The road to wellness: The task of getting lifesaving medical isotopes to patients

February 2, 2024, 3:01PMNuclear NewsTim Gregoire
A vial of Ac-225 produced by Niowave stands next to its lead shipping pig. (Photo: Niowave)

According to the Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals, more than 82,000 nuclear imaging procedures using nuclear medicine are performed throughout the world every day. To administer these vital medical procedures, radiopharmaceutical companies and hospitals rely on a handful of producers of medical radioisotopes.

Germany’s ITM receives material license to produce Lu-177

January 9, 2024, 12:01PMNuclear News
Bavarian minister of state Florian Herrmann (left) with ITM CEO Steffen Schuster (right) and others at a mock-up Lu-177 hot cell. (Photo: ITM)

Radiopharmaceutical biotech company ITM Isotope Technologies Munich announced it has received regulatory approval to begin production of the medical radioisotope lutetium-177 at the company’s NOVA facility in Neufahrn, near Munich, Germany.

Framatome to work with Romania’s Nuclearelectrica on Lu-177 production

December 4, 2023, 6:58AMNuclear NewsGuest Contributor
Framatome CEO Bernard Fontana (left) and Teodor Chirica, Nuclearelectrica board president, shake hands following the signing of the Lu-177 MOU in Paris. (Photo: Framatome)

Framatome and Nuclearelectrica, operator of Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear power plant, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to explore the possibility of producing the medical isotope lutetium-177. The cooperative agreement was signed during the World Nuclear Exhibition 2023, held November 28–30 in Paris.

Nucleus RadioPharma to receive Lu-177 under agreement with SHINE

November 21, 2023, 12:00PMNuclear News

Wisconsin-based fusion technology company SHINE Technologies has signed a long-term supply agreement with Nucleus RadioPharma for the supply of lutetium-177, a radioisotope used in cancer treatment therapies, including those in development for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors, prostate cancer, and other solid tumors.

Canadian-German joint venture to produce medical Ac-225

October 23, 2023, 9:30AMNuclear News

German-based radiopharmaceutical biotech company ITM Isotope Technologies Munich and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories are launching a new joint venture company for the industrial-scale production of actinium-225, which is used in targeted alpha therapies to fight cancer. The new company is being called Actineer.

Bruce Power, Nordion to increase Co-60 production

August 22, 2023, 12:03PMNuclear News
Bruce Power and Nordion will increase Co-60 production at the Bruce nuclear power plant in Ontario. (Photo: Bruce Power)

Bruce Power, the utility in Ontario, Canada, and health-care company Nordion announced that they are working to increase the production of cobalt-60 to meet increasing world market demands. The companies said they will increase the amount of Co-60 Bruce Power is able to produce in its reactors “by innovating a new adjuster component configuration.”

SHINE to open North America’s largest Lu-177 production facility

June 27, 2023, 3:00PMNuclear News
SHINE Technologies founder and CEO Greg Piefer shows the hot cell banks that will be used to produce Lu-177. (Image: SHINE)

Fusion tech company SHINE Technologies announced that it is opening the largest facility in North America dedicated to the production of non-carrier-added lutetium-177, a medical isotope used in targeted cancer therapies.

University of Missouri to expand isotope production with new research reactor

March 27, 2023, 9:31AMNuclear News
Situated in a 30-foot-deep pool, the 10 MW core of MURR is used to irradiate samples and produce isotopes for medical radiopharmaceuticals and research. (Photo: University of Missouri)

The University of Missouri intends to build a new, larger research reactor to produce medical radioisotopes, announcing that it intends to issue a request for qualification/request for proposal (RFQ/RFP) in April to solicit interest from qualified parties to provide preliminary designs and industry partnerships for the new reactor project, called NextGen MURR.

Source Security Working Group continues advocating for access to radiological sources

February 28, 2023, 7:07AMANS News

One of the biggest challenges in the nuclear community identified by ANS in 2017 is the continuous availability of radioisotopes. Working to meet that challenge is the ANS-led Source Security Working Group (SSWG), an alliance of industry sectors—including energy, health care, and industrial radiography—that seeks to ensure continued access to radiological sources. The SSWG serves as a strong voice to protect the continued availability of radiological sources, ensuring that laws and policies are risk informed, science based, and support the highest levels of public health and safety.

SHINE receives final EIS to operate its Mo-99 production facility

February 8, 2023, 9:30AMNuclear News
SHINE’s Chrysalis production building, under construction in October 2022. (Photo: SHINE)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the final supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) for SHINE Technology’s application for a license to operate a medical isotope production facility in Janesville, Wis.

Forward fusion: Building a nuclear future in Wisconsin

January 13, 2023, 3:27PMNuclear NewsTim Gregoire
SHINE’s isotope production building, called the Chrysalis, under construction in October 2022.

In a former farm field just outside the historic town of Janesville in south-central Wisconsin, a large concrete-and-steel building is taking shape. Dubbed the Chrysalis, the building will eventually house eight accelerator-based neutron generators, which start-up company SHINE Technologies will use to produce molybdenum-99. As the precursor to the medical radioisotope technetium-99m, Mo-99 is used in tens of millions of diagnostic procedures every year, primarily as a radioactive tracer.

At the heart of the Chrysalis will be the high-flux neutron generators, being supplied by SHINE’s sister company, Phoenix. The compact accelerators use a deuterium-tritium fusion process to produce neutrons, which in turn induce a subcritical fission reaction in an aqueous low-enriched uranium target (19.75 percent uranium-235) to produce Mo-99.

Lu-177 production begins at Canada’s Bruce NPP

November 1, 2022, 1:27PMNuclear News
Bruce's Unit 7 is now producing Lutetium-177, used in targeted cancer therapeutics. (Photo: Bruce Power)

An international collaboration between Bruce Power, Isogen (a Kinectrics and Framatome company), and ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM) announced they have begun commercial production of lutetium-177 using Unit 7 of the Bruce nuclear power plant in Kincardine, Ontario. According to the companies, this marks the first time a commercial power reactor has been used to commercially produce short-lived medical radioisotopes.

SHINE’s Tb isotope production project receives Dutch approval

October 24, 2022, 6:46AMNuclear News
A rendering of the SHINE medical isotope production facility planned for construction in Veendam, the Netherlands. (Image: SHINE)

SHINE Europe, a subsidiary of Wisconsin-based SHINE Technologies, will work with the Netherlands’ University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) to produce a variety of terbium isotopes for use in nuclear medicine under a grant proposal approved by the Dutch government on October 17.

SHINE submits Drug Master File for n.c.a. Lu-177

August 3, 2022, 9:18AMNuclear News

SHINE Technologies, the Janesville, Wis.–based producer of medical radioisotopes, announced that it has submitted a drug master file (DMF) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for non-carrier-added (n.c.a.) lutetium-177 chloride, a radiopharmaceutical used for the treatment of cancer.

NRC to hold webinar, collect comments on SHINE’s Mo-99 license

July 11, 2022, 3:00PMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is holding a virtual event and teleconference on SHINE Medical Technologies’ plans to license and operate a medical isotope production facility in Janesville, Wis. The online public meeting will be held on July 27 from 7:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. (EDT).

The NRC is also seeking the public’s views regarding the agency’s draft supplemental environmental impact statement for SHINE’s application for a license to operate the facility, particularly regarding the conclusion that the environmental impacts are not great enough to prevent the NRC from considering issuance of the license.

Bruce Power announces milestone in medical Lu-177 production

June 24, 2022, 12:01PMNuclear News
The new IPS installed in Bruce Power’s Unit 7 will produce Lu-177 for treating cancer. (Photo: Bruce Power)

An international collaboration between Bruce Power, Isogen (a joint venture of Kinectrics and Framatome), and ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE, announced a milestone marking the first time that lutetium-177, a short-lived medical radioisotope, has been produced in a commercial nuclear power reactor.

SHINE secures funding for Netherlands Mo-99 production facility

February 4, 2022, 12:09PMNuclear News
SHINE’s Mo-99 production facility under construction in Janesville, Wis. (Photo: SHINE)

SHINE Europe, a nascent subsidiary of Wisconsin-based SHINE Technologies, announced Wednesday that it has secured funding to begin designing an advanced medical isotopes facility in Veendam, the Netherlands. The new facility will use the same fusion-based neutron generator system SHINE is employing at its Janesville, Wis., facility to produce medical isotopes, including molybdenum-99, which is used in diagnostic imaging.

Bruce Power completes installation of Lu-177 production system

January 27, 2022, 7:00AMNuclear News
Bruce nuclear power plant in Ontario, Canada. (Photo: Bruce Power)

Bruce Power and Isogen, a partnership between Kinectrics and Framatome, have completed the installation of Isogen’s isotope production system (IPS) at Unit 7 of Bruce’s CANDU nuclear power plant in Ontario, Canada, making it the first power reactor in the world with installed capability to produce lutetium-177.

Bruce Power receives regulatory approval to produce medical Lu-177

September 29, 2021, 9:27AMNuclear News
The Bruce nuclear power plant in Ontario, Canada. (Photo: Bruce Power)

Bruce Power has received approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to begin the production of lutetium-177, becoming the first power reactor globally to commercially produce the medical radioisotope. Isogen, a joint venture between Framatome and Kinectrics, will produce Lu-177 at Bruce’s eight-unit CANDU nuclear power plant in Ontario, Canada, using Isogen’s isotope production system (IPS).