Bruce Power has gotten regulatory approval for new medical isotope production.
A release from the nuclear operator says it has has received approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to become the first power reactor in the world to commercially produce the isotope Lutetium-177 which can be used for targeted and precise cancer cell destroying treatments.
Lutetium-177 can be used in the treatment of prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumours.
James Scongack, Bruce Power Chief Development Officer and EVP Operational Services, says in a statement, “This Project is an innovative partnership between Bruce Power, IsoGen, Saugeen Ojibway Nation and ITM and is a game changer for the supply of medical isotopes and the global medical community in the fight against cancer,”
He adds, “This is another important step forward to utilize our CANDU reactors to provide a new large-scale capacity for production in the medical isotope supply chain, cementing Canada’s place as a global isotope superpower.”
Isogen is a joint venture between Framatome and Kinectrics to enable the use of CANDU reactors to produce medical isotopes.
Framatome President and CEO Curtis Van Cleve says, “The Framatome team conducted extensive research and development in Canada and modified German technology for use in a CANDU reactor, which resulted in the first Isotope Production System in a power reactor for commercial production of therapeutic medical isotopes.”
A release explains, the irradiated Ytterbium targets obtained from the isotope production system will be processed at ITM, a German based radiopharmaceutical biotech company. The Lutetium-177 will be marketed globally by ITM under the brand name EndolucinBeta®
Bruce Power’s collaboration with Saugeen Ojibway Nation will see the partners jointly marketing new isotopes in support of the global fight against cancer while also working together in creating new economic opportunities within the SON territory by establishing new isotope infrastructure.
Bruce Power says the approved project will expand Bruce Power’s established isotope production, and will solidify the company as an integral producer of critical medical isotopes increasingly being used in innovative nuclear medicine applications.
Bruce Power is one of the world’s largest producers of Cobalt-60 through its partnership with Nordion, used in the sterilization of single use medical equipment and in transformative cancer treatments like the Gamma Knife.
Bruce Power says as the commissioning process continues, there will be more regulatory hold points to allow CNSC staff to confirm operational readiness of the Isotope Production System before the start of Lu-177 production.