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In 2016, B.C. Cancer Agency chief Dr. Malcolm Moore traveled from Vancouver to Seattle and paid a visit to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for a guided tour. The B.C. Cancer Agency has done groundbreaking scientific research on the BRCA gene for breast cancer, ovarian cancer treatments, and precision medicine oncology; Fred Hutch is a world leader in immunotherapy. Yet it was Moore’s first visit to the research complex in Seattle. He returned impressed.
“I had no idea,” Moore said at the time.
Greg D’Avignon, president and CEO of the Business Council of British Columbia, brokered the introduction between the two science executives. He retold the story as part of a virtual event this week hosted by Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference.
B.C. Cancer Agency and Fred Hutch are now co-developing isotopes for cancer diagnostics and conducting shared research on mRNA technology.
D’Avignon and his fellow co-chair of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor, former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, are pushing for more of that type of exchange. They believe there are unexplored opportunities for scientific researchers and biotechnology companies to collaborate more along the Cascadia corridor and ultimately build out a life sciences cluster across the Pacific Northwest mega-region.
