Lutetium-177, The Increasing Production Of A Promising Radioisotope

Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) is considered to be one of the most promising radioisotopes.

Radiopharmaceuticals based on Lu-177 have already demonstrated excellent therapeutic performance in several applications, as prostate cancer and gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors treatment.

Thanks to its efficient performances and results, the demand for Lu-177 is growing.

Several ENS Corporate Members are involved in the production and supply of this important radioisotope.

NRG, the products of which help 30,000 patients every day, produces Lu-177 at the Petten High-flux reactor (The Netherlands), together with other radioisotopes, like Molybdenum-99, Iodine-125, Xenon-133 and many others.

Last June, NRG reported record production of medical radioisotopes, partially due to the increasing demand for Mo-99 and Lu-177.

Recently, Isotope JSC, the official distributor of isotope products manufactured by ROSATOM’s enterprises, successfully delivered Lu-177 produced according to EU GMP standards to the Nuclear Medicine Department of Policlinico of Bari (Italy) for quality evaluation.

Policlinico of Bari and Isotope JSC also held a hybrid round table “Atom without borders. Sustainable Cooperation for Cancer Treatment”, specially dedicated to the results of the Lu-177 quality test and further steps of bilateral cooperation in the field of nuclear medicine.

Moreover, ROSATOM Healthcare, the ROSATOM’s medical division, announced in July the plan to build a modern radiopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Russia.

The planned radiopharmaceutical facility would produce “promising” targeted isotopes like lutetium-177, actinium-225 and radium-223.

Finally, Framatome-Kinectrics joint venture Isogen and ITM Medical Isotopes GmbH of Germany have signed a formal supply arrangement to provide a reliable supply of Lu-177 to the world’s health-care system using Bruce Power’s Candu reactors as a key supply source.

The latest agreement defines the use of the new Isotope Production System (IPS).

Designed and manufactured by Isogen, the IPS will also support the future production of other isotopes in addition to Lu-177.

The development of the system is currently in its final phase of engineering, testing, and design at Framatome’s engineering facility in Ontario.