─ Facility part of staged, dual production pathway plan to expand Mo-99 production and efficiency in parallel with RadioGenix® System enhancements ─
─ RadioGenix System customers provided with reliable Mo-99 supply throughout eight months since commercial launch, helping mitigate concurrent industry disruptions ─
NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC, a global innovator in the production and distribution of radioisotopes used for medical imaging, today announced completion of construction on its 20,000 square foot molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) processing facility in Beloit, Wis., with equipment installation currently underway. Establishing this processing facility is part of NorthStar’s staged development and dual processing pathway approach to expanding current capacity and efficiencies in Mo-99 production. Domestically produced, non-uranium based Mo-99 is used in NorthStar’s RadioGenix® System (technetium 99m generator). Commercially available and FDA-approved, the RadioGenix System is an innovative, high tech separation platform for processing non-uranium/non-highly enriched uranium based Mo-99 for production of the important medical radioisotope, technetium-99m (Tc-99m), the most widely used diagnostic imaging radioisotope.
“Construction completion of our Beloit, Wis. Mo-99 processing facility is a significant marker of NorthStar’s progress, as we continue to execute on our plan to meet customer demand and ensure reliable, non-uranium based radioisotope supply for the United States. We are grateful to Corporate Contractors Incorporated (CCI), the lead contractor for this complex construction project, for ensuring that the building handover has occurred on schedule, and installation of equipment for the facility is underway,” said Stephen Merrick, President and Chief Executive Officer of NorthStar. “In conjunction with our partners at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR®), NorthStar is consistently providing domestic, non-uranium based Mo-99 now, and actively planning for the future. Upon appropriate licensure and FDA approval, this processing facility in Beloit will augment current processing at MURR, providing us with dual production hubs for Mo-99. The new facility will enable us to double production of RadioGenix System source vessels, which are used by radiopharmacies to produce Tc-99m for physicians and their patients.
“Our installed base of RadioGenix Systems continues to grow in line with plan. Importantly, the system is increasingly providing customers with Tc-99m for patients’ diagnostic imaging tests, on time and when they need them. During the eight months since becoming commercially available, RadioGenix Systems have provided continuous, undisrupted domestic Mo-99 supply to meet customer and patient needs for Tc-99m. In contrast, during the same time period, Mo-99 supply from the current supply chain, which is dependent on overseas nuclear reactors and processors, has been impacted by almost weekly disruptions, some being pronounced and lengthy.”
Merrick continued, “In addition to the processing facility expansion, we are working toward final validation of two state-of-the-art fill lines at our Columbia, Missouri facility that, pending expected FDA approval this year, will further substantially increase the number of Mo-99 source vessels that we are able to ship to customers weekly. Activities for accelerator production of Mo-99 are underway, with the initial accelerators ordered and groundbreaking for a 20,000 square foot accelerator facility in Beloit scheduled for later this year.”
NorthStar’s 20,000 square foot processing facility in Beloit, Wis. will house state-of-the-art Mo-99 dissolution and source vessel filling equipment, as well as support a quality control laboratory, an automated packaging line and an advanced molybdenum recycling complex. The facility will begin processing upon completion of appropriate licensure and FDA approval.
