Voyageur Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has acquired exclusive intellectual property rights to an innovative iodine extraction technology and appointed its inventor to a key leadership role, marking a significant step in its vertical integration strategy. The company secured 100% ownership of the proprietary "Mueller Process" developed by Dr. Brian Mueller, who has been appointed as Voyageur's Director of Chemistry. The acquisition, completed on January 11, 2026, grants Voyageur control over the intellectual property supporting its iodine strategy, with the company expecting this will advance its iodine extraction projects with enhanced cost efficiency, operational flexibility, and long-term supply-chain security.
Initial bench-scale testing of the Mueller Process on brine water from the Anadarko and West Texas Basins reportedly achieved greater than 90% yield from incoming brine to technical grade iodine, with conversion to 99.5% pure iodine. The process is described as environmentally friendly, producing a "clean brine" output useful for industrial applications. Brent Willis, CEO & President of Voyageur, emphasized the strategic importance of this development, stating, "With provisional patent applications for the intellectual property acquired by Voyageur filed in 2025, we are on track to submit full utility patent applications in 2026." He explained that the immediate focus is on iodine extraction in the Anadarko Basin, where the technology could enable efficient production of iodine flake.
More significantly, the technology may allow the company to bypass the flake process entirely, directly creating iodine drugs through its proprietary Streamlined API process. This potential capability is expected to position Voyageur to achieve one of the lowest cost structures in the multi-billion-dollar iodine contrast drug industry. The global contrast media market size was estimated at USD 6.77 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 13.86 billion by 2033, according to market research available at https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/contrast-media-contrast-agents-market. The North American market for iodine contrast media represents approximately 39.07% of this global market.
The new technology also opens the door to potential elemental mineral extraction from Voyageur's ULI claim block in the Paradox Basin, Utah, targeting minerals including lithium, iodine, bromine, boron, magnesium, potassium and sodium. Voyageur's Streamlined API process, created by Bradley Willis, the company's COO, aims to set a new industry benchmark by simplifying iodine contrast drug production through direct extraction from brine water and a closed-loop manufacturing process. This approach has the potential to position Voyageur, through a wholly owned subsidiary, to become the first U.S. company to produce iodine drugs domestically, thereby mitigating supply chain risks. The company also announced it has delivered notice to terminate its collaboration with Altillion Inc., previously announced on June 23, 2025, while expressing appreciation for Altillion's contributions during their collaboration period.
