owned partnership of TC Energy, OMERS, the Power Workers’ Union and The Society of United Professionals.
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Emerging Technology, Infrastructure
Businesswire | July 25, 2023
Clarius Mobile Health, a leading provider of high-definition handheld ultrasound systems, has been selected by the Government of Canada to participate in the new Global Hypergrowth Project (GHP), powered by the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development. GHP is designed to help the country’s most promising scale-up companies to further fuel their growth with the support of a team of experts with extensive public and private sector experience.
“Canada wins when cutting-edge companies keep operations, profits, and jobs here at home. And when they scale up around the world, they signal that Canada is open for business,” said Minister Mary Ng. “With the Global Hypergrowth Project, we're doubling down on Canada's most promising firms, to help them scale up, from here.”
Clarius has an ambitious mission to improve patient care globally and reduce healthcare costs by enabling clinicians to instantly look into a patient’s body to confidently diagnose disease and enhance procedural safety. The company was the first to develop a high-definition pocket-size wireless ultrasound scanner that works with an app on Apple and Android smart devices. Since Clarius began selling its ultrasound scanners in 2016, more than 20,000 clinicians have used them performing more than 3.8 million scans. Clarius currently employs over 150 people at its headquarters, an innovation center and manufacturing facility in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“We share the government of Canada’s goal to build a vibrant, local medical technology community and we’re extremely honoured to be one of a select few innovative companies in Canada chosen to participate in the Global Hypergrowth Project,” said Clarius CEO Ohad Arazi. “Having our government’s support for funding, international expansion, access to government procurement projects, and more will help rapidly accelerate our growth. Our team is energized to be recognized as one of Canada’s 15 most promising companies!”
Minimum criteria for participation in the GHP include: annual revenues of $30 million; 40% gross margin; 30% revenue compound annual growth over the last three years; and headquarters in Canada with at least 60% employees based in the country. Clarius underwent a rigorous selection process to demonstrate its ability to execute on growth ambitions and prove its potential to seize opportunities for global leadership and to create and maintain highly-skilled jobs in Canada. Clarius was selected by a volunteer panel of notable Canadian business leaders appointed by Innovation Canada.
Clarius is the only ultrasound company to offer 10 AI-powered models of handheld ultrasound scanners designed for a broad range of medical specialists including orthopedic surgeons, aesthetic clinicians, emergency physicians, and veterinarians.
About Clarius Mobile Health
Clarius is on a mission to make accurate, easy-to-use, and affordable ultrasound tools available to all medical professionals in every specialty. With decades of experience in medical imaging, the team knows that great ultrasound imaging improves confidence and patient care. Today, Clarius handheld wireless ultrasound scanners connect to iOS and Android devices, delivering high-resolution ultrasound images traditionally only available with bulkier, high-end systems at a fraction of the cost. Three million high-definition scans have been performed using Clarius wireless handheld scanners. Clarius scanners are available in over 90 countries worldwide. Learn more at www.clarius.com.
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Emerging Technology
PR Newswire | July 03, 2023
Cybersecurity pioneer Coalfire, IT solutions provider Carahsoft Technology Corp., and Google Public Sector have entered into a partnership to accelerate FedRAMP Authority to Operate (ATO) certification and public sector opportunities for customers deployed on Google Cloud. Coalfire's FedRAMP expertise and offerings will be bundled and delivered to Google Cloud's state, federal, and institutional clients by Carahsoft, one of the public sector's largest solution providers, and its ecosystem of reseller partners and systems integrators.
"With the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program now the law of the land, achieving FedRAMP certification has quickly evolved from cost burden to exponential business opportunity," said Troy Bertram, managing director of Google Cloud's Public Sector Partner Ecosystem. "Whether or not our clients are selling into government markets or looking ahead to renewing contracts, Coalfire's disruptive services portfolio and ability to provide enterprise SaaS companies with FedRAMP advisory and assessment services that accelerate time to market is a mission-critical differentiator for government contractors."
The collaboration enables Google Public Sector and Carahsoft clients to accelerate their digital transformation and enter new federal markets through Coalfire's FedRAMP advisory services. These offerings allow customers to quickly and cost-effectively understand gaps and build required architectures and documentation to achieve FedRAMP authorization, reducing the historically exorbitant financial barriers to entry that FedRAMP was known for. Once clients achieve ATO, they are positioned to sell across multiple agencies (not just one), and with the Coalfire/Google Public Sector/Carahsoft solution, clients retain ownership of all technology deliverables.
"The FedRAMP roadmap leads to a threat-informed approach to risk management, and the FedRAMP Authorization Act passed in December of last year opens new opportunities for companies to test once and certify many times with reciprocity among agencies," said Carahsoft President Craig P. Abod. "From gap and desired architecture analysis to audit-ready, this partnership with Coalfire enables Carahsoft technology partners operating in Google Cloud to confidently accredit and deploy FedRAMP-compliant environments within an accelerated timeline. Carahsoft and its ecosystem of partners are excited for the opportunity to offer public sector customers a greater variety of FedRAMP-certified solutions deployed on Google Cloud to achieve their mission goals."
"Bringing disruptive and cost-effective FedRAMP services to companies on or considering Google Cloud through channel leader Carahsoft now enables customers to accelerate or expand their sales opportunities with the federal government," said Coalfire CEO Tom McAndrew. "As a FedRAMP pioneer, we have a 100% pass rate on FedRAMP environments we've built. This partnership enables a faster, more cost-effective path for companies considering FedRAMP."
Coalfire has a well-established relationship with Carahsoft and a long history of serving as the trusted FedRAMP auditor and assessment body for Google Cloud. "Whether required or not, FedRAMP is a business opportunity, and every cloud services and SaaS provider should have a FedRAMP strategy," said Jeff Rector, head of worldwide channels and partnerships at Coalfire. "We're excited to take this next step with Google Public Sector and Carahsoft as we work together to help our customers manage and monetize the FedRAMP opportunity."
About Carahsoft
Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator® for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Customer Experience and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com
About Coalfire
The world's leading organizations – including the top five cloud service providers and leaders in financial services, healthcare, and retail – trust Coalfire to elevate their cyber programs and secure the future of their business. Number one in compliance, FedRAMP®, and cloud penetration testing, Coalfire is the world's largest firm dedicated to cybersecurity services, providing unparalleled technology-enabled professional and managed services. To learn more, visit Coalfire.com.
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