September 27, 2021 3:14 pm
Bruce Power has received approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to take the next step in the new isotope production. Bruce Power is the world’s first power reactor to commercially manufacture Lutetium-177, an innovative therapeutic isotope used in the treatment of prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors.
This project is an innovative partnership between Bruce Power, Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON), ITM and IsoGen. Isogen is a joint venture between Framatome and Kinectrics to enable the use of CANDU reactors to produce medical isotopes needed to treat and diagnose patients with serious diseases worldwide. ITM is a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company based in Germany that specializes in the development, production and worldwide delivery of medical radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals.
Bruce Power, James Songack’s Chief Development Officer, calls it a game changer for the supply of medical isotopes and the global medical community in the fight against cancer.
Songack added, “This is another important step forward in using our CANDU reactors to provide new large-scale manufacturing capacity in the medical isotope supply chain and cement Canada’s position as a global isotope superpower.”
“The Framatome team conducted extensive research and development in Canada and modified German technology for use in a CANDU reactor, resulting in the first isotope production system in a power reactor for the commercial production of therapeutic medical isotopes,” said Curtis Van Cleve, President and CEO of Framatome Canada Ltd. “We welcome our partners at Bruce Power for their commitment to innovations that support the continuous production of electricity and medical isotopes and harness the therapeutic power of nuclear energy.”
The Isotope Production System (IPS) developed and manufactured by Isogen is used to produce Lutetium-177, an isotope used in nuclear medicine that enables targeted and precise treatments, destroying cancer cells while damaging the surrounding healthy tissue and the Organs limited. The irradiated ytterbium targets obtained from the IPS are processed in the premises of ITM, where the high-purity no-carrier-added (nca) lutetium-177 is produced in pharmaceutical quality. Nca Lutetium-177 is marketed by ITM worldwide under the brand name EndolucinBeta ® and used in clinical care to advance the company’s own pipeline
“The license granted today by CNSC marks an important milestone for Isogen in our mission to bring life-saving medical isotopes to the world,” said David Harris, CEO of Kinectrics. “This approval demonstrates the benefits of bringing together the significant investments and skills of the partners to advance the technology and develop the security, engineering and licensing packages.”
necessary to safely and reliably introduce such cutting-edge technology without affecting normal reactor operation. “
“It is great to see the progress in installing the Isotope Production System, which provides us with an additional reliable source to increase the scalability of our nca lutetium 177 production for global supply as well as further clinical development of our broad pipeline . “, Commented Steffen Schuster, CEO of ITM. “We look forward to leveraging our long-term partnership with Bruce Power to deliver targeted radionuclide therapy to cancer patients worldwide.”
Through the collaboration of Bruce Power with Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON), the partners will jointly market new isotopes to support the global fight against cancer and at the same time create new economic opportunities in the SON area by building a new isotope infrastructure.
“These are very exciting times for SON as we move into the next phase of the Isotope project with Bruce Power,” said Chief Lester Anoquot, Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation. “Many members of our community have had cancer in some way. We pride ourselves on playing a leading role in the global fight against cancer while creating economic opportunity in our community. “
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