Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is joining the board of directors for medical isotope manufacturers SHINE Medical Technologies.
Ryan represented Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District for 20 years, until the beginning of this year. The district includes the city of Janesville, where SHINE is headquartered and Ryan has lived since leaving Congress (though he is returning to the Washington, D.C., area, per Politico.)
“Paul is a visionary with a wealth of experience and an expansive network that are welcome additions to SHINE’s board,” SHINE founder and CEO Greg Piefer said in a press release. “Paul will provide critical guidance to SHINE as we expand into domestic and international markets that require deep mastery of global policy, economics and leadership. His knowledge of domestic and international health care and energy policy will be an invaluable guide to us. We also are excited to be working with someone who cares about building great things in Janesville as deeply as we do.”
SHINE Is one of a number of companies looking to restore domestic production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99, which decays into another isotope, technetium-99m, that is used globally in medical imaging. The company in May broke ground on a facility that will house its accelerator-based production technology, and hopes to begin commercial output by 2021.
“SHINE is uniquely equipped to create a reliable global supply of lifesaving medical isotopes, which would allow patients around the world to receive diagnosis and treatment when they need it most,” Ryan said in the release. “Companies like SHINE play an important role in the delivery of cutting-edge health care and I will be able to help the company continue to grow.”
Ryan, 49, was speaker of the House from October 2015 until his retirement from Congress in January of this year, following the November midterm elections in which Democrats retook the majority in the lower chamber. He also was the Republican candidate for vice president in 2012.
