News Release

For Immediate Release
July 20, 2007

MEDICAL RESEARCH TO BEGIN IN MABOU THANKS TO FUNDING OF MORE THAN $602,000 FROM CANADA’S NEW GOVERNMENT

Mabou, N.S. – The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) announced today that Canada’s New Government, through ACOA and the National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), is investing more than $602,000 in Halifax Biomedical Incorporated (HBI).

Today marks the grand opening of the headquarters for HBI as they begin their work to design, build, and test a standardized radiology suite for Roentgen Stereophotogrammetric Analysis (RSA), a highly accurate measurement technique for detecting movements of surgically repaired joints, indicating whether or not more surgery is needed. This technology is becoming increasingly popular with orthopedic surgeons.

“Canada’s New Government is committed to supporting projects that are innovative and bring economic opportunities to communities throughout Atlantic Canada,” said Minister MacKay. “We are proud to invest more than $602,000 in this unique project which is expected to provide economic benefits to the Mabou area throughout the research and development phase, as well as upon completion of the project.”

The objective for HBI is to develop a suite for RSA imaging and sell it for use by hospitals in Europe, Canada, and the United States. The HBI office in Mabou would provide ongoing analysis support.

“We are bringing highly skilled and educated individuals to experience the quality of life that can only be found in rural Cape Breton,” said Chad Munro, CEO of HBI. “Our project has the potential to simplify medical procedures, thus saving hospitals internationally a lot of time and money.”

The project will attract highly skilled and educated individuals to Mabou. While the physical site will be built in Halifax for collaboration with the medical specialists, the data will be given to the staff in Mabou for analysis and further research.

Halifax Biomedical Incorporated specializes in providing product and process engineering services for medical diagnostic and product devices. It has been primarily a consulting engineering company, helping healthcare-oriented companies and organizations develop and/or improve healthcare products and diagnostic services.

Canada’s New Government’s investment of $602,307 is being delivered through ACOA’s Business Development Program ($472,547) and NRC-IRAP ($129,760). NRC-IRAP has also provided technical advisory services and linkages to scientific institutes across the country.

Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation offers programs in support of economic development initiatives and is responsible for delivering ACOA's programs on Cape Breton Island and in the Mulgrave area.

For More Information Please Contact:

Chad Munro
CEO, Halifax Biomedical Incorporated
Tel: (902) 225-7694

D.A Landry
ECBC Communications
Tel: (902) 564-3617
e-m: da.landry@ecbc.ca

Suzie Keténé, Communications Atlantic & Nunavut
National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP)
Tel: (902) 426-8961
e-m: suzie.ketene@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca