Let’s meet: Allen Eaves

Terry Fox worked his way down the rocky shoreline of Newfoundland just outside the city limits of St John’s and dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean. He bottled water that lapped at the shore and turned west on his Marathon of Hope – a marathon that brought attention to fighting cancer through research.

That was on April 12, 1980. Little did Allen and Connie Eaves know that Terry’s crusade to defeat cancer would change their lives. A year after Terry’s heroic marathon ended because his cancer had returned, Allen and Connie came to Vancouver to establish the Terry Fox Research Lab.

And little did they know that the chain of events that would unfold and lead to the creation of a world renowned biotechnology company, STEMCELL Technologies. Allen and Connie’s story unfolded in a manner that becomes apparent only by looking back.

The Research Lab was always short of funds for further studies and equipment and supplies. So Allen developed a research related product that the Terry Fox lab needed and he sold the excess to other labs. That product was a hit, so much so that a competitor undercut their price and drove them out of that market. With a researcher’s mindset Allen looked for other products to fill the funding gap for the lab. What he created is still a staple of the company’s business today.

It’s important to note, he was also the Head of Oncology and Hematology at Vancouver General Hospital where he and a colleague engineered the practice of isolating healthy bone marrow in patients with leukemia. They killed off the unhealthy cells, fostered the regrowth of the healthy cells and transplanted them back to the patient – a procedure that VGH sold to health authorities across Canada, netting the hospital large sums of money.

When Allen was 54 years of age, the Terry Fox Research Lab told him he had to spin off the company that was developing, producing, and selling products. So he did, working off the side of his desk and, in cooperation with the Lab, STEMCELL Technologies was established

When Allen turned 65, he was told it was time to retire. The very next day, he was working full-time at STEMCELL, which had grown to more than 50 staff. Today, the company employs more than 2,500 people and sells its products and equipment globally.