Evidence of meeting #49 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was technology.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
So you're working on that supply. That's what your company is doing, developing new ways.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
You mentioned pharmaceuticals and non-radioactive tracers. We go back to the idea of how it's going to change the industry. You mentioned lower dosages, longer lasting. Drug companies don't like that. They want you to buy more.
How are you going to break through that?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Isowater Corporation
Teva just invested $3.2 billion in a California drug company that only does deuterated drugs. It purchases for $3.2 billion a company with almost no revenues. These are the sorts of life science industries in the United States and why they're so powerful, yet this investment is based on the availability of material, and we don't see how they're going to get raw materials.
Big industries and pharmaceuticals are making very large investments to globally manufacture and distribute deuterated drugs. Again, our technology, which is independent of government energy policy and government financing, is a completely new idea and is needed for this commercial success.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Are you saying that Canada is the world's leader in deuterium production?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Isowater Corporation
Canada was. I think India, by far, now is. India has a fantastic program, but I think India can't produce as much as it needs in the next 10 years. Canada does not produce. The United States does not produce. There is about one drum of deuterium oxide in the United States, in the government inventory, that is not radioactive. They have a bunch that are. In terms of the markets we need, you don't want to have a nuclear radioactive cellphone or whatever. You can't have the radioactivity in it. So there is a supply issue here.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Without being a burden on Canadian taxpayers, what is it that we can do in terms of policy or making it easier for your R and D? What can we do in order to help you increase that production so that you have the capacity for all these different sectors of deuterium that you hope to see go forth and become more disruptive technology?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Isowater Corporation
I'd say that Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is a pillar of disruptive technology for Canada. We're slowly peeling away the layers of the onion on what those 3,000 scientists and engineers can do in this transition to the GOCO private operator, which is generally going to be a consortium of three or four Canadian and international companies. We must make sure and Industry Canada must make sure that the types of entrepreneurial developments that Isowater is working on still can thrive.
I've been told that the job of the GOCO is to do more faster. That really needs to be checked and tested. For the programs that Industry Canada and EDC have, all of the programs that are aligned in this ecosystem, and the new ones we need for disruptive technologies, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories must be a key partner in this to the benefit of Canadian enterprises.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
That will have to be the final word.
Thank you very much, Mr. Stuart, Madam D'Iorio, and Mr. Simard. We appreciate your testimony very much.
Colleagues, we'll adjourn now.