April 14, 2026 – The Canadian Medical Isotope Ecosystem (CMIE) is pleased to announce MedChem Imaging (Toronto, ON) as the second funding recipient through our third call for proposals under the CMIE Development Fund (CMIEDF).
The funded program, Human translation of alpha-synuclein PET tracers, will receive $500,000 from the CMIE, a grant made possible through support from the Federal Government’s Strategic Response Fund (SRF).
MedChem Imaging aims to develop a best-in-class PET imaging tracer for the elusive target alpha-synuclein and ultimately enable first-in-human clinical trials to non-invasively visualize disease in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. This tracer will provide researchers and clinicians with a powerful diagnostic and therapeutic monitoring tool, improving precision in early intervention for neurodegenerative disorders.
This investment helps address a critical gap in Canada’s medical imaging ecosystem, bridging early‑stage radiochemistry innovation with clinical readiness and human validation. A reliable, non‑invasive alpha‑synuclein diagnostic has the potential to be transformative for the diagnosis and management of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, enabling earlier and more accurate detection of disease and effective monitoring of therapeutic response. This program strengthens Canada’s capacity to develop, validate, and ultimately manufacture advanced radiopharmaceuticals domestically, while supporting downstream clinical adoption, future manufacturing scale‑up, and commercialization opportunities.
“Earlier and more accurate diagnosis is critical to improving outcomes for patients with Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases,” said Holly Bilton, Executive Chair of the CMIE. “CMIE’s investment will help accelerate the translation of an alpha‑synuclein PET imaging tracer toward clinical use, addressing a key gap in Canada’s diagnostic capabilities. By reducing diagnostic uncertainty and supporting more timely, evidence‑based clinical decision‑making, this program has the potential to improve patient outcomes while enabling more efficient use of healthcare resources.”
“This critical funding from the CMIE represents a pivotal opportunity to advance alpha-synuclein PET tracers in Canada. We and others have been pursuing this goal for over a decade, and it represents a holy grail in the field of Parkinson’s disease diagnostics”, said Neil Vasdev, President of MedChem Imaging and PI. “Such a biomarker would significantly enhance our understanding of Parkinson’s disease, its progression, and would play a central role in drug development, including target engagement, dosing regimens, patient selection and guiding clinical trials for new treatments.”
Over the next few weeks, the CMIE will continue to highlight each funded program and its impact, showcasing the partnerships and innovations contributing to a secure domestic supply of medical isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, and reinforcing Canada’s leadership in this rapidly advancing field.
About MedChem Imaging
MedChem Imaging is a contract research organization that specializes in the chemistry of non-radioactive (custom-synthesis, including total synthesis of natural products and multi-kg scale chemistry, library synthesis for hit-to-lead optimization, and companion diagnostics, precursors and specialty reagents and materials), and radioactive compounds for molecular imaging. For over a decade, MedChem Imaging has worked to derisk drug development and develop imaging agents for the pharmaceutical industry.
About the CMIE
CMIE is an initiative created to accelerate R&D investment, collaboration, technology adoption and training to enable Canada to lead in the innovation of medical isotopes. Through a unique combination of co-investment, cross-industry collaboration, and IP development, we are building a strong medical isotope innovation ecosystem.
We bring together a community of Canadians from industry, academia, and government to advance medical isotopes.