The "Little Breakfast Meetings" of Sopartec were born in December 2007. The purpose of these meetings is to promote reconciliation between the people involved in the process of upgrading academic research and create synergies within the project spin-off from the UCL by the establishment of a platform for informal contacts. The success of "Little Breakfast Meetings" shows a need to exchange ideas and experiences to build on them.

Its history is absolutely subjective, but objective in its creation and in its evolution. The company’s background history, as one can well imagine, was far from being plain sailing. Even if in 2008 IBA is indeed the world leader in each of its four activities (radio-pharmacy for medical imaging, particle laser treatment, dosimetry, sterilisation and ionisation), this is due to the perseverance of the strong core team (Yves JONGEN, Pierre MOTTET and Eric de LAMOTTE) and the will to bring a project to fruition, which, 22 years later, looks nothing like the original.

IBA means taking risks by setting up a sales department from nothing, it means imagining the impossible whilst persevering, it means making considerable sacrifices in one’s personal life for an incredibly exciting adventure, i.e. setting up a company.

From an idea to a concept, from a concept to a company, these were all hurdles that were difficult to overcome. In 1985, the UCL suggested patenting prior to publication. At the same time, IBA had to find a partner in industry in order to design the cyclotron and to find subsidies to build a prototype. The company received public funding to create this prototype on condition that it be a company and not a university that was industrialising the product. Thus, all the uncertainty about setting up a company from university research stopped a few physicians in their tracks. Others, on the other hand, were busy congratulating themselves to be promoting a spin-off on the basis of fundamental research during a period of economic crisis.

The prototype was designed and produced at the end of 1986. Yves JONGEN, in his capacity of General Manager, was faced with the challenge of selling the prototype. One might as well say that the investors had strong doubts about the possibility of exporting the product on a global scale. Thus, the sales department was started from nothing, headed by a very young salesman by the name of Pierre MOTTET who immediately noted the strengths of IBA: an attractive product, defying all competition. IBA, as a young company, did not have any background history as regards reliability or industrial production. Despite all of this, IBA signed four contracts with effect from 1987-1988: in the USA, China, Australia, and Japan. These sales enabled IBA to experience dramatic growth due to diversification of the product. This consequently led to a recruitment drive and the appointment of a financial director, Eric de LAMOTTE.

In 1992, the company’s slowly eroding income forced it to restructure. The years of success made their comeback in 1995.

In 1998, IBA was listed on the stock exchange and achieved a huge success to the point of causing a  computer systems breakdown due to the network overloading at the main bank. Share demand exceeded supply by 32 times. The company then set about acquiring other businesses in order to become the leader in its field.

The spin-off which became a multinational company then imposed upon itself a change of operational management. Reforms and management constraints led to managerial difficulties, and relations within the management team became strained. A new CEO was appointed, an American this time.

In 2003, the value of the IBA share dropped as a result of disappointing financial results and bad management on the part of the CEO, who in order to resolve the situation, pushed for the fast selling of the shares of the sterilisation department by proposing to buy them himself for less than half of the price than the price ultimately agreed with an independent shareholder. This sale finally enabled IBA to clear all of its debts and to become solvent again.  

With the initial team at the helm once more, the company has refocused on cancer diagnostics and treatment, fields in which it is technologically in the lead world-wide, and is once again experiencing a growth of 20% per annum.